November 6, 2002

10:06 PM

If there was no oil, there would be no Islam; and if there was no Islam, there would be no Bush.
posted by hoder (2 comments total)

And the 1250 years in which Islam existed before petroleum became an important resource? Why, they are as nothing!

This article certainly is neither fairly characterized, hoder, by your post, nor does your post highlight a view that is even brought into the article as a side note. The words Islam and Muslim do not appear on the page. Saddam Hussein is mentioned, but he is a secular Arab pan-nationalist, not a notably Islamist ideologue. And in the end, it is a truism to say that a man is made by his enemies and circumstances. Had there been no slavery, we would not today have reason to revere Abraham Lincoln; the quiet lawyer from Illinois might never have been elected.

This is a lousy post, hoder, and I'm surprised at you.
posted by dhartung at 10:18 PM on November 6, 2002

The Vietnam syndrome vanished on 11 September

Interesting quote from the article.

In any case hoder has hinted at what Historians call the "Great Man Theory of History" -- to take a Godwinan example, did a single man Hitler cause WWII or was WWII inevitable and Hitler just happened to be the one. In otherwords if Hitler was killed in WWI would WWII never have happened or was it inevitable larger social forces at work.

Hoder seems to think Bush is a product of larger historical forces such as Oil and Islam and that if GWB wasnt in office, there would be someone else like him.
posted by stbalbach at 10:39 PM on November 6, 2002