Bill writes:
>OK, you whining left-wing Libruls! What would you propose we do???!<
heck, no one asked me (perhaps partly because I ain't a Librul). The powerful folks -- the Bastards of Bush -- don't care what I think. I don't have any battallions of troops or billions of bucks to back up my banter.
And now you're asking the question _too late_. The issue has been settled: the US government is going to be occupying a Gaza Strip as large as California...
>Question: how would lifting sanctions help the people of Iraq? Would
it "all be stolen by Saddam"? Would they be able to use aid to
build an effective opposition to his regime? Are there examples of
this ever happening? More than once?
>How do we get rid of the Bastards of Baghdad and not destroy the
place?<
my idea was a sudden & surprise _ending_ of the sanctions, which would instantly open Iraq to freer trade (always a disruptive act). Crucially, it would also have undermined one of S. Hussein's biggest sources of wealth (the black market) at the same time that he would have a harder time invoking the evil US as a reason for the Iraqi people to back him to defend Iraq.
If the US also had dropped the whole drive to have "regime change," which goes back to Bush-daddy, Hussein would have lost an excuse to be so secretive about arms, etc. (If he had been able to sell oil freely to the "West," he wouldn't have made such a profit for himself, while the people of Iraq would have likely clamored for McDonalds and the like. In the end, it's possible that old Saddam would have ended up being "our bastard" once again, like those folks who run China.)
In any event, it's for the Iraqi people to overthrow their dictator. It's not _our_ job.
>How does a democratic society (using the term lightly) impose democracy
on a dictatorial regime?<
it can't. Democracy has to come from below. That, of course, is one reason why ultimately democracy has to be socialist.
>Just curious. Thought that would help the festering ...
>nd before y'all go getting your collective panties in a wadd --- be
sure you realize that there is a sprinkling of humor in the above,
intended for mature audiences only.<
how did _you_ know I wear panties?
;-)
Jim
