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

To: carranza2 who wrote (156190)	1/13/2005 4:28:49 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

"We need to get them to discard the idea that there is an ulterior motive for everything..." Even I don't believe that. Do you believe that? I don't believe ulterior motives are the only motives, but I certainly think they are out there- and that motives are very mixed. And trying to sell someone of even average intelligence on the purity of American motives seems... hopeless- and you seem to be suggesting we sell something which is false, since you say "despite the fact that the reasons we are in Iraq are mostly self-serving." I happen to agree with what you said about the reasons we are in Iraq. I think we basically agree, but I think it would be impossible to do the kind of PR job you suggest. It was probably always impossible, but at the point I think it certainly is.

To: carranza2 who wrote (156190)	1/13/2005 5:48:05 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

"We need to get them to discard the idea that there is an ulterior motive for everything, that we are there to steal their oil, that we intend to control their politics, etc., despite the fact that the reasons we are in Iraq are mostly self-serving. People naturally self-select. That is why we finally had to impose equity rules in our own culture so that women and minorities got a fair shake in employment. Iraqis have an entrenched culture of tribal and ethnic loyalty. They view us as operating on some similar premise of doing good for our own at the expense of the other (them). To select what we offer is to turn their backs on the people of their tribe and ethnicity in favor of the 'other' (us). When/if they view our ideals of autonomous self rule in a way that is beneficial to them as individuals and ultimately to their progeny, they will begin to select what is common to them and to us as members in humanity ... some already do that. We need to continue to reach out and let them know that we are one with them in this cause.