> ! > ! Why did I think you'd trumpet this like the 2nd coming? > ! > > Well, since you've been trumpeting every bad thing that > happens like it's the apocalypse...
Yeah, I posted 2,500 times for dead soldiers, 20,000 times for the wounded, tens of thousands of times for Iraqi civilians killed, and a trillion times for each dollar wasted. I didn't know I was that busy! > ! By enjoying the roller coaster ride when it goes up, you're > ! only setting yourself up for the fall when it goes down. > > And by enjoying the roller coaster when the ride goes down, > you're only setting yourself up for a fall when it goes up. Excuse me, Mr Plays-with-words, it doesn't work that way. One doesn't fall up. > ! > ! I wouldn't end this on a dour note. > > Whew! > > !You want to "finish" that job? Here are some thoughts: > ! > ! 1. Negotiate with the UN and/or NATO to take over with Iraq > ! (I see NATO is already in motion to take over in Afghanistan; that's good) > > Whoa.... Wait a minute there. > > I'm for sovereignty, not occupation. Once things are under > better control in terms of the lunatic whack jobs, the last > thing I'd want to do to those poor people is let Kofi and the > Gang get their back-stabbing, purse-snatching fingers on them. > > No, let these countries be free, sovereign nations---for real > this time, not just safe havens for authoritarian thugs. You're reading way, way too much into this event. You've been hitting the neocon-sauce too much. Iraq is unstable and the occupation is a root cause of that instability. If the Iraq gov't needs help making it stable, then let this be an opportunity to fix what's wrong with the UN and get behind it. The neocons gave us lemons, let's least try to turn it into lemonade. > ! 2. Get our troops out of Iraq as fast as possible > > Everyone shares this objective, but it isn't a first > principle. It's a first principle to an American family that's about to lose a child over there. > The first principle is to stabilize the democratic > regimes by rooting out the terrorists and ensuring they can > handle their own internal affairs. This process is well > underway The place is a mess. > and we will leave when the job is done "good enough" > for them to take care of matters on their own. That day is > coming sooner than you think. You want to be optimistic, fine. But I'm looking at a mess and I want those troops outta there post haste. > ! 3. Settle the Israel/Palestine problem in the UN > > Pipe dream. > > That conflict cannot be settled as long as the mullahs preach > extermination of the Jews and the "arab mind" is hell-bent on > genocide and non-co-existence. The problem has nothing to do > whatever with the venue of negotiation, and everything to do > with the fundamental injustice of the tyrannical brainwashing > of the mullahs and sheiks who control the arab masses with > their religion of violence and hate. That's the problem. What's your solution? > ! 4. Declare a national emergency program to dramatically cut > our ! dependency on oil > > Well, that will solve the problem. Bold declarations. > > I'm not clear what you think that means, besides looking like > your doing something bold. The truth is, we are investing > more than ever in new technologies to get around the problem > and most of them are far from being cost-effective at the > moment. They will eventually become cost effective, esp if > the price of oil keeps going up. > > Patience and persistence, not hand waving and hot air, will > see us through this problem. Your view is clouded by Big Oil's smoke coming out of Washington. A President making this declaration would be swarmed with options. We've got the need, we've got the resources, we just need a leader who wants it to happen to make it happen. > ! 5. Shift the military into more of a building then destroying role > > You are ignoring at least half, if not more, of the story of > our involvment in Iraq and Afghanistan. We've built schools > and rebuilt buildings, we've liberated women, and we've > helped democratic forces overcome the bigots and zealots and > terrorists who really are the "warmongers" you decry. > > You act as if none of that is true, that all we're doing is > going in, shooting people randomly, knocking down buildings, > and farting in the general direction of Persia. > > In fact, we've done more to help them than any UN > peacekeeping mission, because we've actually removed the > dictators and thugs who DID bust down doors, blow up > buildings and monuments, and did wontonly rape, murder, maime > and pillage innocent Iraqis and Afghanis at will, prior to > 9/11. And we've put our blood and money on the line to help > them push back the reactionary forces of these former > regimes, and establish their own security capabilities. > > All the tersely-worded resulutions at the UN add up to so > much toilet paper compared to this. Maybe you should visit Iraq and see how far from the Green Zone you can walk to inspect all these wonderful things? > ! 6. Do more to facilitate travel and communications worldwide > > Not sure why you think there is a problem in this department. > The world has never been more physically and virtually > connected. As we may learn to our dismay once the Bird Flu > virus mutates... China, with American business support is fracturing the Internet. There is a movement going on right now to break the Internet into tiers. Will we see another victory for Big Money? And facilitating communications means no snooping. Who knows what's happened with the FBI's Carnivore project, but I bet it didn't die. Who knows how many 'recorders' are working right now to flesh out dossiers? As these mechanics become more plentiful and visible, do you think that will encourage or discourage communications? Travel has become vastly more expensive, so far fewer people can afford to travel both nationally and internationally. In personal terms, a $30 gas bill to visit family on Long Island is now $100. That's a goodbye to casual visits. > ! 7. Keep the Internet neutral > > Agree with you on that one. Well that's one out of six! Not > bad for starters! A smashing success! :) Bill > - Bob _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
