04-02-2003, 06:31 PM
Hi,
Most of the outcomes favorable for the Mideast, for the USA, or for the world in general are going to require a fair bit of diplomatic horse swapping. Failure in the diplomatic department may very well mean that the USA could "win the war and lose the peace". Considering the track record of this administration in diplomacy so far (when was the last time the USA was so strongly and so widely feared and hated? And over an issue where there was widespread accord just a decade earlier, too.) what reasonable expectations are there that they will not continue screwing the pooch? That they'll get their collective heads out and stop making off hand comments that are insulting nations whose support and cooperation we need?
So, yes, Operation Force Feed Democracy (or whatever the pundits are calling it this week) could have good results. But not under the present policies of the present administration. Either there will be a sea change in their behavior ("Sincerity is everything. Once you learn to fake that, you have it made."), or the war will last long enough that another administration will handle the peace, or the final outcome will be worse than anything we've seen in years, if not ever.
The glass is just there. Whether Shrub and company can fill it more than half full remains to be see. Their track record does not, IMHO, make it a good bet.
--Pete
Most of the outcomes favorable for the Mideast, for the USA, or for the world in general are going to require a fair bit of diplomatic horse swapping. Failure in the diplomatic department may very well mean that the USA could "win the war and lose the peace". Considering the track record of this administration in diplomacy so far (when was the last time the USA was so strongly and so widely feared and hated? And over an issue where there was widespread accord just a decade earlier, too.) what reasonable expectations are there that they will not continue screwing the pooch? That they'll get their collective heads out and stop making off hand comments that are insulting nations whose support and cooperation we need?
So, yes, Operation Force Feed Democracy (or whatever the pundits are calling it this week) could have good results. But not under the present policies of the present administration. Either there will be a sea change in their behavior ("Sincerity is everything. Once you learn to fake that, you have it made."), or the war will last long enough that another administration will handle the peace, or the final outcome will be worse than anything we've seen in years, if not ever.
The glass is just there. Whether Shrub and company can fill it more than half full remains to be see. Their track record does not, IMHO, make it a good bet.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?