Posted by Jeff from d53-152-230.try.wideopenwest.com (64.53.230.152) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 at 0:53AM :
Good-Bye
Posted By: Fred Aprim (89.sanfrancisco-12rh16rt-ca.dial-access.att.net)
Date: Wednesday, 2 April 2003, at 11:38 p.m.
I am very disturbed by the image this forum is being presented lately to the outside world. I have no problem with free speech, but when two or three individuals deliberately hijack this forum in the name of free speech, that alarms me.
For any visiting stranger, this forum is definitely seen as an anti-war forum, just look at the flood of posts by those few anti-war individuals. This image is hardly representative of the Assyrian point of view in general. Fact is that the majority of the Assyrians are pro Iraq liberation and that is hardly representative here. Assyrians have presented their stand from the war to liberate Iraq clearly through physical demonstrations in Assyrian populated regions like San Jose, Chicago, and soon in Modesto/Turlock and Toronto, and they all support this action. Furthermore, the vast majority of the Assyrian political organizations are supporting the liberation of Iraq as well. All indications show that the liberation of Iraq should benefit all Iraqis, including the Assyrians, and for that reason alone Assyrians in general are taking that stand. We have not seen any Assyrian demonstrations against the liberation of Iraq. All what we have seen is cut and paste anti-war articles by a minute group that is flooding this forum, and it seems to be effective in giving this negative picture. If the moderators of this forum are seeking "quantities of posts" they can surely have it.
Why should this forum give strangers any impression contrary to the opinion of the majority and why should this forum give strangers the impression of being something that is not? If you are going to answer that this is a forum of democracy, that answer is not good enough to me in the circumstances Assyrians are in today. The anti-war garbage is in most cases not even related to Assyrians, contrary to the rules of this forum for being an Assyrian forum that promotes Assyrian related topics. I understand that war affects all people one way or another. I just do not appreciate the obvious negative intent behind posting much of the posts here. It seems to me that the real objective with the majority of these anti-war posts, that have no immediate and direct relation to Assyrians, is not to discuss Assyrian affairs, rather flood the forum with anti-war propaganda.
I regret the chances given to these few irresponsible individuals, who, in my personal opinion, are abusing the privilege given to people to express their opinion. They seem to me, from the quality of their posted material, like individuals who have the aim to present this forum as a predominantly anti-war forum. I hate to waste my time in surfing the Internet just to collect pro-war articles and place them next to theirs, an act that will turn this forum into a circus in chaos without a trainer. I am deeply concerned about the Assyrian affairs and I thought that we were here to address Assyrian affairs. Again, I understand that we are part of the general population and when we address war affairs we are addressing indirectly Assyrian affairs, still, this is just way out of control and too much and I do not enjoy seeing ton of garbage and about how people from Yemen feel about the war for example.
I believe that Assyrians must be Assyrians and think Assyrians first. The world is full of tragedies and Assyrians with their limited resources could not afford worrying about every single sufferer in the world … we must come first in order to have a chance to survive, because of our population and conditions. Arabs will survive, they are close to 200 millions; Kurds will survive, they are 20 millions; Assyrians cannot say the same. Another two or three generations, at the most, of fanatic ultra-pan Arab and Kurdish oppressive policies in the Middle East and the Assyrians will disappear from their ancestral lands.
This forum does not seem to be worrying about that and if for sake of "democracy" we let bunch of "peace activists" present us to the outside world as something we are not, I rather not be part of it. Therefore, after careful consideration about this issue, I have decided to stop visiting and posting on this forum temporarily until this issue is resolved or war has ended.
Good-bye.
Fred
-- Jeff
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