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

To: Bilow who wrote (116358)	10/7/2003 9:38:13 PM
From: aladin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Carl, Ansar Al-Islam represents what percentage of Kurds? A very small one. You avoid my point that the Kurds are 99.9+% favourable. In fact most of the press avoids that issue as well - everyone runs to cover a bombing in Baghdad, but most news services don't even put a reporter in the Kurdish sectors. And as for repeated attacks - not many to be found on Google - a few, but not many. The situation is more brittle in the south with the Shia's, but again not that many attacks - even with foreign infiltration. From recent examples - less than in a similar period in Korea after the war was officially over. Now again with the Sunni middle, if it is viewed alone, it could be compared to Vietnam in 63 or 64, but many are painting it as Vietnam in 68 or 69. The reality is more like Bavaria in late '45. But I have to admit - it could go up, its simply an unknown. In avoiding the issue of Somalia you don't address the lesson of retreat. What did it teach our enemies? -> That many like you are more than willing to retreat. What was it that one 'patriotic' protest professors at Columbia wanted - oh yes - a million Mogadishus. Force the US to retreat. Now what was Somolia about? Feeding a starving population in a failed state. There was no oil, no strategic interest, no cold war bases or proxies. It had everything going for it for any liberal to like - no war for oil, help the poor etc. But what was accomplished - the people were fed, the mass starvation was avoided. Very easy to forget after Mogadishu, but it was done. However, the retreat taught the predecessor organizations of Al Queda that we did not have the stomach for a fight and for many Americans they are right. If we avoid the whole world and build an isolationist shell and crawl inside, how do we get our energy and with whom do we trade? And by the way Carl - there are thousands of dead Americans civilians because we retreated from Somolia. John