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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: D. Long who wrote (32312)	6/14/2002 7:25:44 AM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi D. Long; Re: "Am I nuts?" No, it's perfectly rational to expect the Arabs to become our close friends after we install "western friendly" governments in their nations. There's plenty of history for this kind of thing. In Chile, for instance, the US government is still loved by the population for when we used the CIA to topple Pinochet. They regularly have peaceful demonstrations in the street asking for the US to come back and install a new puppet regime. There's also a lot of countries that have had "constitutional monarchy" installed by force from abroad. It worked great when the French tried it with Maximillan in Mexico, for instance. His policies were well executed: npg.si.edu Another great example was Gandhi in India. If it wasn't for British military muscle, he wouldn't have had a chance to lead that country, and they loved him there. Yes, it's just human nature for primitive people to appreciate the efforts on the part of the advanced nations to make decisions for them. It's part of the "white man's burden", and it's always been well appreciated in the 3rd world. The reason they're so pissed off at us recently is because we've abandoned them, especially since 1945. We could solve pretty much all the world's problems with your idea. I think using puppet regimes is a great idea for international relations. That the Bush Administration hasn't figured this out yet just proves that they're not thinking outside the box. Some of the healthier 3rd world nations might be a bit tough, (especially the ones with nuclear weapons), but we saw how well loved the US military was in Somalia. We can repeat that all over the world and bring true peace and love everywhere. Just think, when was the last time that you saw a suicide bomber on Sesame Street? No question about it, puppets are the way to go. -- Carl

To: D. Long who wrote (32312)	6/14/2002 6:25:36 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Am I nuts? Well, if you are, then I guess I have some good company.. :0) And I disagree with Bilow's response.. It's not "installing" western-controlled regimes, but about "enabling" already existing moderate regimes to assume political power. The only thing that keeps the Saudis in control right now is their control over oil, their military and police, and the quid-pro-quo they have with the Wahabbis, where the Royals don't infringe upon their control over the holy sites, or the religious education of the people. As far as I'm concerned the Hahemites have proven themselves FAR MORE deserving of being the controllers of the holy sites and the Arabian peninsula. Furthermore, in a power vacuum created by the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, it would naturally fall to the Hashemites to restore their previous rule over that country. King Abdullah is a true people's king. He ventures forth amongst the people, mainly in disguise, in order to understand how they feel about how they are being treated, as well as to root out corruption. And his people eat it up... I can see his charms being applied to the Iraqis.. In fact, I can perceive of Iraq being broken up and Jordan being givening rulership of the southern portion, and a Kurdish state being formed in the north. This would provide Jordan direct control over enormous oil wealth and put them in rivalry with the Saudis economically as well. Hawk