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Politics : Discuss the candidates honestly. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Andrew N. Cothran who wrote (3979)	8/16/2004 12:37:57 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4965

You are a veteran of WWII. Wow! You must be an octogenarian or close to being one such. Congrats! It seems logical/noble/imperative to democratize the Moslem countries of the Middle East. But, to my mind, from the way things have been happening there, they don't seem ready to adopt democracy as their way of government should they feel a need for it. But it seems the US is not allowing them that prerogative and it is ramming democracy down their throats. No wonder they are fighting desperately to maintain the status quo. IMHO, one reason for trying to democratize the ME is to ensure the safety of Israel and to make for easy access and control of the oil there. Perhaps the most important objective is to establish US hegemony over the region. To be sure, it is vital for the US to secure ME oil for itself in order to remain as the #1 industrial power and to exert its political influence/control worldwide. I believe a role for Israel would be as a watchdog for the US in the Middle East. (However, some folks believe that Israel functions as "the canary in the coal mine" of Middle Eastern affairs.) In light of the above, I am rather cynical about the invasion of Iraq in the name of making the world a safer and better place and for the opportunity to introduce democracy in the ME. The message from the Molsems is loud and clear: "We don't want your democracy and western values. Go home and leave us to our own devices." Sad, but it seems that's the reality we should be content to live with, at least for the time being.

To: Andrew N. Cothran who wrote (3979)	8/16/2004 10:10:10 AM
From: Chas.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4965

Todays global terrorists will shut down the free world as we know it if left to "their own devices" as richnorth puts it. this is from DieZeit, March 2004 """Questionably justified, the Iraq war can have only one justification – ex post facto. If the new constitution holds, if the balance is achieved between Kurds, Sunnites and Shiites, if human and religion rights stay protected, if a functioning free-market economy grows up and all this is accompanied by internal security, the history will legitimize the war. This would then mean the beginning of the end of a political culture, which gave a once so proud civilization nothing but despotism and backwardness since beginning of the Turk rule 500 years ago.""" the political culture referenced as being undone by Democracy is rampant throughout the Middle East... Iraq, if a successful operation, can be an example to others of the ME. If not, the USA and others of the free world can settle in for a long haul struggle against terrorism... the actions and thinking of countries ie France, Canada,others.... only emboldens the tterrorists regards from chucky