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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>because it is not so easy to
determine "facts" even for our own experiences....because it's not so easy to
judge and decide.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ejespady@mydurango.net
href="mailto:ejespady@mydurango.net">Spady's</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE..EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 11, 2005 11:37
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Word from a US soldier</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Okayyyyy.......so.........I'm still
waiting to hear why it's not a fact. Once again, I have never said that
my views are more or less valid than any other. That's why I clarified
the items that were my personal opinion from those of fact. I don't get
it................................................</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=EwingChange@aol.com href="mailto:EwingChange@aol.com">Esther
Ewing</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE...EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 11, 2005 2:23
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Word from a US
soldier</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT id=role_document face="Palatino Linotype" color=#400080
size=4>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>I am always a bit leary of calling something fact. In my
experience, the minute I label something as a truth or as fact, I discover
that there was more for me to learn about it that would change my
perception. </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>In social constructionism, there exists a principle that by the
use of our language, we create our reality and that what we inquire into,
impacts what we see.</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>I am quite naturally biased by my background, my experience and
my emotions. So what I see is through the filter of those elements and the
filter affects/limits/changes what I see. </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Someone from Sweden will see things quite differently (though
validly) through their eyes than I, from Canada or you from the United
States. There will be times we see things the same way and times when we
will not. </STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>I invite all on the list to consider that the way we each see
things is just one perception and that the way to open space wider is to own
our own views as just that, not more valid or less valid than another's.
</STRONG></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>To emphasize that it is a fact,
not just my opinion.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mailto:EwingChange@aol.com
href="mailto:EwingChange@aol.com">Esther Ewing</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE...EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, February 11, 2005
1:26 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Word from a US
soldier</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face="Palatino Linotype" color=#400080 size=4>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Judy:</DIV>
<DIV>Why did you put "fact" in quotes?</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>Chris,<BR>Thanks for all of your insights and great
discussions!! Good food for<BR>thought. I, too, agree that
this soldier's note is a very small piece of<BR>the whole
puzzle.......BUT......I, personally, still conclude (not
based<BR>solely on his email but on many other learned factors) that
Iraq is a more<BR>"open" society than it was. Do I think it's a
great, safe place to live?<BR>Definitely not but at least their
society, as a whole, is headed in a better<BR>direction. As HO
says, the Iraqi's now have an opportunity to take the<BR>future into
their own hands. It is a "fact" that they did not have
that<BR>opportunity a few years ago.<BR>Judy<BR><BR>I don't have any
great answers for the questions you have at the end of
your<BR>message...that's what I'm learning from all of you.<BR>Thanks
again for your intriguing words.<BR><BR>----- Original Message
-----<BR>From: "Chris Corrigan"
<chris.corrigan@gmail.com><BR>To:
<OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU><BR>Sent: Friday, February 11,
2005 1:36 AM<BR>Subject: Re: Word from a US soldier<BR><BR><BR>>
Finding myself witnessing this exchange, and using it to
practice<BR>> asking some questions:..<BR>><BR>><BR>>>
I agree with you that force was used to open the space which is
obviously<BR>>> not an OST principle (but I don't think that
means that the space can't<BR>>> be<BR>>>
're-opened'). I disagree that it started with lies but that's
a<BR>>> political<BR>>> debate and not one of open space,
so I won't go there. As for 'US style<BR>>> Democracy'
being the only choice, who's making the decisions as to
how<BR>>> Iraq<BR>>> will operate in the future?...the
Iraqi's. I think their space is open<BR>>> to<BR>>>
let the majority of the Iraqi people decide...that's why the
voting<BR>>> turnout<BR>>> was so good. I believe
the U.S. will eventually "let go" of the outcome<BR>>>
so<BR>>> this doesn't just 'close the space' in my eyes.
