Posted on 05/21/2006 4:51:33 AM PDT by FerdieMurphy
How many nations has the author built?
This bizarre spin (the previous "governments" were intended to be temporary as means of chosing the one longterm government) is all I need to read before moving on.
Echoing the advise of "Plugs" Biden? Not a very good move. Leftist critics have never been satisfied, or right about anything. Even if we had rolled into Baghdad and found Hussein on top of a pile of chemical munitions, reading a love letter from OBL......they'd still be parroting the same lines.
advise = advice
Partition would cause a civil war. The Sunni areas don't have much oil.
"Simon Jenkins" doesn't SOUND French, but hey - what's in a name?
"....would cause a civil war."
And that is a bad thing?
The killing rate in Iraq is barely that found in the residential areas of DC.
There are other American cities with higher rates of killing, and when you get into such third-world vacation spots as Lagos, Nigeria, downtown Baghdad is seen for the peaceful respite that it really is.
Well, more than that, perhaps he ought to review the immediate post WWII Italian political history, extending right up to 1994. Seemed like they had a new government every five minutes.
Great point. In 1999 I met an Italian woman who was amused by how Americans complained about their government. She said something to the effect of "Our government, not the party but the government itself, has changed every three years since World War II, you don't know how good you have it."
She may have been exagerrating (or I'm misremembering) but her point was clear.
Even if this is an exagerration, I guess this writer wishes we'd bailed on Italy after WWII.
'Tis an ill wind that blows no good.
I for one felt that it was a mistake to try to "nation build." I did however, support the invasion and still do. I always thought that they had no ability really to build a democracy in Iraq (the people are backwards). I felt that we should turn it over to the tribes and get out and if the country was partitioned that would be the best of all worlds for everyone concerned. That being said, I feel that the Iraq's are doing better then I thought they would be doing. It is really time to take a good look at Iraq and see what is going down. It may be worth while to stay and it may be best to get out. But, the worst thing to do is make it look like we are being chased out.
Simon Jenkins is and always was, an idiot.
Depends on who wins.
Try this: Without our "nation building" Iraq would now be annexed to Iran.
Actually, she was being conservative. On average, the governments lasted something like eleven months.
Not only were there numerous political parties, but numerous contending factions within the parties, and contending factions within the factions. By comparison, Iraq is as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar. :-)
Plus, people might remember Italy has had its share of internal terrorism, death and mayhem.
That got the ol' BS detector pegging off the scale. I couldn't resist reading more of it, but none of it surprised me.
This article would make great cat litter box or birdcage liner.
Our cats deserve better litter!
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