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

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (126212)	3/14/2004 11:04:20 PM
From: quidditch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Perhaps, and I hope it plays out that way. But the fall of the PP in Spain, maybe Blair in the UK and who knows what with Berlusconi. My fear is that these events might create a different reaction in the US, leading to a sizeable number of moderate Republicans and independents hunkering down in a posture along the lines of: "defend the homeland" and to hell with the weak who are cowed into yielding to terrorism. I don't feel this way, but I can envision a patriotic backlash of this sort. Kerry will have to be very judicious and canny to play these developments correctly--all a part of what I feel is his key campaign chllenge--reconciling his vote on withholding funds and attack on Bush policies in Iraq while simultaneously convincing voters that he is a guy to whom they can trust the defense of the nation and the war on terror. quid

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (126212)	3/15/2004 12:22:59 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Bush's war is a financial disaster canoe.ca <<...The brazen arrogance and profound ignorance shown by the Bush administration in its crusade against Iraq has turned the world against the United States. Occupied Iraq is acting as a terrorism generator. For the next generation of young Muslims, Iraq is becoming what Afghanistan was in the 1980s, a rallying point to fight foreign occupation, battle imperialism and defend the tattered honour of the Muslim world. Bush and his men have created millions of new enemies. Half of all U.S. ground combat forces are tied down in and around Iraq. Reserves are being mobilized for long tours. Wear and tear on overstretched U.S. forces and their heavy equipment is a grave, though little discussed, problem. Neo-con promises of "liberation" of Iraq, of joyous, flower-tossing crowds and of rapid "democratization" have turned to dust. Iraq remains a dangerous, volatile mess seething with violence and implacable Shia political demands. Twenty resistance groups now battle U.S. and allied occupation troops. Militant Islamic jihadis are heading for Iraq to fight "Great Satan" America. Yet Bush still claims invading Iraq made America safer. However, because of Iraq, much of the world now regards America itself as a menacing, unstable threat. President Bush has stuck his head into a hornet's nest. The U.S. will bleed men, money and reputation for a long time before it figures out how to get out of the first colonial misadventure of the 21st century...>>

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (126212)	3/15/2004 2:20:37 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 281500

Bad news for Spain. Socialism is not the answer to their long term economic problems. And it will not create more prosperity for their people. The left wing press seems to all be buying into the concept the socialists won because of the bombing and the previous regimes support for the U.S. foreign policy. The simple fact is, they may have won the election anyway. Spain is having a hard time swallowing the economic dislocation of the shift to the Euro. Their economy is stagnant. Too much seista imho. How countries who culturally sleep 3 hours in the middle of the day believe they can keep up with the rest of the world perplexes me. It may give comfort in the short term for those who oppose the war on terror if every election around the world were couched in this simplistic, Bush foreign policy won, Bush foreign policy lost model, but reality is far more complex.