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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (5477)	11/18/2005 10:01:44 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541922

Just for comparison, Bosnia has had ten years of ceasefire and international control to help build their minimally viable institutions, and no one I ever met in the international community thought the place could stand on its own even today. I don't think the American public's patience extends past 2010, or even much past 2006. I know that is a bad outcome but they are all bad outcomes short of some miracle success the next six months. Maybe I'm just a cynic based on my Balkan experiences. But Iraq looks a lot worse and more difficult than Bosnia in many ways.

To: Lane3 who wrote (5477)	11/18/2005 10:17:22 AM
From: TigerPaw	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541922

stick it out until Iraq has the wherewithal to give it a go. It won't happen. It is our very presence that keeps the Iraqi government as second banana. That makes them weak in the eyes of the insurgency. The U.S. doesn't have an army large enough to actually beat the insurgency but only to push it along from city to city and finally back to the original ruins. Iraq will never have the wherewithal to give it a go until we have the courage to let them do it. TP

To: Lane3 who wrote (5477)	11/20/2005 5:36:16 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541922

The only sensible and moral thing I can think of to do right now is stick it out until Iraq has the wherewithal to give it a go. That would be trained forces and government infrastructure. OUr continued presence while that happens may or may not be making things worse. But abandoning Iraq now is just not acceptable IMO. We need to give it enough time for at least minimally viable institutions to be in place and that takes a certain amount of time. A very sensible position, and I think probably the centrist position, as well. I nominate Kholt for the voice of the center. But how the hell do we motivate the freaking Iraqis to actually lift a finger in their own defense? And what do we do about the corruption? Ahmed Chalabi may actually look good compared to the Iraqi defense department that stole the entire budget.