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

To: frankw1900 who wrote (153347)	12/6/2004 3:48:54 PM
From: Michael Watkins	Respond to of 281500

> So, Michael Watkins, what would you write to this Iraqi citizen? < I would simply state that for every story of joy there are tens of thousands of sorrow. No one wanted Saddam to stay, but also no one wanted a civil war started or for the US to blow Iraqi civilians to bits or Iraqi civilians to die by the tens of thousands for whatever cause. For every positive story there are as many or more to the contrary. Meanwhile, we've instilled a certain form of tyranny -- you can't call it anything but. We started a civil war, in part because of the invasion itself (which we can argue till each is blue in the face was either right or wrong) but also because we botched the invasion since no realistic plan was in place to keep the peace. We alone bear responsibility for that. We were the ones that screwed up Iraq's economy both before the war and after; we were the ones that broke their electricity, sewage and clean water in the first place; we laid off or completely changed their formerly state run industries, throwing thousands of men out of work; we gave jobs to foreign contractors that were once done by Iraqi's, and paid them more. We alone bear responsibility for that. We touched off a civil war by not coming to the country with a plan to rapidly bring together all cultural groups. We pretend its not a civil war for our own propaganda reasons, but that's what it is. We alone bear responsibility for that, not Saddam. The person you quote might be happy; but you need to talk to Iraqi's still living there, those who had their families torn apart, to get the true sense of the country. Hanging out in a Tim Horton's donut shop where the worst thing that can happen is the consumption of trans fatty acids is not the right environment to take the pulse of the "average" Iraqi citizen. At any rate, you should not mistake my criticism of what is going on in Iraq with a lack of desire to see Iraqi people get freedom or the government they wish. I just don't believe the US is capable of delivering it to them at a cost that is acceptable.