This just in: good news from Iraq

[Preechr]

Islamic extremists can be as "extreme" as they wish as long as they are made to understand that convincing young, impressionable idiots that they should blow themselves up will not work out in their favor. You could make that arguement that we were better off with a repressed Iraq, but you'd have to go back to the 1980's to do so.

It is just impossible for a modern, democratic, western civilization to deal with a totalitarian goon like Saddam. You lie with dogs, you wake up with fleas. Dealing with goons has ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS left us with a black eye.

I agree with you and max in that N. Korea, Saudi and Iran pose even greater dangers to our security for the same reasons Iraq was a threat: They have shitty governments. Saddam was weakened and was STILL difficult to replace. It's now common knowledge among the people of those countries the hardships faced by waiting until the US marches in and "fixes" things... If their own leaders get too far out of line, wouldn't you think they'd start to wonder if it'd be easier to take the task in hand for themselves?

The mistakes we've made so far in Iraq work in our favor in this respect. Had we expertly zipped in to depose Saddam and promptly zipped out within weeks, leaving a model Democracy in our wake, the people of Iran, N.Korea and Saudi would have simply decided to sit and wait until we did the same thing for them. This way, our interference seems much more like a worst case scenario... Not that we really want to be sending troops their way any time soon anyway...

Once the Iraqi people round the corner on their new government, whatever it is they've built will be seen as a shining example of whatever it is because THEY did it, not us. It will be THEIR OWN blood, sweat and tears they see in their nation and they will defend it just as we do ours. What we might have, in a "best case scenario," built for them flawlessly, they would not have appreciated nor understood.

Dictators around the world demand less now and speak in more subtle tones, depite the fact that everybody knows we couldn't possibly manage another front in the war. Iraq is being rebuilt by Iraqis with a little help from a bigger, stronger nation. That surely sends a signal to the repressed people of other nations that it's up to them just how little "help" they get. It's probably going to best for everyone involved if they get up off their asses and overthrow their own despots...

You say the problem is internal within Islam. I counter that Islam is their form of government as well as their religion, and thus we agree. The spiritual side of Islam is just as good as any other religion as far as I'm concerned, and I see no good coming from chastising a people for their spiritual beliefs. Most religions suffer from a sense of superiority, and most have set out to conquer and subjugate the unbelievers at one time or another.

It's just what we do when we think we're right, isn't it?

I will likely argue with you until one day I convince you you are in fact a libertarian, just like me. I will be right, and you will admit you've always been wrong. You will probably want to kiss my butt, but I'm a nice guy and I'll probably spare you the humiliation you deserve for being so wrong for so long.

When I finally do convince you of the error of your ways, it will not be because I tracked you down and blew up your car, killing your wife and kids. We are ideologically chained to a similar set of limitations to our conflicts. A small faction of Islamic evangelists have decided to loose those chains for whatever reason, and we are in the process of proving to them that, in a civilized society, there is never a good enough reason for terrorism, and that it will never be tolerated.

If they choose, as has the IRA, to lay down their arms and seek more acceptable solutions to their problems, we will help them as we are the people of Iraq and Afghanistan and Indonesia and Africa and South Korea and Chechnya and... damn, we're helping a bunch of folks...

If, however, they choose to continue their "jihad," we will continue to exterminate their terrorist soldiers and every once and a while even the leaders will get caught up in the killing. It will only become more difficult to recruit, and operations will become more dangerous and less effective. If they truly believe themselves to be leaders of their people, don't you think they'll eventually realize that they'll be doing their people no good if they're dead?