Even better than getting Iraqi oil

[PornoDoggy]

Yes, Mike - my mistake. The pictures being shown on television today are in Iraq. IRAN is what they remind me of. I think we may have just deposed the Shah all over again.

It's all well and good for pompous assholes to make sanctimonious comments accusing people who think Iraq may lack cohesion after Saddam of inadequate faith in the Iraqi people. However, those same blowhards don't ever seem to explain what's going to make the Iraqi people any different from the residents of the former Yugoslavia.

You might even convince ME that the military presence in the region is not intended to "keep Iraq down, but to put pressure on Iraq’s neighbors" - but convincing the Iraqi people and the Arab street of that may be another matter entirely.

And at some point, Mike, whether you like it or not - there will come a shift from a military battle to the battle for the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people - one that cannot be won with guns. This administration in particular will always have a credibilty problem with the Arab world, and would have had a credibility problem with the Arab world even without the myriad of reasons dujour that we went to war with Iraq. I don't see the United States in a particularly strong position to win that war. I don't think that makes me a pessimist - I think that makes me a realist.

I repeat what I said before - I want to see how the U.S. manages to both establish a "democratic" government in Iraq and obtains permission to keep bases there. If GW can pull that off I will be more than happy to throw palm branches on his path as he rides his Ashcroft into Jerusalem.

As far as "all you can do is gripe, wring your hands, and predict doom and gloom..." - well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it, particularly if you are convinced the naked emperor is in fact wearing excellent attire. When I know I'm in a "long HARD process" I don't like to be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic.

I still want to know something about these military bases we've had in the Middle East since forever, though.