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

To: RetiredNow who wrote (237268)	6/15/2005 9:54:41 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572099

I agree with this part: Certainly, the Americans made many mistakes, but at this stage less and less can be blamed on them. The burden is on Iraqis. Not sure how that ties in with the idea that the US government needs to have more discussion about Iraq. If you ask me, the US government should begin telling Iraqis that Iraqis need to have more discussion about Iraq, because the US has accomplished its job (remove Saddam and initiate the civil democratic process) and its time for the citizens of the new, free Iraq to carry the ball from here.

To: RetiredNow who wrote (237268)	6/15/2005 10:13:46 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572099

re: Well, we need to talk about Iraq. This is no time to give up - this is still winnable - but it is time to ask: What is our strategy? This question is urgent because Iraq is inching toward a dangerous tipping point - the point where the key communities begin to invest more energy in preparing their own militias for a scramble for power - when everything falls apart, rather than investing their energies in making the hard compromises within and between their communities to build a unified, democratizing Iraq. We can talk all we want, there is nothing we can do. Sooner or later there is going to be a sectarian power struggle, a civil war that will resolve what Iraq will look like in the future. We can hold that day off by policing Iraq, and getting our kids killed in the process, for as long as we want, but it won't change anything. Those that thought and think that we can remake Iraq in our image are crazy. It's been tried before... John

To: RetiredNow who wrote (237268)	6/15/2005 2:01:30 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572099

Any thoughts folks? -------------------------- Let's Talk About Iraq By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Published: June 15, 2005 Ever since Iraq's remarkable election, the country has been descending deeper and deeper into violence. But no one in Washington wants to talk about it. Conservatives don't want to talk about it because, with a few exceptions, they think their job is just to applaud whatever the Bush team does. Liberals don't want to talk about Iraq because, with a few exceptions, they thought the war was wrong and deep down don't want the Bush team to succeed. As a result, Iraq is drifting sideways and the whole burden is being carried by our military. The rest of the country has gone shopping, which seems to suit Karl Rove just fine. I don't want to talk about it. ted

To: RetiredNow who wrote (237268)	6/15/2005 2:09:13 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572099

Our core problem in Iraq remains Donald Rumsfeld's disastrous decision - endorsed by President Bush - to invade Iraq on the cheap. From the day the looting started, it has been obvious that we did not have enough troops there. We have never fully controlled the terrain. Almost every problem we face in Iraq today - the rise of ethnic militias, the weakness of the economy, the shortages of gas and electricity, the kidnappings, the flight of middle-class professionals - flows from not having gone into Iraq with the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force. Like many people commenting on the war..........they seem to think if we just do something different, everything will turn out okay and Iraq will quiet down. This presumption seems to me to be a very American outlook........if you just work hard enough, your goal will be yours. It seems to me that such a premise gets a lot more complicated when it occurs on soil outside of the US. And we may have to accept it won't work in Iraq. ted