ravi wrote:
>
>>
> the swiss guard did not create the mess in iraq. the US did. if as an
> american you wish to have a say in US troop involvement, it seems
> logical to suggest that you have, equally, a responsibility for the mess
> that the US has created. may i suggest you qualify your post with viable
> alternatives, so it (your post) does not reduce to merely [the
> expression of] an attempt to save american lives.
Ravi, this sort of argument was a factor (not the most important factor but a real one) in the deaths of several million people In Vietnam. Over and over the defenders of u.s. aggression in Vietnam insisted that the defenders of decency were not qualified to defend decency unless we had a positive program to suggest. Over and over again the defenders of u.s. aggression in Vietnam insisted that the opponents of that aggression had no right to oppose it unless we had "viable alternatives."
Chaos is not something that might happen in the future in Iraq. It is the present reality. It will be an increasing reality each day the u.s. aggressors remain there. The longer the u.s. remains, the greater will be the chaos _after_ the u.s. leaves.
Do you want the u.s. to kill (say) half a million Iraqis before they leave Iraq in chaos or would it be better if the u.s. killed only one or two hundred thousand before it leaves Iraq in chaos.
If you really think that there exists a "viable alternative" to chaos and death in Iraq you are practicing sandbox politics. No matter how long the u.s. stays in Iraq, no matter what opponents say or do, no matter what wishful thining those on the sidelines do, things are going to get worse and worse there until the u.s. simply butts out and leaves the Iraqis to fight out their own destiny without help or hindrance from outside.
I don't know what will happen in Iraq after the u.s. withdrawal. I do know that the longer the u.s. stays there, the worse it will be after the u.s. leaves. That was true in southeast asia; it will be true in Iraq. It will be true in Afghanistan. It will be true in Yugoslavia. It will be true in Haiti.
Nothing good can come from the presence of u.s. troops in an area. And it is almost criminal negligence for someone to suggest, as you do, that the opposition must have viagle alternatives to suggest. There are no viable alternatives.
Carrol
P.S. My post this a.m. was correct in substance but also riddled with cliche, as a friend pointed out to me off list.