My country is bigger than your country (was Fixing the UN)

Well, there's this problem for them.  We've got more resources, more
industry, and more technology.  Now, I suppose that hubris could be a
problem... it finished Hitler, after all.  But I think it's pretty obvious
which way the first 2 years of the war would go.


Dude, we haven't carpet bombed Iraq back into the stone age.  Think Dresden.
Think fall of Berlin.  Think Tokyo firestorm.  We're not really holding onto
Iraq because we're *nice*.


They *were* ecstatic that we had freed them... until the looting started.
Until they realized they didn't have any jobs.  And unfortunately, most
Iraqis don't have a strong work ethic.  They've been trying to survive,
taking orders under a brutal dictator, for so long that most of them don't
know how to think for themselves or take responsibility.  I really commend
the ones who are, the Iraqi police who are getting shot at when they have no
weapons and so forth.  They are very brave, admirable people.  But their
countrymen are lazy bums who haven't learned to stand on their own two feet
yet.  I don't blame them for not having it in them yet, Saddam was a
terrible dictator.  But there is a learning curve for them to go up about
the personal morals it takes to build a real country.

This is why it's so important to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis as quickly as
possible.  The common Iraqi will never take responsibility for his country
until he owns it.  As long as he doesn't own it, the USA is just some new
imperial power.  Generally much nicer than Saddam, but in specific instances
maybe not, as far as they perceive it.  Iraqis will blame the USA for
everything, until Iraqis are stuck with only themselves to blame.  Once they
have ownership, *then* they will say, "Hey, Saddam is gone and we do not
want him back.  Let's finish him."

Bush needs to majorly pick up the pace on turning over Iraq to the Iraqis.
There are clear parallels to the Vietnam war, about winning "hearts and
minds."  Hopefully, that is sinking in... saw on the news today a lot of
talk about "Iraqifying" the army.

-- 
Cheers,                          www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every                Seattle, WA

Brandon's Law (after Godwin's Law):
"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of
a person being called a troll approaches one RAPIDLY."

In article <bntg74$167llp$ XXXX@XXXXX.COM >,



If we're talking about "bombing them back to the stone age", I don't
really think we disagree too much. I was thinking more along the lines
of "assuming control of".

Cheers
	Bent D
-- 
Bent Dalager -  XXXX@XXXXX.COM  -  http://www.**--****.com/ ~bcd
                                    powered by emacs

Obviously, if the USA wanted to take over the non-nuclear world, it would
have to kill first and rebuild later.

-- 
Cheers,                          www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every                Seattle, WA

Brandon's Law (after Godwin's Law):
"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of
a person being called a troll approaches one RAPIDLY."