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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bruce L who wrote (22841)	2/9/2005 10:38:05 PM
From: bull_derrick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

It's a good article but I think the writer misses the point that it's the civilian discontent that drives the insurgency in the Sunni areas. There may be the motivations of the Sunni politicians but one has to consider what motivates the average Sunni guy who can't get a job, sits in an apartment in 110 degree heat without electricity and has iffy access to water and sanitation. While the writer may be correct about geopolitical aspects, the insurgency will be put down largely if life returns to what passes for normal in Iraq or even a little better than in the days of Saddam. The anger that burned in the German civilians after WW I is what fueled the dynamic of the Nazi party into power. Give the civilians power, clean water, a chicken in every pot and it takes the appeal out of joining a radical group. The insurgents know this and that's why infrastructure takes frequent attacks. Regarding the Iraq/Iranian tensions, it's an obvious problem to me that an election in a country that's majority populated by Shias that follow Ayatolloh's is going to have a tough go of it. From a long term historical perspective, the book of Daniel in the Bible records Darius from the Medes and Persians (Iranians) conquering the Babylonians (Iraqis) a couple of thousand years BC. These people have a long history of battle and occupation with each other. PS Just a piece of trivia on that point, the night before Babylon fell, it was recorded that a hand appeared before the Babylonian king and wrote on the wall some words which were translated by Daniel that the King's time was up and he was weighed in the balance and found wanting by God. The Babylonian King was slain by the Persians that night. The expression "read the handwriting on the wall" comes from that story in the 5th book of Daniel.