Post by deovindice on Mar 18, 2007 8:43:19 GMT -5
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17647250/site/newsweek/
A rather interesting interview with an Iraqi journalist reinforces a notion of a dearth of the essential ingredient necessary to ensure success in Iraq.
What is the definition of that success? Presumably, the desired outcome would be a stable, prosperous, democratic state, espousing capitalist principles, and free from the violence we now bear witness to, and in some ways, are responsible for. My own well known views that this is impossible due to the oppressive nature of the religion the people choose as the basis of their law notwithstanding, let's assume for a moment that this goal is attainable in an Islamic theocracy.
What is the one essential ingredient that is currently missing from the recipe for success in Iraq? My contention is that "Iraqi" citizens of stature, education, and the means necessary to create the conditions necessary for a capitalist economy, the only sure economic system that will even have a chance of facilitating Iraq's future success, are missing from the equation. In other words, there is no viable middle class in the country. They are gone, and their education and abilities are gone with them.
Given the average Iraqi's feelings toward America, it wouldn't much matter if they were there.
Said the journalist Huda Ahmed, “I hate your government, and I hate your military, but not your people. If you visited Iraq, we would welcome you.” She didn’t hate the military right away, she explained. That sentiment only crept in after the scandals—the pictures from Abu Ghraib, the houses bombed indiscriminately, the killing of innocent people. Her hostility toward the U.S. government took root much earlier, after the first gulf war when Saddam was left in place, then through more than a dozen years of punishing sanctions.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7695224
"It's impossible in Iraq," Ahlam Hamid Abbas says. "It's miserable. Bombs and explosions. No electricity, no gas. This never happened before the Americans came. Only after. Killing, bombing, explosions, no security no economy. It's not possible to live. Nobody knows what to do."
Abbas is a refugee in Sweeden.
Contrast this with the conditions encountered by our own Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Men of stature, education, and means, who pledged "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Read of their fates.
pages.prodigy.net/constitution/129.html
Consider the sacrifices endured by this class of people that helped ensure the success of the American Revolution.
It's not happening in Iraq. The people that remain continue to fight amongst themselves and long for our exodus.
After 3217 American deaths, failed policies and strategies, and a lack of support for our presence there by our own citizenry, it's high time that we accommodate that longing.
A rather interesting interview with an Iraqi journalist reinforces a notion of a dearth of the essential ingredient necessary to ensure success in Iraq.
What is the definition of that success? Presumably, the desired outcome would be a stable, prosperous, democratic state, espousing capitalist principles, and free from the violence we now bear witness to, and in some ways, are responsible for. My own well known views that this is impossible due to the oppressive nature of the religion the people choose as the basis of their law notwithstanding, let's assume for a moment that this goal is attainable in an Islamic theocracy.
What is the one essential ingredient that is currently missing from the recipe for success in Iraq? My contention is that "Iraqi" citizens of stature, education, and the means necessary to create the conditions necessary for a capitalist economy, the only sure economic system that will even have a chance of facilitating Iraq's future success, are missing from the equation. In other words, there is no viable middle class in the country. They are gone, and their education and abilities are gone with them.
Given the average Iraqi's feelings toward America, it wouldn't much matter if they were there.
Said the journalist Huda Ahmed, “I hate your government, and I hate your military, but not your people. If you visited Iraq, we would welcome you.” She didn’t hate the military right away, she explained. That sentiment only crept in after the scandals—the pictures from Abu Ghraib, the houses bombed indiscriminately, the killing of innocent people. Her hostility toward the U.S. government took root much earlier, after the first gulf war when Saddam was left in place, then through more than a dozen years of punishing sanctions.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7695224
"It's impossible in Iraq," Ahlam Hamid Abbas says. "It's miserable. Bombs and explosions. No electricity, no gas. This never happened before the Americans came. Only after. Killing, bombing, explosions, no security no economy. It's not possible to live. Nobody knows what to do."
Abbas is a refugee in Sweeden.
Contrast this with the conditions encountered by our own Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Men of stature, education, and means, who pledged "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
Read of their fates.
pages.prodigy.net/constitution/129.html
Consider the sacrifices endured by this class of people that helped ensure the success of the American Revolution.
It's not happening in Iraq. The people that remain continue to fight amongst themselves and long for our exodus.
After 3217 American deaths, failed policies and strategies, and a lack of support for our presence there by our own citizenry, it's high time that we accommodate that longing.