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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oeconomicus who wrote (39015)	8/17/2005 5:13:39 AM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Hear! Hear!

To: Oeconomicus who wrote (39015)	8/17/2005 8:48:02 AM
From: Constant Reader	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 90947

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I agree that the elections were an impressive sight to behold. It is unreasonable to expect a liberal democracy to spring forth tomorrow. Time will tell if the local power brokers hammer "out a constitution for a stable, unified Iraq." You think they will and I hope they do. (I'm not sure that codifying sharia law, albeit supposedly "voluntary," and relegating women to second-class status (currently under debate) after 30 years of what was, after all, secular rule with equality for women is a step forward.) You are correct - it takes time to build democracy. Do you believe that there is sufficient political support in this country to support long-term American military involvement in Iraq? I don't see it. Without that long-term military presence, Iraq's future is in serious doubt. I believe that there is a high likelihood that, immediately after the constitution is approved by voters, our troops will begin to pull out and that, within a year, about a 50% reduction will have occurred (just in time for our mid-term elections). There are no signs that terrorism in Iraq is abating or that it will any time soon. The frequency and deadliness of attacks has been relatively constant (the size of the bombs has been increasing, however). This leads to my point about not being able to help those who won't help themselves. The Iraqi people have to decide they have had enough and start turning in the foreigners and the material hiding places. 30 months into the occupation and they are no more likely to do so than they were the day we arrived. On the subject of Islamo-fascism, the biggest proponent of that being Al-Qaeda, I don't remember reading anything published by them calling for world domination. Have you? (I could be wrong, so I am asking) They have repeatedly mentioned restoring the Caliphate, however, and that involves all of North Africa and substantial parts of Southern Europe. (I'm not trying to quibble, just thinking it doesn't help to overstate what they say they want). They want us out of those areas and want to control the area according to religious laws as interpreted by them. Of course, they want to destroy Israel and push the Jews living there into the sea. I am sure that we agree that all of these things are worth resisting and fighting against. I'm not saying we can't fight it. I'm not saying we should not fight it. I am saying that there is every indication that the American people are NOT willing to commit to a long-term military presence under constant attack in a far away nation. I could be wrong about that but rapidly declining polling numbers aren't reassuring.