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


To: MrLucky who wrote (20184)6/2/2006 10:21:44 AM
From: Dale Baker  Respond to of 541299
 
Given the mediocre, self-serving caliber of politicians in Iraq, the idea of them trying to guess whether they should face down mobs in the street screaming Americans out, or use the US troops to keep themselves from being blown up, I don't see a happy ending either way.

Their likely way out is to distance themselves somewhat from the Americans under fire, then crank up their own militias to protect their butts and their turf once the US military umbrella is pulled away, or becomes too light or too frayed to rely on.

I wouldn't give you 25 cents for any of those dumb clucks myself. But our exit strategy depends on their intelligence, effectiveness, character and courage to rise above petty partisan motivations.

I am not holding my breath. Post-conflict and post-dictatorship countries are not like an instant cake mix where one egg, some flour and 20 minutes in the oven does the job. Sometimes the basic ingredients you have to work with are rotten. That's why Bosnia is still a putrid mess ten years after they stopped shooting.



To: MrLucky who wrote (20184)6/2/2006 11:17:18 AM
From: thames_sider  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 541299
 
Also, it's a bit of a false comparism isn't it? We shoudl be seriously above the stage where we say, in all seriousness, "Well, we're not killing so many innocents as the terrorists" - and expect this to be taken as a good thing!

You take my point, I hope. If you invade proclaiming your goodness, it's not really sufficient to say that you're not as bad as an evil dictator: that should be a given, a prerequisite, and not a necessary comparison.