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On 1/7/17 1:08 PM, Richard Taylor wrote:
Dear Louis Proyect, Let me begin by writing that I am a long time subscriber to your website. I have considerable respect for your work, your rigor, and your conviction. On the matter of Syria, you have been a beacon of light from the onset. I do have one suggestion: tone down the personal vituperation that creeps into your postings. For example, in your posting below, you conclude by writing, "I hope you are getting paid well enough by the Kremlin to assuage your conscience.” This is completely gratuitous. Let your robust argument do the talking. By adding the last sentence, you deflect attention from your argument, and by the inclusion of the last sentence, you needlessly insinuate an ad hominem attack that no doubt surely inclines Mr. Hirthler to be even less disposed to consider your case. However tempting it is to include ad hominem attacks, they have to be subordinated to the higher task of persuasion. Dick Taylor
Actually when I write a public flame like that, it is not with the purpose of changing the recipient's mind. It is only designed to keep my head from exploding.
Over the past 6 years, however, I have had *many* private exchanges with an entirely different tone and that has often changed peoples' minds. Truth be told, the main thing working against the Hirthler POV is just the sheer bestiality of the Syrian/Russian/Iranian blitzkrieg.
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