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To: Dayuhan who wrote (2405)	3/13/2002 9:39:00 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

I am not convinced that the governments of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are any more evil than those of the Duvaliers, Somoza, Stroessner, or Pinochet were You'll get no argument from me. War is a device to be used as a last resort, when no other will suffice. I agree with you, yet I wonder. The international situation is a bit like that frog that sits on the stove in a pot of water that heats up gradually. By the time he realizes he's cooked, it's too late to do anything about it and Monday-morning quarterbacking is pointless. We compliment Turkey on being a secular state and conveniently forget that they wiped out the fundamentalist mullahs to get there. We feel guilty that US settlers wiped out the Native Americans, but we don't know how things might have developed if that hadn't happened. Maybe we'd have a mess on our hands. Maybe there's something to be said for thwarting the enemy early, while you still can. Just maybe. I can't be so sure. we aren't hearing much about: rooting out the al Quaeda network in the West. I heard something about Europe just recently. Can't recall exactly what, but it seems there's something going on there. Hopefully. Karen

To: Dayuhan who wrote (2405)	3/13/2002 10:42:01 AM
From: thames_sider	Respond to of 21057

What have the North Koreans done to earn the title "evil"? Certainly they have an astonishingly bad government, but if bad government were evil, the axis would be large indeed. Well, quite. This is why I call it hypocritical; far more open to label it "axis of governments we don't like". And these days, what about the vile regimes in Burma, or Zimbabwe, or indeed Saudi Arabia...? I wouldn't shed tears to see Saddam removed, far from it. It could be better presented. N Korea could do with watching, but I'd say little more - armed intervention there would be bizarre. (Or is Rumsden working backwards through wars now?) Iran, OTOH, has a functioning if weak democracy, and idiot pronouncements simply strengthen the theocrats there. I think the threat of war at least, vs Iraq, is needed. I also think that presenting it as a requirement rather than a crusade would be so much better, and presenting it a less than a fiat accompli also preferable.

To: Dayuhan who wrote (2405)	3/13/2002 2:12:37 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21057

Here's something from today's Post on doin's in your part of the world. In Philippines, Boys Adjust After Living Among Rebels Abu Sayyaf's Young Workers Tell of Adventure, Hardship By Doug Struck Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, March 13, 2002; Page A22 ISABELA, Philippines -- For two years, Kassim lived in the mountains with Muslim rebels, hauling their water from mountain streams, boiling bananas for their meals, racing through the jungle with their ammunition and weapons when the government soldiers neared. Kassim is 12. He and six other boys emerged from the jungle here on Basilan island in January, proof of a long-whispered secret that the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas use children in the terrorist war they wage from the mountains. <snip> washingtonpost.com

To: Dayuhan who wrote (2405)	3/13/2002 3:44:53 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 21057

What have the North Koreans done to earn the title "evil"? Certainly they have an astonishingly bad government, but if bad government were evil, the axis would be large indeed. They aren't just a corrupt or inefficient government but also a totalitarian oppressive government. Of course oppression isn't that rare either. Also they have supported terrorism, and they do cross the border and attack every now and then. kdvamerica.org I believe that the considerable resources required for a war against evil would be much better devoted to a task which we aren't hearing much about: rooting out the al Quaeda network in the West. Thats mainly a police and inteligence matter rather then a military one. I have read that over a thousand people believed to be in or connected with Al-Qaeda have been arrested or detained world wide. Tim