Originally Posted By FerretAfros On NBC tonight they did a very nice segment on the elections that was down right glowing of the actions being taken by the US government and how the election went. I was flabergasted that they actually said that something good happened. Go them!
Originally Posted By woody I guess the people who didn't like the Iraqi elections are too afraid to slam it now.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy <a href="http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/12/13/gotohell/" target="_blank">http://thepoliticalteen.net/20 05/12/13/gotohell/</a> “Anybody who doesn’t appreciate what America has done and President Bush, let them go to hell†– Iraqi Citizen, voter Betty Dawisha
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^^Right on, Betty! You go girl! Hey, Betty, does your comment include your fellow Iraqis?
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 <<Hey, Betty, does your comment include your fellow Iraqis?>> No, just the one's that are killing other Iraqi's and our troops.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA So the Iraqis that aren't killing other Iraqis and American troops... they're allowed to <not> appreciate what President Bush and America has done? I'm just checking, I want to make sure I get this right.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Hey considering the crap this woman and many others have had to live through their whole lives, I think they've earned the right to feel this way.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I still can't wrap my head around the concept of an Iraqi woman named Betty.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer The test of a democracy is always the first time an opposition party wins an election. If there is a peaceful transition of power after that election, the democracy is solid. We won't know whether democracy has taken root in Iraq for at least four years. We've got what looks like a healthy start, but it's the transition of power that is the proof in the pudding. We ourselves almost didn't make it in 1800.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer <a href="http://www.washtimes.com/world/20051216-125650-8387r.htm" target="_blank">http://www.washtimes.com/world /20051216-125650-8387r.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>“Anybody who doesn’t appreciate what America has done and President Bush, let them go to hellâ€<< Apparently we've exported conservative talk radio to the Baghdad airwaves. ; )
Originally Posted By Beaumandy From a Wall Street Journal op-ed authored by the Slovak, Czech, Polish and Hungarian ambassadors to the U.S. --- The memories of tyranny are still alive in the minds of many Czechs, Hungarians, Poles and Slovaks. We also remember the challenges we faced early in our democratic transition. It is a testament to the resilience of our peoples that we are where we are now -- members of NATO and the European Union, and strong allies of the U.S. We got here by believing in the transformational power of democracy and a market economy. But we needed others to believe in us, too. We could not have made it alone. We needed the perseverance and support of Western democracies for freedom finally to arrive. The attainment of our immediate goals of stability and prosperity could have made us complacent. It has not. We feel that as free and democratic nations we have a duty to help others achieve the security and prosperity that we now enjoy. That is why we have been part of the coalition to help democracy emerge in Iraq.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA So Beaumandy, the fact that these Iraqi people are gaining a foothold in a democracy...this really warms the cockles of your heart -- and those of your conservative friends. Is that what you want us to beleive? I wonder why I feel like you really don't give a rip.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy No Jim, it's the liberals who don't give a rip. They wanted Saddam to be in power as we speak and did everything possible to stop the President... along with the terrorists, errrr, insurgents in Iraq. I am delighted the Iraqi people get to live in freedom and not under the boot of Saddam. It's why I have supported the president and the troops every step of the way. The big bonus is that America and the world is much safer with Iraq now being a friend and a democracy. The liberals helped accomplish any of this how again?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 We won't really know what's been accomplished until a few years after US troops leave. Filling that vacuum could be anything from a peaceful democracy to a bloody civil war. Elections in themselves, though necessary, do not fulfill a democracy. A key now is to make sure Sunnis (as opposed to just their elected representatives) feel part of the government, which may entail giving them key ministry posts and rewriting portions of the constitution (even though recently approved), which most Sunnis feel is unfair. And ensuring them a share of oil wealth, even though most of the oil is not under the areas they are predominant in. There are signs that Khalilzad understands this, which is encouraging.
Originally Posted By Beaumandy <<We won't really know what's been accomplished until a few years after US troops leave>> But we do know that if the troops leave now, like Murtha and his fellow democrats are asking for, Iraq will fall to the terrorists who along with our own liberals want the defeat of America and president Bush. << Elections in themselves, though necessary, do not fulfill a democracy.> Sure they do, and they did in Iraq. Nobody says it's going to be easy for them in the near future, but we know one thing... if you would have had it your way Dabob, the elections would have never happend at all and Saddam would still be in power as we speak. It takes no guts to do nothing and let Saddam keep up his murdering, torturing ways. This is why Bush is a great leader and the people on the left are nothing but hot air appeasers.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 << Elections in themselves, though necessary, do not fulfill a democracy.>> <Sure they do, and they did in Iraq. > Oh Beau, what you don't understand is a lot. I've said repeatedly that now that we're there, it would be a mistake to leave at this moment. But we have to leave eventually, and THEN we'll see whether this was wise or not, for us and for Iraq. The rest of your post was the usual rote nonsense, but I do find it amusing when people who didn't care a fig for what was happening to Iraqis under Saddam in the 80's (or were rationalizing it away when he seemed temporarily expedient to have as a "lesser evil" than Iran) suddenly cry these crocodile tears about him now.
Originally Posted By woody "I do find it amusing when people who didn't care a fig for what was happening to Iraqis under Saddam in the 80's (or were rationalizing it away when he seemed temporarily expedient to have as a "lesser evil" than Iran) suddenly cry these crocodile tears about him now." That would be the Democrats who didn't support the Gulf War in the 90s and didn't support the Iraq War in 2003-5. Do they cry for the Iraqis? No. They show a lot of concern especially since they can't wait to get Saddam out of jail. As for the 1980s and 90s, a bad policy of not ousting Saddam is no excuse for doing nothing right now. How does continuing the policy of containment make life better for the Iraqis? It doesn't. It keeps pushing the problem down a few more decades. There are no tears for Iraqis from the Democrats. That much is clear.
