Hi Hawkmoon; Re: "Nazi Germany was preaching anti-Semitism and racial superiority, and they didn't do it in English."
And we didn't convince them otherwise by using the English language. Our convincing required us to kill millions of them, and I've always agreed that lessons taught in that manner are convincing. But that is not what Bush is offering us. Look at the news, dude. Is Bush asking for more volunteers to widen the war in Iraq? No, he's begging for foreigners because it is politically impossible to ask the American people to fight WW2 all over again in the Middle East.
Re: "The US is not the sole bastion of racism in the world Bilow."
Jesus, who the hell would think that? The US is one of the more advanced country on that side. The places that are supposed to not be racist typically don't have any minorities to be racist about. As soon as they do, they get as racist as ever.
Re: "I mean come on... why are people racist? Because they either have an inferiority complex of their own to deal with, do not want to embrace different and strange cultures, or they seek to dominate and control other cultural segments of a society."
So you're claiming that your racist desire to commit genocide in the Middle East, and your racist desire to dominate and control Iraq is due to an inferiority complex that you haven't dealt with? Or are you saying that you do not want to embrace different and strange cultures?
Re: "So to claim that the muslim world is not compatible with democracy is to overlook ..."
I'm not claiming that the "muslim world" is not "compatible with democracy". I'm stating the simple fact that as long as we remain in Iraq the locals are going to keep shooting at us.
I don't know where you get these queer notions, these strawmen that you love shooting down. I've repeatedly, over and over and over and over stated that I expect that we will eventually win the culture war, and that it is inevitable that we will win it. Now how in hell could we win the culture war without converting the Arabs to be democrats? Your problem is that you think that the only way anything ever gets done in the world is by (US) military force.
Re: "But the manner in which we fight this war requires that we empower the moderate and modernist elements of these societies to oppose and defend ..."
I've bolded the phrase "we empower". You're still suffering under the delusion that the world revolves around what "we" do. But it's now obvious even to you that the youth in Iran are trending towards a more pro US attitude (or were, at least, before Bush's unprovoked attack on their neighbor). This happened without "us" ever "empowering" anyone.
What you seem to want is to transform Iraq from a secular semi-socialist dictatorship into a western democracy without the inconvenience of going through any other stages. This is simply not possible. The Iranians learned that the Believers were useless at running the country only through direct experience. That's how the Afghans learned as well. And that is how most of the Middle East will have to learn that lesson. Our showing up and trying to enforce a learning experience at the point of a gun only teaches that guns are useful for forcing people to do what you want. That is something that the Iraqis already knew. The equivalent lesson worked in Germany because the Germans knew that we would kill every single one of them if they didn't quit what they were doing. But the Iraqis do not know that fact because we will not kill every single one of them, if necessary. In fact, our military now avoids enemy casualties to such an extent that hardly anyone in Iraq got a nosebleed from the invasion. That's why the Iraqis are still fighting. And you do not have a solution for that problem any more than the Israelis solved the same problem with the Palestinians. (And oh, remember how the Israelis thought that eliminating Saddam's payments would make the Palestinians quit suicide bombing them? Surprise!)
Re: "And we must prevent entire generations of children ..."
Your goals are worthy, but you don't have any way of achieving them. Nor do you spell one out. You're in "hope" mode, and the hope is that Iraq becomes peaceful and democratic and American loving. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! LOL!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Re: "The Islamofascist concept of education is to memorize the Koran, not to learn algebra (a muslim invention), biology, or any other hard science. Thus, the 40% of the Muslim world currently under the age of 18 are at a risk of NEVER being properly prepared to lead a productive life."
As usual, you make a mountain of illogic out of a molehill of misconception. There are at least 10 million moslems that know algebra better than you do. Here, sign up for a class in Quantum Mechanics from a Saudi University and discover just how little you know about physics AND Saudi Arabia:
kku.edu.sa
kku.edu.sa
kku.edu.sa
Saudi Arabia is that supreme Islamic Republic state that you think has to be made over into your own image because they are backward idiots. I just linked you a program of study that would kick your ass because of your lack of mathematical ability. Sounds to me like they should come over here and civilize you.
Re: "Little wonder they are susceptible to suicide bombings."
The numbers of Arabs who participate in suicide bombings is very small. You keep acting like there are millions of suicide bombers out there, but the numbers are severely limited.
Re: "In fact, a recent Zogby poll in Iraq reflected that 60% of the Iraqi people, when asked what government they would most like to emulate, chose the United States."
Given the choices, that's hardly surprising, LOL. The US was given as a representation of Democracy. Of course the Arabs want democracy. Everyone does, it's a natural tendency of the human spirit. But that doesn't mean that we can enforce a democracy by guns. Some of those 60% that want Democracy are out there supporting rebels who are shooting at us. They see themselves as fighting for a democracy that the US is trying to thwart. They think that the US just wants the oil, and really doesn't care what happened to the two dozen Iraqi police officers who we gunned down today. The facts are that we keep postponing elections in Iraq and that doesn't look like we are supporting democracy.
What we need to do in Iraq is to leave and let those 60%, who want democracy, fight it out with the ones who don't. As it is, we're fighting the remaining 40% PLUS a portion of the 60%.
-- Carl |
