Subject:
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Re: Repost, for the benefit of those on newsreaders
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 27 May 2005 19:08:16 GMT
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Viewed:
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1908 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
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Someone expressed frank misgivings about the formatting of this post:
http://news.lugnet.com/off-topic/debate/?n=26936
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That fills me with skepticism
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What can I say? The FTX shows up just fine on my browser. But because I am a
kind and generous soul, I am reposting in plain text
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(reverting to FTX:-)
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-----repost begins here-----
Here are a few thoughts--not sure how feasible they are, and some will require
greater diplomacy than is currently available to the administration.
1. Get rid of Bush.
His handling of this entire debacle has been nightmarishly inept and
short-sighted. His removal would go a long way toward demonstrating that we
have recognized his many errors and are willing to pursue a course different
from the madness he initiated.
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He was a known entity when re-elected. You had your chance and muffed it.
Wait until ‘08.
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2. Apologize for our mistakes to date.
Should be self-evident, but it hasn’t happened so far.
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Specify, and include to whom we should apologize.
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3. State our mission goals clearly.
Why did we start this war? All of the reasons given to date have been shown to
be false, so it looks more and more like our intent is just to kill as many
Muslims as we can. If we have another objective in mind, we should declare it
concretely, and we should articulate a means by which we may objectively
assess our success or failure. An exit strategy would also be helpful, as
would a rough timeframe so that it does not appear to be a deliberately
eternal war.
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If you really conclude that Bush just wanted “to kill as many Muslims as we can”
then I think you are not using rational and unbiased reasoning.
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4. Eliminate all “crusade” overtones.
That means Boykin and his ilk must be formally censured. That means that
everyone who refers to “our God” or “their God” in the context of this stupid
war must be formally censured. It means that any serviceman or woman who
desecrates a Quran must be formally censured. It means that every public
official involved in the conflict must act and speak with courtesy and
consideration of the differences at play here. Our blindness makes our
national egocentrism indistinguishable from deliberate hostility toward other
cultures.
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Thank God for the First Amendment. Personal beliefs are different from
government policy. Lay off the thought control, Big Brother.
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5. Act with humility.
It’s bad enough that we lied to get into this war. Dubya’s subsequent
arrogance (and that of his subordinates) has made it impossible to hold the
so-called “Coalition” together, and it certainly hasn’t made us any new
friends in the aftermath of the invasion.
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Let’s get rid of the “friends” talk. Nations act in their own best interests,
period. It’s just that many nations are finding that they can have their cake
and eat it, too, by letting the US do all of the dirty work, act indignant about
the process, and benefit from the results. A good gig.
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6. Remove corporate profit as an incentive in the theater.
In a true Free market this wouldn’t be a problem, but we’re nowhere near that
market, and government-santioned corporate corruption, waste, and theft are
rampant. Since this was an unprovoked (and, some argue, an illegal war), the
subsequent profiteering only makes the war seem more obviously in the service
of corporate greed. Corporate involvement, if any, should be 100% transparent
and 100% accountable. A for-profit war is nothing but corporate-run mass
murder.
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This is, of course, impossible. Profit motivation is a non-sequitur, except to
conspiracy theorists, and the whole idea is, in my mind, partisan vilification
and demogoguery.
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7. Allow broader access to reconstruction contracts.
Though France and Germany opposed our initiation of the war, they shouldn’t be
excluded from the bidding process if they have something to offer. Narrowing
the field to only those who were cajoled into joining our war makes it seem
that the war was intended for (generally American) corporate profit.
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I see your point, but it is, in the end, too offensive to consider.
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8. Secure the assistance of Arab nations.
This requires more diplomacy than we have, I know.
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No, you should have said, “this is impossible, I know”, because it is.
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Arab nations have been
largely excluded from the shaping and rebuilding of post-war Iraq,
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Really? What about the ones who are currently aiding and abetting the
terrorists who are trying to reshape and destroy Iraq?
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and our
continued failure to appreciate the extant cultural differences makes their
exclusion all the more costly and apparent.
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We have welcomed all to our country and are the most tolerant country in the
world. It is they who are intolerant of our culture!
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Additionally, the inclusion of Arab
nations would further demonstrate that this is not a war to put the middle
east under US rule.
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Arabs cannot even agree with each other, much less us.
Crikey! To whom? (Puhleese don’t say the UN!)
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Despite providing the overwhelming majority of military forces, we are clearly
unable to manage the disaster we have wrought.
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I disagree with your assessment.
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If we truly are part of a
Coalition rather than an Empire (with a few lackey nations), we should be
willing to submit to the authority of another power. No other nation would
command US forces, but the US would not be in charge of the whole quagmire.
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We tried that, and no one wanted “in”.
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10. Let them choose the government that they want.
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They are, under our tutelage.
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Dubya and co. endlessly prattle that “Freedom is on the March” and “We’re
sowing the seeds of Democracy.” That’s all crappy sloganeering. If we really
respect the freedom that we pretend to have given these people, we should
support no candidate, we should offer no rules of our own, and we should
clearly not object if the resultant government is entirely contrary to our
wishes. Otherwise we are clearly showing our disdain for freedom and for
another nation’s sovereignty.
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Let’s get the nation on its feet first.
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11. Do something about Israel.
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That’s helpful:-) What, exactly?
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No, Israel’s not 100% wrong in all things, and yes, Palestinians are not
without blood on their hands, either. But if we had to pick one thing (other
than cultural imperialism (as opposed to militaristic imperialism)) that
enflames Arab rage against the US, it’s our unwavering support of Israel no
matter how many children they murder or Palestinian families they evict or
walls they build. If we’d only step up and say that Israel has sometimes acted
inappropriately and without matched provocation, we’d increase our credibility
markedly. And we should require them to return our nukes, too.
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How about pledging 50 mil to the PA? We are on the right track WRT the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
JOHN
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 | | Repost, for the benefit of those on newsreaders
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| Someone expressed frank misgivings about the formatting of this post: (URL) can I say? The FTX shows up just fine on my browser. But because I am a kind and generous soul, I am reposting in plain text -----repost begins here----- Here are a few (...) (19 years ago, 27-May-05, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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