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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: TimF who wrote (171757)	7/10/2003 5:49:16 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) of 1582758

That's not true......the soviet system was brutal right to the end. The gulags existed right to the end. The system fell apart not because they weren't harsh enough but because there was not enough money to run the place. It fell apart for both reasons. Countries that where poorer then the Soviet Union (North Korea being a good example) have maintained totalitarian rule. In China when the rule of the communists was threatened they massacred those who where perceived as a threat. This could have also happened in the USSR. Fortunately it didn't. Actually, the lack of good economics and the lack of harsh rule near the end are intertwined. The Soviet empire had become too far flung and their attempts to expand it into such places as Afghanistan were met with too much resistance. The cost of that expansion while maintaining the rest of their empire became too much and they were forced to ease up. In the end, it was all about the money. Furthermore, I have some real doubts about the ability of establishing a democracy in Iraq. I have some doubt as well but I think it is possible. I think it more likely that the eventually government might be a somewhat flawed democracy then a strong enduring paragon of democracy, but I think at least a flawed democracy is quite possible and I think such a government would be much better then Saddam. The cost of trying to establish a democracy in Iraq will be huge. Rummy finally admitted its costing over $5 billion per month to maintain both Iraq and Afghanistan. If we are in those countries for only two more years which is looking highly optimistic, at a minimum we will have spent over $120 billion plus the cost of the two wars themselves. Not only will that mean we will have to cut back on foreign aid to other countries but probably it will result in a cut of programs here in the States. The fact that all that money will be spent on two small countries where the probability of success is probably 50-50 very much reflects a planning process that was poorly laid out and thought through. ted

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