<snip> > > After 9.11, even if one took the most generous pro-Bush position, one=20= > must admit that the US > government could have done very little because, as the Report points=20= > out in overwhelming > detail, the government system has been completely incapable at all=20 > levels of dealing with al > Qaeda. Even if Bush were George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and=20 > Albert Einstein all in one, > he would not have been able to do much. M.C. Surely that's false. If Bush (a) had been aware and (b) had given=20= a rat's ass about the disastrous American intelligence situation, then=20= he would bloody well have begun its fundamental, top-to-bottom reform,=20= within a week after 9/11. Start immediately to increase the number of=20 Arabic language and Islamic specialists by about 100 fold, however much=20= it costs. As always, the main problem with U.S. foreign policy is the = ignorance=20 on which it's based. What *is* Islam? What are the differences between=20= Sunnis and Shi'ites? What is Baathism, if such a thing can really be=20 said to exist=A0? What are the differences and similarities between=20 Baathism (if it exists) and al-Qaeda-style Islamic fundamentalism? What=20= are the nature, goals, and influence of Iranian-backed Shi'ite=20 fundamentalism? The same questions have to be asked and answered about=20= Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and a host of other=20 nations. Under the American =93intelligence" community is in a position = to answer=20 these questions, they're just pissing in the wind. All they have on=20 their side is brute force, and brute force always loses sooner or=20 later. It seems to me as clear as noon in Baghdad that the Americans = are=20 going to lose the war in Iraq, sooner rather than later. The winners=20 will be the fundamentalists, who, as Andreas correctly states, are=20 already back in power in Afghanistan. What we can expect from the Iraq=20= of the future is epitomized by the case of Iraqi Christians: left alone=20= under Sadaam, they are now the targets of systematic, well-organized=20 terrorist attacks. After two thousand years of peaceful existence in=20 their homeland, they will no doubt be annihilated within 5 to 10 years. All of this appalling, depressing, disastrous situation - yes, = Eric=20 and Andreas, *all* of it - is due to the greed and stupidity of the =20 Bush administration. That's where the buck stops. > > Michael Chase (goya@xxxxxxxxxxx) CNRS UPR 76 7, rue Guy Moquet Villejuif 94801 France ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html