Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: NickSE who wrote (108626)	7/29/2003 1:26:00 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

<Everyone is expecting the reconstruction to be completed in internet time and it's just not realistic. > Actually, it is realistic to do it in internet time. If the ridiculous idea of installing an obsolete GSM system hadn't been followed [and one has to wonder about who was getting bribery money from whom for such a daft idea to be established], then Iraq could have gone immediately to the latest and greatest mobile CDMA2000 and 1xEV-DO system giving cheap voice and cheap and fast cyberspace access, including voice over internet protocol. I guess that King George II was piqued by Brent Scowcroft [who is on the board of QUALCOMM] coming out against the war [or whatever it was he said exactly - maybe it was just for a bit more time to get a bit more multilateral support through the UN]. So, he gave the business to some GSM mates. Worldcom for goodness sakes, who were rorting the tax system, not to mention shareholders - unlike QUALCOMM which doesn't rort anybody and is paying enormous taxes to the USA government. I guess some of you have heard of Worldcom. How come they get the break?http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/0503/22worldcom.html I'm starting to think King George II is past his use by date. He STILL hasn't got the UN reconstitution process started. That's not good enough. Now he's inflicting a crooked company and obsolete technology on Iraq. He is the Commander in Chief, so the Pentagon will do as he says. With a top quality mobile cyberphone system, reconstruction and development could take place in internet time and be an example to the world of what USA technology can do. Communications are vital. There's no better method than the magical CDMA2000 phragmented photon cyberphone systems, which would bring peace, light, harmony, happiness, health, prosperity, longevity, fun and love to Iraq instead of the nothingness of GSM which will allow them to talk but will lock them into a technological dead end which will be expensive to run and won't work well. Then again, maybe King George II wants them to suffer. Mqurice

To: NickSE who wrote (108626)	7/29/2003 3:11:52 PM
From: NickSE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

"....What was missing from the anti-war movement was any indication that they might need to try to make a cogent case for their point of view, and to present it in terms which would be persuasive to the majority of Americans who did not already agree with them. What was missing was any idea that the uncommitted political center isn't impressed by sincerity, and wants to actually hear an explanation of how a proposed course of action would remove the danger we face. It still seems to be missing. Many on the left are still spending their time mooning those of us over here who've been advocating war. And it's becoming apparent that they are frustrated by the fact that it doesn't seem to be having any political impact. They're also deeply worried because we advocates seem to be getting a lot more attention. For instance, in the Yglesias comment thread, Peter Jung says, "Den Beste is a raving psychotic, and it is alarming that someone of his ilk is allotted space on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal." When someone tries to use a strategy which is dictated by their ideology, and that strategy doesn't seem to work, then they are caught in something of a cognitive bind. If they acknowledge the failure of the strategy, then they would be forced to question their ideology. If questioning the ideology is unthinkable, then the only possible conclusion is that the strategy failed because it wasn't executed sufficiently well. They respond by turning up the power, rather than by considering alternatives. (This is sometimes referred to as "escalation of failure".) Attempts by the leftists to show how emphatically they oppose war don't seem to be having any impact. Invective and ridicule has failed to discredit those of us who have been advocating war. (And that's puzzling, too. In college, denouncing someone as being "conservative" would instantly discredit them and silence them. Why hasn't that been working in the debate about the war?) So they're turning up the intensity of the ridicule and invective. If they can somehow find the right magical ad hominem characterization for their opponents, the opponents will vanish and take their dangerous messages with them. (So if "conservative" doesn't work, maybe "psychotic" or "racist" will.) By refusing to consider the idea that they might need to engage in cogent debate on the issues, including making attempts to present credible alternatives, they're taking themselves out of the game." denbeste.nu

To: NickSE who wrote (108626)	7/29/2003 8:12:07 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The reconstruction is progressing a bit slower than hoped, but it is progressing. I've posted over a dozen articles (don't think anyone is reading them...gg) in this thread detailing what's been accomplished so far and it is significant. The problem I see with reconstruction is not the pace, but that so much of what has been done has been done by the military, or by small civilian groups with massive military protection. That can’t last. If reconstruction is to progress and accelerate, it will be have to be taken on by civilian experts: the military just doesn’t have the expertise, it’s not their job. That will not happen until the security situation settles. Bechtel, and the subcontractors on the Bechtel contract, have barely moved, it’s just too hot in there. Restoration of the oil industry is way behind, as are other key factors. We need a few more months to eliminate the bulk of the terrorists, fedayeen, Baath, criminals, and other troublemakers. After that it should be smooth sailing. I wish this were true, but I just can’t see it. Iraq has virtually open borders with Syria and Iran, and every Tom, Dick, and Abdul who wants a crack at ambushing an American, or blowing one up, is free to enter. Our capacity to track these people down is very limited: think of how hard homeland security is here, and think of how hard it would be with no FBI, INS, or reliable police force, and open borders with hostile states. Remember also that there are many people nominally supporting us who would love to see a premature exit. Nothing there is simple. Regarding Iraqi goodwill, I don't believe we will lose it. Believe me, if our guys start shooting into crowds, we will lose it, and fast.