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

To: Sam who wrote (110243)	8/6/2003 4:56:26 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

We will install of govt in Iraq with people like Chalabi running the show 1.) That hasn't happened yet. 2.) Chalabi has every right to build support for his candidacy as Iraq's leader (and apparently is working hard to just that). 3.) Every country has to have a leader.. Not everyone is going to agree with the choice of that leader (as seems apparent in this country). 4.) Chalabi is but one individual on a large ruling governmental council, which includes Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. The odds are that he would not be elected without obtaining the majority of support from such a council (and likely promising them positions within any government he is able to form around him). But what is important is that a electoral mechanism is put in place that will grant the people the opportunity to vote him out of office should he fail to win the necessary support. But many many Iraqis are simply not pro-Americans. Certainly the Sunnis aren't since they were the pampered segment of the Baathist regime, dominating the other groups. And I think this is a specious argument to begin with. After all, there were obviously many Germans who were not "pro-American" at the end of WWII and WWI.. They certainly weren't pro-Russian, yet both nations occupied that country.. And the same can be said of Japan. It would be nice to have every Iraqi like us. But it would also be nice if they started accepting responsibility for rebuilding their own country rather than expecting the US to do it for them, and then blaming us for not doing it "overnight", which they obviously expect from us. But a good deal of it will go to lining the pockets of Chalabi or whoever is in charge and their friends, as well as undoubtedly US companies for participating in the "reconstruction" of Iraq We didn't invent corruption.. It has always existed. And if Chalabi chooses to be corrupt, can we stop it? You just assume he will be corrupt, or that some other government will NOT be corrupt.. And that's a foolish perspective.. If you have an alternative leader who you can guarantee will not be considered corrupt by one segment of Iraq or another, then you should recommend him/her to the Iraqi ruling council. They will, I will wager, be insensitive to Shias, and will not allow them to have the power that they want and, as a majority in the country, feel they deserve. And further evidence that you are just "spouting" out negativity.. Chalabis IS Shiite, and the odds are that the Shiites will gain more power under his government than under a Sunni one. There will be various sorts of trouble, with violence in the country continually simmering and occasionally breaking out into little civil wars. You mean like Shay's rebellion after the American Revolution? What about the Whiskey Rebellion? And all the other little petty insurrections that occurred in the early years after the American Revolutionary war? That's part of "sanctifying" a democracy... All I want is for the US to expedite the training of sufficient Iraqi police and troops to maintain that order and get US troops out of the business of being policemen, and have them focus on hunting down all of those Republican Guardsmen whom, in our dubious wisdom, we permitted to "fade away". US troops are not an effective tool of "intimidation" to other nations in the region who might support the Iraqi guerillas, when they are tied up with police duties. people like me will be blamed for its failure, since we don't 100% back the action. Only if you fail to remain mindful that all the dissent you espouse discourages US troops, and ENCOURAGES those guerillas who are targeting our soldiers.. They do this BECAUSE they know people like you are more than willing to pressure Bush to remove those troops before the mission is accomplished. And thus they will target even more so long as people like yourself continue to vocalize your dissent in such an irresponsible manner. They have a mission to accomplish. They deserve our support, every ounce of it we can muster. If you criticize the Bush administration for anything, let it be that we're not accomplishing that mission fast enough, or providing sufficient protection for our troops. Don't undermind the mission of these soldiers, and their very lives, by providing aid and comfort to the enemy.. And for god's sake, don't fly to Iraq and sit in some enemy anti-aircraft gun, or anything else that might feed their propaganda effort... Hawk