Re: [Osx-nutters] President Bush Vows Attacks “Across the World”

[Chris Gehlker]

On Oct 5, 2006, at 5:59 AM, Chuck Bennett wrote:

> The difference is that I am not totally bereft of ideas.   I don't  
> spend my time whining about how wrong something is without at least  
> suggesting an alternative.   I have yet to see you make a single  
> suggestion about what to do from this point forward.   The reality  
> is that no matter how we got to this point, we have to deal with it.

This argument is old. I remember it  from the waning years of Vietnam  
and now Chuck and McCain are making it about Iraq. If it's said in a  
certain tone it can appear reasonable for about 5 minutes. Then  the  
problems start to show up.

The first problem with the whole 'What's done is done. Mistakes were  
made but we need  to deal with the situation as we find it." argument  
is that it absolves those who made the mistakes from all  
responsibility. The first part of any plan to deal with the situation  
has to be to remove those who started a war that they proceeded to  
loose from power.

The second problem with this argument is that it shifts the onus  
from  finding a solution from those who advocated the flawed policy  
to those who opposed it. This  is patently unfair. While  I don't  
endorse Matt's tone, I don't see why he should be required to suggest  
an alternative. If his position is: 'You're fucked.; You did it to  
yourself; and there is no solution at this point', what's wrong with  
that? Matt has been absolutely right from the beginning on this issue.

Iraq is turning into a hotbed of radical anti-Americanism and a hell  
hole for it's citizens. This is likely to get worse whether or not we  
keep out troops there. Not every problem has a solution and bad  
things happen to countries that loose wars.

But in the spirit  of cooperation, here is an alternative.  The US  
negotiates with Iran. We offer to turn central and southern Iraq over  
to them in exchange for a 10 year moratorium  on their nuclear  
weapons  program and their agreement not to execute any  Sunnis under  
the age of 5. Kurdistan becomes the 51st state.
--
Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!