Monday, April 05, 2004
Juan Cole: “It turns out that the Plus Ultra base [the Spainish base] where the Sadrists protested was called "al-Andalus." That is a reference to Arab Spain, to which the Catholics of the Reconquista put a bloody end in 1492. Although much has been written about the Jews forcibly converted to Christianity in the aftermath, it is not realized that many more Muslims stayed and were forced to convert under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.”
This reminds me a story Hitchens wrote in Vanity Fair a few years back. A French diplomat said it bothered him that in taking a train from Paris to London he arrives at Waterloo Station. (Just a historical refresher, the battle of Waterloo effectively ended Napoleon’s rule and ever since then “Waterloo” has been synonymous with downfall. For example, the 1979 budget proved to be Clark’s Waterloo.) His English counterpart fired back “do not be such a sensitive frog
This reminds me a story Hitchens wrote in Vanity Fair a few years back. A French diplomat said it bothered him that in taking a train from Paris to London he arrives at Waterloo Station. (Just a historical refresher, the battle of Waterloo effectively ended Napoleon’s rule and ever since then “Waterloo” has been synonymous with downfall. For example, the 1979 budget proved to be Clark’s Waterloo.) His English counterpart fired back “do not be such a sensitive frog
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