I like you Augustus. You've got passion, guts and you're smart. You see the problem clearly and you know it's a big job that has to be completed. I just don't agree with your view of how to get the job done.
I learned a long time ago that working smart is a lot more important than working hard.
I'll use your analogy that "[w]e are trying to plant the seed of democracy in the middle of hell with hopes that it can upset the surrounding terrorist states to the extent that they move to a more moderate position." No one could argue with that lofty goal.
Similarily, I could find a place in Death Valley and plant a watermellon patch. I could go on and on about how the whole area could bloom with melons, could employ thousands of workers, could feed hundreds of thousands of people and could change the entire landscape. If anyone said I was a fool for trying, I could deride them as pessimistic. I could point out that the watermellons were needed and I could challenge their negativism and claim that they were secretly hoping for failure.
But no matter what my lofty and admirable goals, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how sincere I was, the friggen melons wouldn't grow. Those are the facts and this is a real world.
Jordan's King Abdullah is a half American, popular, progressive and pro-democracy leader. He's been TRYING to guide his country to democracy. He's been UNABLE to do so because of cultural, religious and political barriers that are daunting. That's how hard it is in Jordan. As you know, if Jordan is difficult, Iraq is impossible. The country was controlled only through brute force under Saddam Hussein. As you're seeing now, the country will be controlled only through brute force under U.S. occupation.
We say there were 300,000 graves from Saddam's rule in Iraq. I'd say we're well on our way to matching the per-year average of Saddam Hussein and we're generally killing the same people. How does that make you feel.
The fact is that what the Israelis are doing isn't working, what we're doing in terms of fighting terrorism isn't working either, and it isn't going to work in the future. If your goal is to fight terrorism, save American lives and prevent the loss of American power and prosperity, things have to change.
It's not a lack of guts that is the problem for this country, it's a lack of brains. We've got to work a lot smarter and that means we have to understand the problem and address it's roots, not just it's symptoms.
You don't kill ideas and injustice with bullets and bombs. |
