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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (223856)	3/13/2005 4:49:50 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572921

"Bush, himself the most intellectually backward American president of my political lifetime, is surrounded by advisers whose bellicosity is exceeded only by their political, military and diplomatic illiteracy," Kaufman wrote. That's great, but it has proven to be absolutely wrong. Since the cited article was written, we've had democratic elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. We have Egypt and Saudi Arabia actually discussing the possibility of free elections. We have had Libya surrender its nuclear arsenal. And now we have Syria pulling out of Lebanon and the sustainability of leadership in Syria coming into question. Meanwhile, the administration has kept Iran and NK in check (a remarkable feat given the mess Bush inherited). It is pretty tough to argue with success. But I know you'll try. Yes, it is tough to argue with someone who is as partian as you are. However, what you call Bush's successes are nonsense. Let's take it from the top. Demo. elections........so what? Iraq is hardly free.......the country is in chaos. There is hope for a democracy but odds are not in its favor. An election means nothing......Saddam had elections every 6 years. What's more likely is civil war. Iraq Kurds dent hopes for imminent deal on government channelnewsasia.com Afghanistan.......the Karzai has no power outside of Kabul. That's not just a liberal's POV. Its a well known fact that the warlords control Afghanistan and the country is fast becoming second to Columbia in the drug trade. Opium again driving Afghan economy japantimes.co.jp Palestine had an election. So what? You do know that Arafat was elected by the people to head the PLO. He won the same way Abbas won.........major opposition was asked/conjoled/forced to step out of the way. That's not an election in my book or rather its typical of what the ME calls elections. What's the score for Bush's democracy so far: 0 for 3. Now lets move on to Egypt and Saudi Arabia......After 20 years, the PM of Egypt is going to allow real elections. He announced this right after he had the only opposition leader thrown in jail. The Saudis had municipal elections for minor positions. Women were not allowed to vote. Both were a bone thrown to Bush. WTF do you think was accomplished? They're playing a game. There is no real move towards democracy in either case. Let's check the score: 0 for 5. Libya surrendered its nuclear arsenal. You know what......I'll give you that one because it happened on Bush's watch. Of course, everyone knows that years of sanctions and Gaddafi's spending like a 'ho did the trick. But I am feeling generous. Let's see: 1 for 6. Syria had not pulled out of Lebanon. Some troops have been taken out of the country but many are right at the border. Besides, Hezbollah represents Syria in Lebanon. Hezbollah has a militia......the largest in Lebanon. So even if the troops are eventually taken out of the country, Syria still has a military presence. Once again, its an example of a ME leader playing with Bush. And Bush knows it but there ain't much he can do about it. Lebanese denounce UN resolution as Beirut asserts role in Syrian pullout tdg.ch Updating the score: 1 for 7. Bush has kept NK and Iran in check? You're joking. NK has gone from preparing weapons ready uranium to actual nukes under Bush while Iran has speeded up its program. Both countries thumb their noses in Bush's face. Seriously, you need a reality check and to stop only getting your news from Fox. Iran Scoffs at Offer of American Incentives themoscowtimes.com U.S. softens its stance on North Korea etaiwannews.com Final score: 1 for 9. There is little success to Bush's policies. I was embarrassed for America when the news pathetically was pushing the story of democracy spreading in the ME. It was like they were catering to the emperor with no clothes. Next we will discuss Bush's many failures. Kaufmann's comment stills stands! "Bush, himself the most intellectually backward American president of my political lifetime, is surrounded by advisers whose bellicosity is exceeded only by their political, military and diplomatic illiteracy," Kaufman wrote.