Too Little, Too Late
©Prax Maskaren. 2nd April 2003.
After I posted my refutation of the "Gains of War" presentation, I, for the first time, checked out the link that had been provided at the end: www.emergency.it
To my surprise, I fount that the site disowns the presentation as being full of inaccuracies etc.
The following is the statement featured on the main page by Emergency.it
We would like to stress that such approximate and untruthful documents just contribute to spread misinformation, while us at Emergency believe all information must always be correct and above all truthful. We therefore ask anyone receiving this document not to forward it, stopping this chain-mail and warning everyone it's a fake, though it's true that each war has economic interests behind it. You will find more information on the web site http://www.attivissimo.net/antibufala/perche_si_fa_guerra.htm.
The author of that text also asks not to forward it, rectifying his assumptions and saying he's deeply sorry for his mistake and any damage he's unwillingly caused to the Organizations mentioned in the document.
The file refers to an appeal from Emergency we published on our site: the appeal is for Italian citizens only, as it's a request made to our Government.
Thank you
Source: http://www.emergency.it/eng/index.html English abstract for international readers
A chain letter, often accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that claims to have originated from the authoritative Milan Polytechnic Institute, alleges that the Gulf War did not cost a cent to the US, because it was ultimately paid by "us" (presumably, "us Europeans", as opposed to "them Americans") through higher oil prices, which are claimed to have benefited only "US state-owned oil companies" such as "Tamoil and Shell".
The data and information given in this chain letter is riddled with errors: for example, Tamoil and Shell are not "US state-owned oil companies", and Tamoil is most definitely not a US company at all, state-owned or not. The rest of the chain letter is just as inaccurate.
All these errors, inaccuracies and inconsistencies have been admitted publicly by the author of the original PowerPoint presentation, who is merely a somewhat reckless and overenthusiastic student of the Polytechnic. The presentation is not an official piece of research and is not endorsed in any way by the Milan Polytechnic.
The author of the chain letter is publicly asking everyone not to distribute it. You can read his statement on the matter below.
The rest of this page is in Italian. If you feel like preparing a translation in other languages, please feel free to do so, and let me know, so I can link to it.
I want to point out that the author of the presentation invested time and effort in writing in English and whichever languages, and that it is his duty to write his retraction and correction in English, etc., and not just in Italian. This is true even if he had only authored an original Italian language version, and recipients created other language versions. This is because final responsibility lies on him.
Additionally, a mere excuse that the Presentation was meant only for Italian consumption, a barefaced apology and a mere appeal not to further circulate the presentation — which appeal does not seem to be as widely circulated — is not sufficient: That it was intended merely for Italians to be addressed as a protest to their government is not a justification for the lies it puts forward. Additionally, the author has the responsibility to repair the damage that he has caused and the misinformation he has spread by giving the correct facts, and circulating it just as he had circulated his original Presentation.
I want to point out that this presentation is an act of malice, a criminal act of slander, libel, calumny and of instigation and incitement to hatred and malice. Thus it constitutes a hate crime.
[I am not now considering the actual physical violence against American properties and citizens to which this, among other things, has contributed.]
Both the student-author of the presentation and the institute have the responsibility to make the retractions and corrections available in English and in whichever language that it is being circulated in, since the ultimate responsibility for the publication of this tissue of lies lies directly upon its author and indirectly but also immediately upon the Milan Polytechnic as also upon the Emergency.it organisation.
Therefore, the institute's and the website's dissassociation of itself from the presentation does not exculpate them and their Italian page is insufficient reparation: Too little, too late!
My Own Retraction
In my ire at the utter lies that are put out by the Gains of War presentation, I also attacked Italy, lumping it with France, Germany and Russia which states lead the opposition to the US initiative to remove Saddam.
I have subsequently learned that Italy is, like Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, etc., very much involved in the Coalition, under the administration of Prime Minister Don Silvio Berlusconi, of the Freedom Party-led coalition government of Italy.
I apologize for the error.
Prax Maskaren