Re: The canal. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it's proper control and administration, but you're changing the subject. What does this have to do with democracy in Panama?
Re: Afghanistan. A quote : " Much of the country remains under the sway of warlords and is split by ethnic differences that have fuelled fights for decades and raised doubts about the viability of a national army in a country where tribal loyalty far outweighs loyalty to the state. "
That about sums it up. How is the U.S. going to enforce 'democracy' in such a diverse place? Kill all the warlords? And their sons? Re-educate an entire generation, against the ideas of their ancestors, by establishing Don't Serve A Warlord University?
What's the upper limit, of citizens killed, before the U.S. is no longer freeing a people -- but is just freeing land? From the people who used to live on it?
As for the ousting of "a man" in Iraq, how can such a simplistic approach render any real results? Kill the dictator, and all you've made is a dictator-shaped hole. If you have to march your ass over a hundred miles to get there, taking prisoners along the way, have you really done a net positive for the image of your nation, in the eyes of revenge-minded terrorists?
Osama Bin Laden financed his favorite anti-American organisation with his Saudi parents' money. Even with this being the case, I'm glad Bush didn't decide to topple the Royal House of Saud, and bring "democracy" to their country too.
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Re: I'm no soldier, but
Date: 2003-03-24 06:32 pm (UTC)Re: Afghanistan. A quote : " Much of the country remains under the sway of warlords and is split by ethnic differences that have fuelled fights for decades and raised doubts about the viability of a national army in a country where tribal loyalty far outweighs loyalty to the state. "
That about sums it up. How is the U.S. going to enforce 'democracy' in such a diverse place? Kill all the warlords? And their sons? Re-educate an entire generation, against the ideas of their ancestors, by establishing Don't Serve A Warlord University?
What's the upper limit, of citizens killed, before the U.S. is no longer freeing a people -- but is just freeing land? From the people who used to live on it?
As for the ousting of "a man" in Iraq, how can such a simplistic approach render any real results? Kill the dictator, and all you've made is a dictator-shaped hole. If you have to march your ass over a hundred miles to get there, taking prisoners along the way, have you really done a net positive for the image of your nation, in the eyes of revenge-minded terrorists?
Osama Bin Laden financed his favorite anti-American organisation with his Saudi parents' money. Even with this being the case, I'm glad Bush didn't decide to topple the Royal House of Saud, and bring "democracy" to their country too.