<html><body>     Well, what does on call 40,000 more troops? Escalation.       What the last post ignores is that a war is likely to be reinvigorated after a Kerry election. For one thing, it will no longer be the war of Bush or the NeoCons and can be provided with a whole bunch of humanitarian rationalizations (As the Clinton Administration was good at doing). Further many of those organizations who are anti-war now, may back off (or change sides) with a Democrat in the White House.          A Kerry White House would be more likely to reinstitute the draft (many of the "progresive" dems in Congress already openly support this), with humanitarian and equalitarian rhetoric.  This would be less likely as long as Rumsfeld is in charge of the Defense Department..             A Kerry Administration is more likely to broaden the war by bringing in the Western Europeans in a way that would be unthinkable under Bush. This, coupled with the escalation that sending in 40,000 more troops is not a pretty picture as far as the Iraqis and the draftees who get sent are concerned.           <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- >> eventually either Kerry or Bush, whoever is in charge when matters > become completely hopeless, will have to C and R. > >> >> > > > The really fundamental question is: which course of action would make > it more likely that the general foreign policy course that the U.S. > government takes in the coming years and decades will be (at least > incrementally) more beneficial for the world than it has been -- > putting Kerry into the White House or not putting Kerry into the White > House (that is, letting Bush stay)? I still have not heard anything > like a reasonable argument from the anti-Kerry group explaining why, in > any shape or form, to keep Bush in. And this is just with respect to > foreign policy, not to mention the whole field of domestic policies. > > > Jon Johanning // jjohanning@igc.org > __________________________________ > Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful > hints for the better ordering of the universe. -- Attr. to Alfonso the > Wise, King of Castile > > ___________________________________ > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>