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Torin · 10-14-2004, 06:41 PM

Well about Afghanistan, I assume you heard of the population trying to cheat the process, vote multiple times, and 14/16 of the people who could be elected dropping out and boycotting the process? Yeah, that one worked out real good.

The presence of Islamic extremists in Afghanistan is either significantly less than Iraq, or they act out a lot less. Well, that, and we didn't occupy Afghanistan for a year+. For those reasons alone, I don't think it will turn out the same in Iraq at all. I would be surprised to see a democratic election come to completition in Iraq, and would be even more surprised to see it survive a year. Religious extremism isn't going to go away over night, nor will it go away because a democracy has taken over. If anything, I believe a democratic government will just spur the extremists on even more, causing much of the same violence even after we leave. Eventually it will cause a breakdown, and they'll return more or less to how they are now, but fortunately for us, we won't be getting killed in the process.

And yes, I'm sure they want me to think like I am, and I will fully admit it is working. I've never once agreed with the idea of being an International Police Force, and their actions are reinforcing my beliefs. Reforming Iraq is not a totally lost cause in and of itself, but I'm personally offended that my country has to be responsible for the brunt of the work. That of course, is the fault of GWB. I believe that any international effort on the scale of reconstructing Iraq should be taken on by something along the lines of the UN, not by the US and whatever small contributions we can get from the rest of the world. GWB has flown in the face of foreign policy, and changed the way the world looks at the USA, probably forever. I disagree with how this has gone down, even if casualties are "tactically and operationally insignificant". Is the 200+ billion he has spent on the war, also insignificant?

I resent that my tax payer dollars go to that, and I resent that our country is made to look the fool in the eyes of the world, all for a folly of an excuse like "They've got WMD, we've got to go get them."

10-14-2004, 06:41 PM	#136
Torin Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 35	Well about Afghanistan, I assume you heard of the population trying to cheat the process, vote multiple times, and 14/16 of the people who could be elected dropping out and boycotting the process? Yeah, that one worked out real good. The presence of Islamic extremists in Afghanistan is either significantly less than Iraq, or they act out a lot less. Well, that, and we didn't occupy Afghanistan for a year+. For those reasons alone, I don't think it will turn out the same in Iraq at all. I would be surprised to see a democratic election come to completition in Iraq, and would be even more surprised to see it survive a year. Religious extremism isn't going to go away over night, nor will it go away because a democracy has taken over. If anything, I believe a democratic government will just spur the extremists on even more, causing much of the same violence even after we leave. Eventually it will cause a breakdown, and they'll return more or less to how they are now, but fortunately for us, we won't be getting killed in the process. And yes, I'm sure they want me to think like I am, and I will fully admit it is working. I've never once agreed with the idea of being an International Police Force, and their actions are reinforcing my beliefs. Reforming Iraq is not a totally lost cause in and of itself, but I'm personally offended that my country has to be responsible for the brunt of the work. That of course, is the fault of GWB. I believe that any international effort on the scale of reconstructing Iraq should be taken on by something along the lines of the UN, not by the US and whatever small contributions we can get from the rest of the world. GWB has flown in the face of foreign policy, and changed the way the world looks at the USA, probably forever. I disagree with how this has gone down, even if casualties are "tactically and operationally insignificant". Is the 200+ billion he has spent on the war, also insignificant? I resent that my tax payer dollars go to that, and I resent that our country is made to look the fool in the eyes of the world, all for a folly of an excuse like "They've got WMD, we've got to go get them."