"Robert J. Chassell" wrote: > > I just read transcript of US President Bush's speech of 2003 Feb 26 on > the future of Iraq. It provides an interesting insight into the > public expression of US policy Middle East. > > The transcript came from the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, Australia: > > http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/27/1046064150688.html > > Clearly, many people distrust Bush. In the US, for example, some > people say that Bush's untrustworthyness has cost the US vast amounts > of money in its dealings with Turkey: apparently, the Turks want cash > in return for help they provide the US, not promises that may be > broken. > > However, regardless of what you think of Bush's honesty, in his > speech, he made statements that can act as a guide to policy. > > Perhaps he holds to the truth or goodness of his statements, or > perhaps, as Fronçois, Duc de las Rochefoucauld said, > > Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue. > > Either way, the statements can be evaluated on their own. > > Rather than ask you to read the speech, I have drawn up a list of > `should' and `should not' statements based on stated US policy; I am > curious whether and why you agree or disagree with one or the other. > > Obviously, `the devil is in the details', but the analysis here is > based first on principles, as Soviet diplomats would say, rather than > on details, which people in this list are unlikely to want to consider. > > Here are the `should' and `should not' statements, each accompanied by > one alternative out of the several available.
<statements snipped, refer to original post> At first reading, it looks to me like the statements all have a common goal of stability in the region. This is best in the long run for the majority of the population. However, there is a minority that would benefit from instability, and those in that minority are more likely to already have more power to help maintain the instability. Julia _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l