Ok, that was pretty funny. And yes, I don't like Kerry, mainly because he tries to be all things to all people (of course, that was the main criticism of Clinton and he turned out to be one of the greatest presidents we've ever had - I know THAT will get you all riled up). But I'm still going to vote for Kerry, because I view another four years of Bush to be far worse.
Bush decided to go to war in Iraq and only then looked for reasons to do so. It's hard to criticize anyone who voted for the authorization for war, Kerry included, based on the information we were getting from the White House at the time. "He's got WMD, ties to al qaeda, and is an imminent threat to the United States. We've got the evidence, only we can't show it to you because it's classified and we would put U.S. operatives lives at risk by publishing this info." Ok, we made a leap of faith that the president and his staff were being up front with us. They weren't. Without a coalition, we would either have to invade with such overwhelming military force that no resistance was possible, or we would have to go in and get Hussein and make sure his WMD were destroyed and then get out fast. We have done neither. We went in with a small force, and then stayed. It has become an unmitigated disaster.
Iraq is not going to become a democracy. 80% of the country wants a theocracy. If elections take place and are skewed enough to give the U.S. picked Alawi "legitimacy" as the head of government, it will be a democracy in name only. What it will really be is a new dictatorship, with a civil war likely to begin the day the main U.S. force leaves the area.
At least Kerry's latest thoughts on Iraq make sense to me. Go in with a massive force, including a new coalition that only he can create (since the rest of the world hates Bush right now - even our "allies") to create stability. Then once the elections take place, get out. Reform for democracy has to come from within. You have to win the hearts and minds of the people first, not have it imposed by an invasion force. Bush's strategy seems to be "pretend everything is going on just fine and I'll deal with the real problems after the election when I'll no longer be held accountable to the American people." Just pathetic.
1 comment:
Ok, that was pretty funny. And yes, I don't like Kerry, mainly because he tries to be all things to all people (of course, that was the main criticism of Clinton and he turned out to be one of the greatest presidents we've ever had - I know THAT will get you all riled up). But I'm still going to vote for Kerry, because I view another four years of Bush to be far worse.
Bush decided to go to war in Iraq and only then looked for reasons to do so. It's hard to criticize anyone who voted for the authorization for war, Kerry included, based on the information we were getting from the White House at the time. "He's got WMD, ties to al qaeda, and is an imminent threat to the United States. We've got the evidence, only we can't show it to you because it's classified and we would put U.S. operatives lives at risk by publishing this info." Ok, we made a leap of faith that the president and his staff were being up front with us. They weren't. Without a coalition, we would either have to invade with such overwhelming military force that no resistance was possible, or we would have to go in and get Hussein and make sure his WMD were destroyed and then get out fast. We have done neither. We went in with a small force, and then stayed. It has become an unmitigated disaster.
Iraq is not going to become a democracy. 80% of the country wants a theocracy. If elections take place and are skewed enough to give the U.S. picked Alawi "legitimacy" as the head of government, it will be a democracy in name only. What it will really be is a new dictatorship, with a civil war likely to begin the day the main U.S. force leaves the area.
At least Kerry's latest thoughts on Iraq make sense to me. Go in with a massive force, including a new coalition that only he can create (since the rest of the world hates Bush right now - even our "allies") to create stability. Then once the elections take place, get out. Reform for democracy has to come from within. You have to win the hearts and minds of the people first, not have it imposed by an invasion force. Bush's strategy seems to be "pretend everything is going on just fine and I'll deal with the real problems after the election when I'll no longer be held accountable to the American people." Just pathetic.
Post a Comment