[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.

also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

[SMARTY]

"What the U.S. is trying to do in the Middle East is costly, easily made fun of and unappreciated."

I heard a news person repeat Nancy Pelosi's remark that 'why hasn't the us defeated terrorism yet when it took 4 years to defeat Nazism?'

How excessively gullible can a person be?

The second war had been going on a long time before the US joined the fight. AND most importantly, in THAT fight ... we had firm ALLIES. Can she be more demonstrably stupid?

[uptoolate]

bookmark

[RhoTheta]

Good article!

[Billthedrill]

In truth, fostering democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq was not our first, but last choice. It was not a good option, only a bad one when the other alternatives had proven far worse. What the U.S. is trying to do in the Middle East is costly, easily made fun of and unappreciated.

That's been my position for some time now - the crux of the matter is convincing the skeptical that our current delicate watering of the seeds of democracy is, in fact, a less bad policy than simply letting the whole area go. Given an expansionist and aggressive Iran that is soon to be a nuclear power, that isn't as difficult as it used to be. Now the challenge is to prove that it's a less bad policy than a pre-emptive war with Iran. That turns out to be less easy to show than it used to be.

[sauropod]

I agree with your headline.

My verbal barrage peeled some paint off the walls once I found out that the U.S. is committing hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild southern Lebanon.

Why are we stuck with the bill?

[Tolik]

            "Messy Democracy Still the Best Course"

    Victor Davis Hanson Ping ! 

       Let me know if you want in or out.

Links: FR Index of his articles:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson 
His website: http://victorhanson.com/     NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp

[DoctorMichael]

Why should America commit resources to help reform a dysfunctional Middle East?

I have pondered this question also:

1) Because we have to do business there; they have oil, the West needs oil, and like a welfare recipient, they didn't do a thing for this gift they live on top of, except to be born there. The most efficient solution, of course, is to kill 'em all and take what we need; however, history would never let us live it down.
2) God abhors a vacumn; not to stay engaged would mean some of our esteemed and loyal allies like Putty-poot and Hu would be meddling there; Ignorant savages are easily manipulated.

Conclusion: We are going to have drag these Neanderthals, kicking and screaming, complete with their 7th Century moongod cult, into the 21st Century.

[justshutupandtakeit]

That is an easy question to answer because if left to their own devices their danger to us multiples exponentially.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

There are at least two reasons why the US should be concerned about the Middle East.
1. Geopolitically they are in a strategic position.
2. Petroleum. The West has permitted itself to become economically dependent on their oil. It will take about 20 years to straighten this out (optimistic view).

[visitor]

My e-mail this morning to: sf.nancy@mail.house.gov

"Pelosi had said: "If Mr. Rumsfeld is so concerned with comparisons to World War II, he should explain why our troops have now been fighting in Iraq longer than it took our forces to defeat the Nazis in Europe."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/01/AR2006090101414_pf.html

THAT'S AN EASY QUESTION, NEITHER PARTY WANTED TO ACCEPT DEFEAT AND BRING OUR TROOPS HOME, PLUS WE WERE UNITED IN WINNING THE WAR WITH AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER...RTO