| 1967 R50/2 |
07-12-2005 10:25 AM |
This conversation is very lame on both sides so I will make some quick points and leave it.
1. For those who say democracy in Iraq is not possible because:
a. Iraq has no history of democracy
b. It is being imposed from the outside
I say: Japan had no history of democracy in 1945 and Germany only had a brief disfunctional fling. Both had democracy imposed from the outside to great success.
2. Why is it important to have a democracy in Iraq? It is the most stable form of government. and *usually* democracys don't fight other democracys or engage in funding terrorism. There are of course exceptions, but I am talking as a general rule.
Bush and Blair were wrong about weapons of mass destruction, but let's give credit, the current direction of democratizing Iraq is correct, and if successful, in the long term will result in LESS terrorism and LESS world angst in general.
3. How to stop *broadly* stop terrorism in the rest of the world:
A. Encourage democracy as mentioned above.
B. Encourage capitalism and free markets. History has proven again and again that Democracy works best when there is moderate economic success and a certain level of wealth distribution. When there is dire poverty, people just want things fixed and fanatics and totalitarianism are bred. Modern examples of this included the Weimar Republic and in Czarist Russia. Hitler and Lenin could never have taken power if there was a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. Remember, Hitler was actually VOTED into power. People were willing to sacrifice almost everything for economic stablility.
There, of course is an theorem for the opposite condition: If there is too much wealth, people don't care about governing, and are willing to let others run the show. This happened in Rome when the civic population of Rome became so satisfied with "bread and circuses" that they let a few strong men do all the governing. Thus the Republic became an Empire. This is also the case in various ME countries that have vast material wealth. Think about it. If everyone was rich, would you care what happened in congress? Probably not....unless you were one of those without wealth in which case you'd be very, very ticked.
By *broadly* stop terrorism, of course, just that BROADLY. Nothing will stop nuts like the Unabomber form mailing a package, Timothy McVeigh from setting of a car bomb or people from putting nerve gas in the Tokyo subway.
So, in summary how to stop terrorism *broadly*?
1. Stay the course in Iraq and Afghanistan until they are fully functional democracys. On a tactical level. it would help to seal the Syrian border with Iraq as that is the main conduit for the insurgents.
2. Continue to push democracy by peaceful means elsewhere and encourage free trade and capitalism. These are "American" virtues and have been for some time so this should be nothing new.
3. Isolate the true nuts: N. Korea, Iran. This is already happening.
4. Ignore the naysayers. There will be lots of bumps in the road.
That is all I have to say.
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