Let me summarize Bill's response to Stephen's call for a refutation. "I can't refute the facts on the ground in Iraq now, since they don't point to the immanent doom and gloom and massive arab uprising prediction that I'm peddling. So, instead, I'll pretend we're not a Republic and assert that our elected officials are actually supposed to throw aside the platforms and positions they got (solidly) elected on with every up or down pulse in the media-conducted opinion poll _de jour_. On that basis (the fallacy that we are a direct tele-democracy, supported by the fact that many politicians in fact do govern that way) I'll argue instead that our leaders are beholden to special interests by not supporting the position of the people at the moment according to Wolfe Blitzer and Bill Schneider, and pump the doom-and-gloom prediction from that angle. Also, I am totally closed to any notion that what we're doing is good, so I'll impune the motives of everyone else who supports the policy, as obviously they are either bad people in bed with evil neo-con cabalists and Big Oil mercenaries, or totally delusional morons."
Did you read it differently, Stephen? ;-) - Bob ! ! > No refutation on this POV? Things are kind of quiet out there? ! > ! > I thought I heard and read where the actions we were taking ! > would embolden the terrorists and the insurgents, but this ! > document from AQ in Iraq seems to be saying very clearly that ! > recruitment is down, the Iraqi National Guard is actually ! > able to 'shield' the Americans (does this mean the Iraqi ! > National Guard is actually becoming effective?) ... ! > ! > Also, the rank and file Iraqi citizen is providing G2 against ! > terrorist and insurgent operations/locations ... ! > ! > So what's up? ! ! ! If we allow ourselves to bit-twiddle over the ups and downs, ! we'll just ! sink deeper into the quicksand. ! ! This big picture is that a clear majority of Americans now think the ! invasion was a mistake. ! http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/12/iraq.poll/index.html ! ! This being the case, our elected representatives have unambiguous ! marching orders to end it. ! ! But they're not listening. ! http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060615/D8I8V2RO0.html ! ! How could this be? ! ! Who are our representatives really beholden to? There are only 2 ! possibilities: the donors that paid for their campaigns and the people ! they represent. The difference between the Democratic party's ! membership ! and it's leadership is plain for all to see. ! ! I couldn't find a quote I had once seen about when you're on the wrong ! road, no number of turns will make it right, but I did find this: ! ! "Recognize and reconstruct your path. You have been deluded. ! You are on ! the wrong road. Turn about now, or you will sow the seeds for your own ! destruction!" ! ! The road we're on is marked with signposts saying "arrogance" and ! "belligerance". The warmongers would have us believe the sky ! will clear ! further down this road, but that's just another lie. What is really ! further down this road are darker skies and terrible storms. ! ! We're being spun to believe there are only a few dead-enders ! left, they ! are all hiding in caves, and soon we will finish the rest of them off. ! This was a lie the last time it was proclaimed and it's a ! lie now. The ! truth is that the more people we kill, the more enemies we ! make. If this ! is hard to understand, imagine foreign soldiers coming into your town ! and killing some of your family and friends. How would you ! feel? Factor ! in religious fanaticism and modern science and see the ! witches brew for ! what it is. ! ! The other road, the one marked with "love" and "charity", is ! the better, ! smarter choice. Love does trump hate, and it is better to give than to ! receive. ! ! Turn the wagons around! ! ! ! Bill ! ! ! > V/R ! > ! > //SIGNED// ! > Stephen S. Wolfe, GS-11, DAF ! ! ! [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ 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.
