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

To: RetiredNow who wrote (243953)	7/28/2005 4:27:43 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1584274

To close with a metaphor that no doubt you will find offensive, Iraq is like a bad child. They hate you for punishing them and they hate you as you try to build up the discipline and character within them so they can succeed. Seriously, I don't hate the simile or metaphor you suggest but rather I am embarrassed by it. Iraqis are not children. They are adults and in some ways much more sophisticated than Americans when it comes to the ways of the world. No wonder you don't question that democracy will come sooner rather than later to Iraq. Unfortunately, to describe Iraq as a bad child underestimates the strengths and capabilities of its people.......and the nature of some of them. A more apt description is to describe Iraqis as a people who because of repression and violence for decades have developed a strong and substantial, criminal underclass that undermines the stability of the country and the occupation by the US. Furthermore, that underclass rejects any attempts at democraticizing the country with the remainder of the Iraqis not all that willing to put their lives on the line. In fact, Iraqis are reverting to tribal militias who operate outside the gov't to maintain security. That is why I do not believe democracy is in the cards any time soon. I am afraid neocons like Bush et al do not have much international experience and assume that something that has worked in the US will work overseas with a little effort. That's just not true. That concept is what helped get us into the current mess in the first place. I understand now why you think the way you think. Given your view, it has to work because everyone knows that with a little love and firm had an errant child will come around to a parent's POV. WRONG! Seriously, dude, very wrong. But when they are older and they look back on their youth, they will come to realize that without your firm hand, they would have been in a much worse place throughout their adult lives. So too it is with Iraq. Some of them may not like us very much now (although a good many of them still want us there), but in 5-10 years when they are reaping the fruits of freedom and Democracy, they will begin to thank us in their hearts, even if they never do it publicly due to pressure from all the Arabs living around them who still despise us. Dude, your talents are wasted on this thread. Please go to Hollywood and write war/romance screenplays for them. Seriously.........your thinking is not bad; but IMO its just not grounded enough for the reality that exists in Iraq.