Again, this difference<BR>>> of<BR>>> opinion can be
another political debate and I don't intend to do that in<BR>>>
this forum...but will gladly have a constructive debate one-on-one,
if<BR>>> you'd<BR>>> like.<BR>>><BR>><BR>> The
question for me always in working with a community is not "is
the<BR>> space open or not?" Space is always open, even a
little. The bigger<BR>> question is "how can we open more
space here?" If you have a<BR>> situation where there is
violent conflict, you need more space. Iraq<BR>> is not a
peaceful place at the moment. That tells me that space
wants<BR>> to be cleaved open even further. If it is your
feeling that the<BR>> United States should not leave Iraq for a
while, then we might ask<BR>> "what is the most space we can open
here together?" If you think that<BR>> Iraq should be able to
do fine on its own, then, as an American you<BR>> might ask "where
can we let go some more?" But if, in this situation,<BR>> I
really wanted to open space, I might ask "what if we had peace
now<BR>> and what if together we created that? What would we
have to do to<BR>> stop the violence and sustain a peaceful civil
society in Iraq? What<BR>> might our roles be here on the
ground to bring peace to life?"<BR>> Something like that. For
sure I would encourage talking rather than<BR>> fighting. I
believe that most people would choose even banal<BR>>
constitutional conferences to killing one another. So if we are
still<BR>> killing one another, what is the space that we can open
to be bigger<BR>> than the killing impulse?<BR>><BR>>>
Thanks for your kind words about this soldier. I only wanted to
share<BR>>> the<BR>>> story to those interested in seeing
it from an angle that isn't always<BR>>> easy<BR>>> to
get. An even more interesting thing is that this soldier admits
that<BR>>> he<BR>>> had doubts about the war before
arriving in Iraq. Here's a blurb from<BR>>> another
message from him:<BR>>> "When I was first
coming over here I had my own inner personal doubts<BR>>> about
the war, but after being over here and seeing, hearing,<BR>>>
experiencing<BR>>> what I have, it's
changed. They never tell you on the media about<BR>>>
the<BR>>> nearly 400,000 up-to-date immunizations that children
now have, or a<BR>>> continually improving and<BR>>>
much needed sewage system, or the fact that school books
don't<BR>>> portray<BR>>> Saddam as a God anymore and that
girls are now allowed in schools. They<BR>>>
don't tell you that the US Army is paying for any damages
to civil<BR>>> areas<BR>>> we cause AND the ones the
insurgents cause. They only show US soldiers<BR>>>
geting<BR>>> killed and beating up
prisoners."<BR>> > Sounds more open to me than it was when
Saddam was in power....it's no<BR>>> longer a country that has
"no choices"...<BR>>> Judy<BR>><BR>> He's one voice.
That's his story. It's great but it's hardly enough<BR>> to
give us a picture of life in Iraq. I find that in North
America,<BR>> we are often guilty of judging an entire complex
situation with a<BR>> sound bite. This type of debate is very
common, and supported by our<BR>> culture of punditry, where the
goal is to talk and listen to debate<BR>> and win a point rather
than to incur deeper understanding of one<BR>> another's positions
and interests. And so pundits invoke sound bites<BR>> like
this and draw wild conclusions about a situation based on a
small<BR>> fact.<BR>><BR>> Whether that sound bite comes
through TV or through a forwarded email<BR>> of a soldier, it's
just a small small small piece of story. I can't<BR>> judge
the health of civil society in Iraq based on what he said.
This<BR>> report tells me that there are 400,000 immunized
children, new sewers,<BR>> new text books AND much damage to civil
areas and death and beaten up<BR>> prisoners. That sounds
complex, messy, full of guesses, rounding<BR>> errors and
assmuptions. I can't possibly read that and draw<BR>>
conclusions about how open Iraqi society is now compared to
three<BR>> years ago. And, I assume, as this soldier showed
up in Iraq only<BR>> after the war started, I'd be surprised if he
could make an accurate<BR>> comparison either. He can share
his story though, and that's fine,<BR>> for what it's
worth.<BR>><BR>> I think it's not easy to say whether THIS Iraq
has more or less<BR>> choices than THAT Iraq. Perhaps you
have gained the right to vote,<BR>> but you have lost a constant
power supply. Perhaps you have immunized<BR>> kids but no
husband any more. Maybe you no longer live in fear of
the<BR>> secret police, but you are now afraid of being
accidentally shot or<BR>> bombed to death. I don't
know. I don't believe one man, even if he<BR>> is in the
middle of this, can really know how Iraqis feel. I would<BR>>
bet that it's not as simple as "it's more open."<BR>><BR>> Given
this report and this curious email exchange on the OSLIST how<BR>>
can we practice holding open judgement and suspending
conslusions?<BR>> As Open Space facilitators what is our
responsibility with respect to<BR>> witnessing this
situation?<BR>><BR>> It's a complex world and these are complex
questions.<BR>><BR>> Chris<BR>><BR>>
-------------------------<BR>> CHRIS CORRIGAN<BR>> Consultation
- Facilitation<BR>> Open Space Technology<BR>><BR>> Weblog:
http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot<BR>> Site:
http://www.chriscorrigan.com<BR>><BR>> *<BR>> *<BR>>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" color=#400080 size=4
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Palatino Linotype" color=#400080 size=4
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