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

To: Cogito who wrote (36713)	4/23/2007 5:11:45 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 541941

Rather, I believe that what the Bush Administration has done in Iraq has created new enemies throughout the Islamic world, radicalizing many who previously were more moderate in their views. Thus the threat of terrorist attacks directed against Americans at home and abroad is greater now than before. Well, I don't know any Islamic radicals and have never met any (as far as I know), so it's hard for me to judge. It's clear that Iraq has significantly increased anti-American feeling among the people of the ME, excluding the Israelis and Kurds. However, my hunch is that outside of Iraq the people of the ME are more interested in not letting themselves turn into "another Iraq" than in attacking willy nilly US interests. What's the exact "greater danger" theory? That once the US leaves Iraq, the radicals of the various ME countries will all get on planes to fly to Mexico and sneak across the border and suicide bomb Texans at their shopping malls? I don't see it happening. I think that once the US is gone, the excuse of blaming America for the situation in Iraq will also go, and one of two things will happen. Either Iraq worsens, and Muslims around Iraq look at the horrific situation in Iraq with Muslim killing Muslim, and realize they as a group have a major Muslim problem which can't be blamed on the US since we just left, or 2- things will improve in Iraq, and then the reason for hatred of the US will dissipate since we just left (as they requested) and things improved. Basically, once the US presence is removed from the equation, the ability to blame the US for problems declines and the ability to take credit for improvements increases. The reason for hating the USA, on the other side of the planet, fade. That's ignoring the relationship with Israel, btw. The radiacals did before and will still after hate us for that, regardless of what happens in Iraq. Note that I emphatically do NOT believe that terrorist threats should cause us to defeat ourselves, and to give up the very freedoms we claim to hold dear. In large part, the way the current administration is dealing with the threat is a good example of exactly how not to do it. Well, I can't say I support many of the things the administration has done to deal with the threat, but they have succeeded in stopping any major Islamist attack against the US since 9/11. I think they'd be a lot better off as pitching the US as a friend to Islam (and to all religions), and an ally in defeating radical Islam, which is a threat to ME governments in itself. This can simultaneously accompany a campaign to point out things like Iran's prohibition on dancing in public places and Saudi's ban on a woman's right to drive a car are backasswards pathetic governmental policies which have no basis in Islam, and would you please reform your dumbass restrictive societal laws to exit the 13th century and enter the 21st. The US can be allied with Iran on many issues and still point out that not being able to dance in public is a legal restriction beneath the Iranian people. By the way, do you really believe that a Middle East engulfed in chaos would pose no threat to the US? Do you suppose we would not become embroiled in the conflict somehow? It would of course be up to us as to what to do. But the Iran-Iraq war went on for 8 years and killed loads of people, and I don't recall it having a huge affect on the USA, although I was paying less attention to geopolitical issues at that time.