Ted Re...I say that because there are so few truly successful democracies in the world.
America is not a true democracy. America is a representative gov.; and the representatives are elected by democratic means. In a true democracy, every bill would be voted on by everyone.
However, after a while, they realize we really believe are bs, and so they rip us off.......see Turkey. BTW we even look naive.
Turkey would be trying to rip us off,no matter if we were a monarchy, dictatorship, democracy, or whatever.
If Iraqis wanted democracy and/or a better life, they would have overthrown Saddam long ago.
A lot of people have tried and are now dead. Besides, isn't that a bit like saying, "If god had wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings. "
Remember the Germans got rid of Hitler through his suicide, and not a coup. Even near the end, when all was lost, the Germans did not rise up and kill him. On some level, the Germans knew Hitler was evil and bad but they liked the fact he gave them their pride back. That is why the Germans of today are so fearful of nationalism.....it led to a very destructive time in their history. When people are truly unhappy, they will find a way out of their mess.
Do you really believe yourself some days. Some Germans did try to kill Hitler and paid for it with their life. Hitler also kept himself very well hidden, as Saddam does, and only let trusted aids see him.
know you are not going to agree with what I am saying but truly, what I have learned is that democracy is a relatively rare phenomenom that requires patience and ideal growing conditions. To gain it, the Iraqis will have to move towards democracy on their own......it will take a long time and it won't happen because we got rid of Saddam.
It won't happen solely because we got rid of Saddam,and it won't be done overnight; but if we set up the gov. right, it can be done. And the rewards to society can be enormous. Look at SK. Both SK and NK had approximately the same population and living standards after the war. Now, SK has 20 million more people, and they have 10 times the living standard. Japan went from a small island which couldn't feed itself in the 30's to the 2nd highest standard of living with a huge population increase. Democracy works, but it takes time and work to get it set up, but the rewards are enormous, if done correctly. Turkey is a new democracy, has seen erratic, but overall good growth. Iraq has 1/3 of the standard of living, a Turkey citizen has, even with Iraq's oil revenues. Israel, the oldest democracy in the region has an income leverl 3 times that of Turkey and 7 times that of Iraq.
I would first go after Iraq's WMD and then I would systematically go after everything else that is wrong with Iraq....its relations with its neighbors, its priorities in terms of a national budget etc. We've got Saddam on the ropes....he's not going anywhere and understands the writing is on the wall.
What makes you think Saddam will just sit on his hands while we do that. Essentially, Saddam has the option to just hand over the weapons, and he refuses to do that simple thing, so why would he allow himself to be occupied without a fight. And once we leave, why wouldn't he return back to his old self. And why take the chance, when there are so many better leaders out there, who just need a chance.
His fellow Arabs don't like it but they can't agree among themselves and they don't have the will to fight us.
Which is precisely why a quick war, and a provisional gov. will work, and a long occupation won't. The rest of the arabs just may organize. That is in fact how OBL got organized. He used the hatred against the US troops in Sa and the problems sanctions caused in Iraq to start a jihad against us. And now you want us to continue this. We should get the war over quickly, use a minimal amount of troops and civilian contractors to set up a provisional gov.
I agree.....I really don't think you're arrogant but I think the message I was trying to get across is that you need to know who you are trying to help and understand how they got to where they are before you try to impose your values.
We set up a democracy in Turkey, Iraq neighbor and fellow muslim nation, and democracy is starting to take hold there. I see no reason why a Turkey style democracy wouldn't work there. Yes, the laws, and types of bureaucracies have to be matched to Iraqs customs, but that doesn't change democracies that much. |
