Wirt quoted and replied:
> Greg asks sarcastically:

>>  So, let me ask you, Michael, to
>>  produce a single, verifiable, reputable source, which actually predates 
>> the
>>  looting, that predicts "looting and mayhem in the wake of the collapse 
>> of a
>>  totalitarian state", preferably using the words "looting" or "mayhem".

> What Michael describes is the common pattern. Indeed, here is a bit of 
> random
> text describing the fall of the totalitarian government in Albania, 
> although
> similar circumstances occurred in Georgia, Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Chenya and
> elsewhere:

No sarcasm at all. I can explain what underlies the question. But for now, 
I'm asking for evidence of documented foresight. In the run-up, the usual 
handwringers made some painfully obvious predictions, such as that "our 
boys" would die in a war action (it would be instructive to see if anyone 
cared to estimate a number). I'm asking Michael to document that someone 
went on record as foreseeing what is now claimed to have been foreseeable 
and therefore preventable. Cassandra, where are you when we needed you?

To your assertion, I would wonder whether each and every totalitarian 
regime's fall exhibited the "common pattern" of "looting and mayhem" in its 
wake. Romania comes to mind. Then again, so do post-WWII Germany, East 
Berlin, and Moscow.

Greg Stigers
those who fail to learn the lessons of history
are doomed to repeat them as college freshmen 

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