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To: LindyBill who wrote (5480)	8/20/2003 7:45:39 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793622

In a phone conversation with Imus yesterday, Friedman gave success in Iraq a 50/50 chance.

To: LindyBill who wrote (5480)	8/20/2003 11:15:11 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793622

Friedman the NeoCon! He's definitely bought into the nation building thing in Iraq, whether that's NeoCon or not is very debatable. He and Pollack are both now arguing that the only way to get the Iraqi mess straightened out is to get the population to see the opposition in negative ways. Sufficiently negative to (a) not support them, and (b) turn them in to the authorities. Nation building lite, the present Bush policy won't do that trick and it's not clear the US electorate will support nation building serious given that the basic justifications for the invasion did not involve nation building. They were rather the threat of Al Q's fanciful ties to Saddam and the even more fanciful business of an imminent threat from weaponized wmds in Iraq.

To: LindyBill who wrote (5480)	8/20/2003 6:57:47 PM
From: KonKilo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793622

Friedman the NeoCon! I'm curious, Lindy...how did you read Neo-Conism into this column? Friedman was highly critical of the post-war planning and repeatedly urged the US to turn the reins of power over to the Iraqis faster. Am I missing something here? Yes, America must work harder now and devolve more power to Iraqis faster. And of course, herein lies the rub...we could move more power into the Iraqis' hands immediately, but what sort of a government would probably result? Most likely a Shi'ite theocracy of some sort, according to the consensus of most experts. Therefore, we must hang on until we can install a more US-friendly govt, but we can't hold on too long for fear of losing all support from the common Iraqis. The old saying about having a tiger by the tail applies.