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

To: Bilow who wrote (122023)	12/24/2003 11:57:19 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Four-Star Marine General: Iraq Strategy "Screwed-Up" truthout.org

To: Bilow who wrote (122023)	12/24/2003 1:05:28 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

but Bush's war in Iraq is doing far more to support Al Qaeda than anything that went on during sanctions. Evidence please? We haven't had a major terrorist attack against the US mainland, or base (outside of Iraq), since 9/11. What would support Al-Qaeda even more would be to preserve the status quo of economic despair in the region. And that's what would have happened if Saddam remained in power and posed even a tacit threat against his neighbors. Al Qaeda has grown so large that barely a week goes by without their blowing up another truck bomb somewhere. Where? In Iraq? It isn't happening over here is it? We've forced them to concentrate on defending THEIR OWN TURF, rather than coming after ours. Besides, you have little evidence as to how many car/truck bombings have been Al-Qaeda versus Baathist fanatics. Indeed, Bush has made the US less popular in the Arab world than it ever was before. Temporarily.. But we're unpopular with those whose corrupt power structure we've disrupted. We're definitely unpopular in Baghdad because that was the seat of Sunni power and they have the most to lose. But the Kurds and Shiites seem pretty pleased that we're there, for now. The US is unpopular because we're "p*ssing" in everyone's pools, especially with regard to the French and Russians. We have the "goods" on them now, since Saddam has been captured alive (and they don't know what he is telling us). And we're unpopular in the rest of the world because we're 33% of the total global economy and the rest of the world is being dragged into a global economy shaped in our image. That means that global forces they have little control over are directing their lives, tearing down old cultural traditions, and disrupting the previous power structure.. Globalization is pretty much an unstoppable force Bilow.. It's not being externally driven by US imperialism, but internally by populations who are no longer willing to accept corrupt totalitarian rule. And in the Mid-East, you have a particularly youthful population that is quite impressionable. If they are not provided the opportunity to grab some of the "good life" that progressive politico-economic policies can provide, they will find a scapegoat and lash out at it. Zinni fails to understand that what's driving terrorism are the demographics of the region. He's a military guy, not an economist. He doesn't seem to understand the significance on a nation when 1/2 of its population is under 18. But he understands the military consequences of being tasked with overthrowing a brutal regime and trying to restore peace and order and what is required to do it (hopefully). Zinni ignores these demographic and economic trends which are going to transpire whether we opted for containment of Saddam, or his overthrow... We've ignored them for the past 10-15 years to our peril, and it would seem that only people like Wolfowitz, however flawed the planning and execution, understand that we need to embrace a new "Marshall Plan" for the Arab world... But we can't do it all at once, nor can we throw good money after bad by continuing to subsidize the corrupt regimes of the region. Hawk