Ron Paul - Your Money In Iraq

I have not given in in any way. What we are engaged in is politics, and politics is the same thing as war less the systematic killing, to re-interpret Clausewitz's famous dictum.

The first thing that must be done is to allow ourselves to see the situation we are in clearly. Only then can we act prudently. We are in a post - Republic, very late Enlightenment era, where money is what comes from a government printing press or computer entry. The Constitution, against the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, is whatever nine unelected lawyers in DC say it is. Soon we will have computerized voting, and a few keystrokes with the right password and any vote count desired is delivered. As Stalin pointed out, "It doesn't matter who votes, it matters who counts the votes."

We have to deal with the world as it is, and not confuse reality with our hopes and dreams.

To explain the brilliance of Bush's plan would take many pages. At the core of the effort is the attempt to corrupt Iraq with what is usually called Modernity, that is, with the Brittney Spears - Madonna culture. To make them like modern Americans, cultural and religious relativists, multiculteralists, tolerant of any sin, and engaged in endless efforts to impress the Jones, or in this case the Mohammad next door.

To buy cars on time, houses on mortgage, to "invest" in the stock market, to demand the "right" to health care and social security pensions.

This culture of ours is the most lethal of all of our weapons, vastly more effective than any number of nukes, and will spread from Iraq throughout the Moslem world.

The West being rich the Moslem can stand, by saying to himself that he is more virtuous than any American and that the American's have stolen all of their wealth from people like himself. To see Iraq "prosperous and peaceful" would shatter his world view. Total demoralization follows. Islam would no longer be of world - historical importance.

This $87,000,000,000 - A sizeable chunk of cash, certainly, must have taken all night to print out the mass of hundreds, 870,000,000 pieces of paper, actually a great weight, is for BRIBES, enough money to give every Iraqi a $100 dollars.

It would be wastefull to hand it out for nothing, and instead the money will pay for many things for many people, reliable electricity, roads, drinking water, sewage systems, millions of well paying jobs, and Home Depots, car dealerships, McDonalds, furniture and appliance stores, internet and cell phone vendors where thy can spend their money. Televise American television dubbed in Arabic, a hundred channels on the cable that carries the broadband for their entertainment.

They wouldn't stand a chance.

"We have to deal with the world as it is, and not confuse reality with our hopes and dreams. "

Nicely stated.

Although I disagree with some on this discussion, I respect their views. Unfortunately, I too beleive that we no longer live in a reality that truly exalts and respects the individual constitutional freedoms given to us by our forefathers.

Our nation is being attacked on all sides, internally and externally. Each, I believe, is attempting to destroy or reshape our culture. To me it is a matter of priority, I see the external threats as having the biggest opportunity to unleash death and chaos within our borders.

Many see the Middle East as just another skirmish that we should not be involved in, I don't. I see what is going on as an inevitable confrontation between two cultures.

The dictates of Islam are quite clear; the spreading of their way of life to all corners of the globe is their mandate. It is far from being a coincidence that of all the major armed conflicts taking place in our world today, over 90% involve Islamic Fundamentalists. From Southern Europe, to the far east, and now even to our shores, the Islamic crusade is on the move.

I don't see how isolating ourselves from the inevitable confrontation will make us safer. I believe that will only serve to hugely magnify the cost in defending our nation.

At this time in history our country has been given a unique opportunity to act. We can attempt to write our own history, rather than have it be written for us. I believe that is what the current Administration is attempting. I believe they see Iraq as the first, and most important, piece in this experiment.

If the Moslem world in the Middle East can't, or refuses, to accept our right as a culture to exist and prosper than all bets will be off. If that is the future, 9-11 will look like a walk in the park on both sides.

I pray our attempts at reshaping the Middle East work, I don't like to think of the alternative.

IMHO, take it or leave it.

Hi, bc,

"do you think it can be saved"? - no.

"do you think it's OK"? Do I like what has happened? no. Do I see it as inevitable when I look at history in detail since the 16th Century and the American experience in particular? With sadness, yes.

"what are you doing about it?" - As each generation must, we must build from the rubble left behind by the previous generations, sifting usable bricks and stone, steel and copper, out of the waste of old dreams. Socialism was tremendously powerful in this country from the end of WWI, and the lust for socialism can be seen in the Union side of the war of 1861. There is a lot needing building. Hundreds of years of effort have proved to be fruitless. I try to get people to see that the basic structure of their everyday lives has changed, and has to change more. I am afraid and nearly certain that instead of changing how they see themselves and reality people will not change their hearts and minds soon enough, and will elect a "man on horseback" who will "save them from repression and servitude" to the "soulless Corporations" and the "rich" when the times go bad. Pretty bad times at the moment, actually, and wait for the inflation - deflation - inflation and unemployment on the horizon.

I raise my family, and try to prepare them by trying to make them think and see clearly, and work on the hearts and minds of those around me. Many illusions will have to go. Faith in "democracy" and the essential goodness of human nature will be lost. So will the hope that Government can be "good." Perhaps government as "neccesary" or "unavoidable" will replace government as "Uncle Sugar" combined with "a fountain of justice."

This sounds pessimistic but is actually not. Something good cannot be built until we stop trying to make the impossible happen. There are many positive possibilities. The Iraq business, the Empire, the dilemma we face generally, could have been avoided. We will come to see that this is so. What we now see are the fruits of hubris, as the ancient Greeks put it. The Tower to Heaven falls, Babel, and the people are dispersed into separate languages and tribes.

There will be an attempt to revive the ancient traditions of our culture, Duty, Honor, Country, as MacArthur put it, and it will succeed. I work toward this. Whether the future generations can build something good upon the foundation we the living leave behind depends on how well we build, but in the end will be up to them.

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