[Grovenet] Who ARE "the Iraqi people?"

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Too Right, David!! 

When an honorable or responsible organization makes a mistake, it
apologizes. I would like to think my country is one of honor and
responsibility.

And, based on what history tells us, I agree about the draft and the size of
the force. The alternative, of course, is to give up our individual,
authoritarian control over what happens in Iraq (I should say our fantasy of
authoritarian control, since our enemy is clearly winning against us) and
reach our for a multinational solution to the mess we Americans created. 

I'd rather the latter. If we went on a full war footing we probably could
win the "war" for now, but how would that serve us in the long run? 

I was thinking of Joy's reference to the Kenny Rogers' song "You gotta know
when to hold 'em, know when  to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when
to run..."

That's an excellent analogy. A century ago international relationships were
a lot like a poker game, with the heads of state the players sitting around
a table with finite resources. The idea was for each head of state, playing
according to a set of agreed rules, trying to appropriate the lion's share
of the world's resources for his nation. The chips that were risked,
sometimes won and sometimes lost, were the citizens of the countries who
might live in prosperity or die by the millions in senseless battles (e.g.
WWI) while the heads of state sat there deciding on their next wager.
Success as a nation was success in winning the most hands. In those days a
smart nation really did think carefully about knowing when to walk away or
when to run. If they didn't we might destroy them totally, as we did the
Nazi regime or Tojo's War cabinet. 

I'd like to think the world began to move past that paradigm with the
founding of the U.N. It was just a first step. It's human, so there will be
corruption, waste and dishonesty but, because it is a human organization it
also exhibits the finest aspects of human care and concern for others. 

We can do better. I think we must do better. We must stop playing the game
of "winner takes all, losers be damned!" as millions of people suffer and
starve every day all over the world. I think we must if only for
self-serving ends. If we allow the abuse and suffering of others, the day
will surely come when we Americans are among those who are abused and
suffer. Like any poker player, we know the day will come when we are the
losers. 

But it doesn't need to be a poker game. We have the intelligence and the
means to build a better world. That is, if we can learn to work together. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 



-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of David Morelli
Sent: Monday, February 19, 2007 7:48 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] Who ARE "the Iraqi people?"



On Feb 19, 2007, at 1:56 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> That's a good overview of the mess that's existed in that part of
> the world since WWI Joy

> ....

> My concerns (and objections to many proposals as described in the
> press) about quitting Iraq immediately is that it's all about what  
> we will not do, not what we will do. Where are the calls for a  
> multinational force to stop the violence? Where are the calls for  
> dialogs with the various people who make up Iraq to determine what  
> they want?
> ...

> Ron D'Eau Claire

Yes, it was a good synopsis of the history.  And I would like to add  
one of my item's to Ron's list of what he would like to hear.

I would like to hear the American President apologize to the  
honorable and peaceful people of Iraq, upon whom he has released the  
violent and brutal people of that region.  The good people there did  
not deserve Saddam and they do not deserve the punishment that our  
administration dumped upon them in removing Saddam.

"Troop surge"?  I suggest that 20,000 is too few.  I suppose that we  
should commence a full draft and a war-time tax policy and place a  
million troops into Iraq, so that each and every family in that  
country can have 24/7 armed escorts, and every stretch of road gets  
patrolled to prevent the placement of land mines.

David

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