conspiratorial thinking and the presidential election of 2004

[Michael Eisenstadt]

the collective Arab mind is given over to conspiratorial 
thinking -- the psychologists call this magical thinking. 
This way of thinking is not unknown in the West of course but 
specific conspiracy theories do not usually totally 
dominate the thinking of the educated Westener. 

collectively the Arabs have not yet learned to practice 
non-conspiratorial thinking. this epistemological
error is BUILT IN into the contemporary Arab mind-set.
it is therefore inconceivable that they would accept
the American invasion as being disinterested and 
humanitarian (even assuming it is and not just about
the oil).

surely this pecularity of the Arab mind-set is well 
known in the State Department. but the Bushies and
their neo-conservative theorists who are jerking
Bush's chain are so fanatical that they chose in the
privacy of their own thinking to ignore this well
known fact. the State Department 

the Moslem street "knows" that the Mossad blew up
the WTC first phoning the 4000 jews that worked there
to call in sick to their offices

so can Iraqis surmount their usual way of always
thinking in terms of conspiracies? no way. it is
inconceivable that they would do so overnight. 
maybe after a few hundred years.

the ancient Greeks colonized the choicest spots for 
themselves all over the Mediterranean, from present 
day Marseille, all over Sicily and lower Italy, all over 
present day Turkey, going as far east as the Black Sea. 
apparently after many generations, the natives of some 
(i repeat "some") of these colonized were pretty much 
hellenized speaking Greek rather than Phrygian say. 
yes, cultures evolve and attain more rational mind-sets 
but it takes a long time.

one would have to be INSANE to believe that Americans
could invade an Arab country and contrive to make
the locals adopt and implement a western-style 
democratic polity over night. 

this was insane BEFORE the war and it is just as
insane now. so we must brace ourselves to live
with ongoing horrors that angry Arab Iraqis are
going to be dreaming up against the occupying 
forces. we have become the Israelis.

this may be so horrible that Americans will take
their revenge on Bush in 2004 and he and his 
crew will be toast. 

i dont want to read about horrors every morning 
when i turn the computer on. but maybe we can console
ourselves that each additional horror will be 
another nail into the coffin of Bush's political
career.

an unnamed Democratic senator was quoted as saying 
(more or less) that the first Iraq war came to an end and
Bush elder was afterwards defeated. But that this 
time the administration will keep the nation at war 
sine die. this doesnt HAVE to be the case. the 
Dem senator was perhaps overly scaring himself
to death about the hopelessness of the Dem candidate
in 2004.

how the US will extricate itself from Iraq is at the 
moment unknown. but of necessity it will happen so
stay tuned!

excuse the non-linear order of the paragraphed
propositions

Mike