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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sultan who wrote (216133)	2/3/2007 7:05:13 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

I know we can't do more than talk about it. No one's asking me for my views either. g. As an intellectual exercise I've been trying to make the point that all this blood and money and all this rhetoric about HOW to create a democracy in Iraq assumes a very big fact; that democracy in Iraq would be good thing. It was an easy sell since after decades of "our team's number one," most of Americans immediately thought that democracy would automatically mean good things. Bush and his spinners made sure of that with jingoisms like "democratic governments don't attack their neighbors," and "free men don't engage in terrorism." To make it even more saleable he added in the not so subtle message that "freedom is a god-given right." Didn't that get all the magical thinkers heated up? As for me, if I could wave a magic wand and implement democracy in Iraq today, I wouldn't do it. I'd feel too bad about what a democratic majority of intolerant, theocratic and violent people would do to those who wanted to think, believe or worship differently. If I had the power I'd establish a semi-benevolent dictatorship and hope that education and information would change the culture over time. Or maybe I'd divide the country into sectarian camps that could be expected to self rule more benevolently. But of course I don't have that power and, as the buffoons in the Administration are belatedly learning, they don't have that power either. So I'd step back to where I could spray cold water on the worst fires once in a while and protect their borders while they had their civil war and worked things out. And I'd feel pretty bad about all those good people that died to make things worse, again. Ed PS, I can't look at videos cause I'm on reeeaaalllly slow dial up.