......that you all support giving them "democracy" by force. I find it interesting that you all think it's fine we're over there to give them "democracy" in the first place. Just like the Crusades, we're giving them our brand of "religion". By force.With bloodshed.
You gloss over the fact that the REASON we went to war in the first place is that our President CONVINCED Congress and the American people the Iraqis were going to inundate our coastlines with weapons of mass destruction. He made it sound IMPERATIVE. Remember how afraid we were.....how we went along with him in a heartbeat? Then of course, when those weren't found, we were removing a man who ruled his people brutally, yet had the whole country running.....like a country. We even helped him to be evil, remember?
Is it really our place to take out dictators and replace them with OUR dictators, using the same type of force? Isn't it just another form of tyranny?
So Justin, your question to me was offensive. I wouldn't have gone in there in the first place. I would have listened to CONCENSUS from all sides, my people, their people and the WORLD's concensus. I wouldn't have just pushed MY concensus according to the new map I had drawn for the world. Doesn't anyone remember GWB saying before the election something to the effect there are no good dictators, unless he's the only one?
And Ed's "When we win, they can have democracy. While they fight, they will get gun barrels." Well, we'll ALWAYS be fighting there won't we? Let's look at the conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians, let's look at the different factions of Muslims. MORE muslims hate us now than they did before 9/11, many more.
This is a no-win situation. Forget winning the hearts and minds of the 8 million people in Bagdad. You might just ask who doesn't want us there and mow them all down. You CAN NOT get people to like you or trust you or even work with you while they are being forced at the end of a gun barrel. No, this situation is going to get more dangerous and less progressive as time goes on. There was no REAL plan to occupy or rebuild Iraq in the first place....just to capture it. And the Pentagon has even said so much. That you here can gloss over the gross mistakes (if not outright LIES) that took us into Iraq in the first place, if you all think that it's our RIGHT to be there now....well then this discussion is finished.
And Betsy, could you give me the links to those blogs so I could read them in my free time? Thanks.