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

To: frankw1900 who wrote (64888)	1/8/2003 12:32:38 AM
From: paul_philp	Respond to of 281500

Hello frankw, You inspired me did up another old favorite quote. From Fredrick Douglas: Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

To: frankw1900 who wrote (64888)	1/8/2003 4:08:23 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Well, frank, what can I say. Let's see. 1. I'm not going to go down your list and discuss each country; no doubt, you know more about them than I do. But there are arguments about many of these countries as to whether the term "fascist" is appropriate. It's a combative term; not particularly helpful as an analytical tool. 2. More democracy would certainly help but I don't think it works well to impose it by military force. If you are proposing a long term project to encourage democracy, fine. The US record on that score is a far from stellar one so one place to start would be to go back and rethink our own support for anti-democratic forces. 3. I remain convinced that the one clear use of US military force right now, in so far as it works, is to counter the Al Qaeda and affiliates threat. I also think a case can be made for its use in Iraq. I finally come out on the other side when all is said and done on it but I don't find such arguments unreasonable. 4. Finally, the large amount of US resources your program requires would be better put to use helping renew the US safety net, taking care of the medically uninsured, paying down the deficit that the Bush folk are now creating. 5. I'm definitely in favor of helping development in other countries, both economic and political along, but the terms under which the US can be of help are, my favorite saying, complicated.