It is all but a fait accompli now that the US will be pulling out of Iraq, the unofficial word being having suffered an embarrassing defeat much like Vietnam. Donald Rumsfeld once said that, long drawn-out wars are difficult in democracies. When bodies start coming back in body-bags, democracies with forceful opposition parties, effective media voices and other forms of loud protests available to them, don't have the stomach for war.
A feat similar to this happens in India too. No matter how deadly the attacks from across the border, our response is always muted and invariably confirmed to the rhetorical. We have several parties, often hedging their own agendas and vote-banks, to negotiate with before any action whether military or economic is taken. For example, what the BJP considers a crackdown on terrorism (POTA), is touted by Congress as minority (Muslim) harassment. Are democracies up to the challenge of dealing effectively with external threats or are they mired and embroiled in partisan politics rendering them weakened institutions? selma ____________________________________________________________________________________ Have a burning question? Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------
