[lit-ideas] Re: Iraq and news
- From: Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 14:09:04 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Yost <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Jan 29, 2005 12:53 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Iraq and news
Andy writes: Andreas is not being unfair. Everything I have heard from
experts and analysts says that there is, essentially, no way out. Both
staying there and pulling out have disastrous consequences."
_____
Disagree. It is unfair of Andreas to offer no constructive solutions in
the context of this discussion.
"Fix the problem not the blame" is always a useful dictum. The issue is
the future of Iraq, not whether Bush was right to invade or whether
Bush's pre-war planners were a bunch of arrogant jerks.
A.A. It's hard even for me to believe a problem isn't fixable, but all the
experts and analysts I've heard say that no matter what we do, we lose. Even
on this list we're demanding a solution, but no one has come up with one. Why?
Saying our information is imperfect is a cop out, since the administration has
the worst information. Most of us could have told them Saddam had no weapons,
the people would hate us, etc. In fact, the administration was told by the
inspectors and by the world. They ignored everyone, didn't even send in extra
inspectors, and went with their ideologies and desires instead of facts.
The administration seems to start a lot of things and then gets sidetracked.
They half baked Afghanistan, leaving lawless chaos behind, then moved into
Iraq. Now they'll take attention and resources from the lawlessness and mayhem
in Iraq and turn to Iran. After that maybe North Korea. Even if we,
theoretically, were to succeed in overthrowing Iran, what would happen? Who
would run the show? Do we annex them as the 51st state? Or will it be more
democracy on the march in which to breed terrorists? And what about
Afghanistan, one of the most lawless places on earth? Outside the major
cities, where is the democracy there, and how long will it last?
I'm nervously awaiting these elections. Can't wait to see what happens.
_____
It's hard to believe that Bush et al. learned so little from this
experience that they now are talking about repeating it with Iran, who
they suspect has nuclear weapons no less.
_____
According to a recent Asia Times article, Iran is already recruiting
suicide squadrons to fight any US occupation with asymmetric tactics.
That seems odd, since the only US actions on the table right now are
tactical strikes against their nuclear weapons production facilities,
not invasion and occupation.
A.A. The U.S. wasn't going to occupy Iraq either. What do you realistically
expect Iran to do?
Andy Amago
Eric
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