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

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (130374)	4/28/2004 11:09:16 PM
From: h0db	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Geez, Hawk, where to begin... On the flip-flopping: borrowing a line from the Bush campaign I see. I haven't flipped one flop. You're trying to say I favor imposing democracy in Iraq; no, I'm saying that is what Bush is trying (and failing) to do. It can't be done. Democracy must be organic. You cannot impose it anymore than you can impose industrialization. "... but the US has not been sanctioned as some country that violated international law by enforcing UN resolution." Then why did Bush (at Blair's urging) ask for another resolution sanctioning the use of force? The resolution failed...and we did it anyway. Now Bush is on bended knee, begging the UN to sanction an interim Iraqi authority to which we can "hand over sovereignty" on 1 July. "What was illegitimate was the role of France..etc" I'm not defending France, Germany or Russia, but their corruption and greed do not justify concocting reasons to do what Bush was going to do anyway. "And no war to overthrow a despotic regime can be construed as "illegitimate"..." Well then we had best get crackin' because there are a whole bunch of despotic regimes out there begging for overthrowin'! Would you like to start with the "Axis of Evil" or go straight for China? Or hows about our "friends" in the region like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States, Kuwait? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And before you overthrow a despotic regime, you had damned well better have an idea of what you're going to replace it with. It doesn't come down to your abstract Strausian definition of moral legitimacy; these are political actions with consequences for global stability and US legitimacy. Otherwise you can justify any use of force by "moral" US power on the very simple grounds that the ends (democracy) justify the means. Congratulations; you are invoking Lenin. What trumps their jihad is our culture and our democracy. Destroying our rights does not secure theirs. Destroying the influence of American power does not increase our legitimacy. "They" may indeed want to kill every one of us, but if we adopt the mirror image of their aims, then what happens to your moral superiority?