A post of the long variety.
I'd like to share some things that I've learned about Iraq and such lately.
One comes from a suprisingly good op-ed piece from my local paper. It stated the three most likely outcomes of the war w/Iraq.
[list=1][*]Hussein has WOMD and uses them against us.
No good will come out of this scenario. Many more Americans will die, and consequently, we will obliterate the Iraqi people with even less mercy.
Winners: no one.
Losers: all of the dead people.[*]Hussein does not have WOMD as we claimed.
This is the scenario I'd like to see because I despise Bush. This will make America look like nothing more than a big oil-hungry bully to the international community.
Winners: the UN, France, Germany, China, Russia, etc. who opposed the war; doves back in the states; and Hussein who dead or alive will come off looking like a martyr.
Losers: the Republic party, especially the Bush administration; and hawks everywhere. Oh, and don't forget the dead people.[*]Hussein has WOMD but does not use them against us.
This is the only scenario in which the U.S. comes out on top. This is what Bush et. al. envision. Given the only other possible outcomes, you'd better wish he's right.
Winners: the U.S., Republicans, and Bush
Losers: doves, UN, and any dead people.[/list=1]
I've recently learned quite a bit about the Kurds. You probably haven't heard about them because (a) you don't care and (b) they don't have their own country. As a matter of fact, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own country. Their scattered about in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. They are horribly mistreated in Turkey. They control a portion of nothern Iraq where for the last few years, they have been running their own democratic government. Now, since we're going to have to set up a democratic government after we turn Iraq into one big parking lot and take control of their oil, I think it would be best to give the Kurdish people their section of Iraq as their own independant state. It could be a haven for mistreated Kurds who have been kicked around since WWII.
Anyway, I promised myself that I'd try to limit the amount of my opinions I would voice, so I'll leave you with that for know.