[Mazer]

You've read my mind, Ramona, though I don't think they're retarded. I fear that as long as they continue to act like children then we have few options. I know that Iraqis are fairly well educated, perhaps even well read on the subjects of self government and republic, and yet they threaten to revert to tribalism. It defys reason. You're right, I would probably be offended if some foreign power decided to dissolve my government, but I know that our nation has the ability to defend itself from such a threat. That power and might is derived from the Consititution and the rights it provides me and every American. It simply works, and if it didn't then the USA would have never lasted this long. The fact that the government and military of Iraq fell in only four months shows that it was meant to be destroyed, if not by us than by Iran or some other country with wild ambitions, though not as quickly. Iraq simply did not have the benevolent government and diciplined military it deserved.

I do hope we hurt their national pride, I hope it stirs them into a resurgence of patiotism, I hope they have the will to rebuild their nation as one nation, because I know that's what we would do if the shoe were on the other foot. We would take whatever government they left us and Americanize it, innovate and refine it into something uniquely our own; we've done it twice before. I admit I don't know what makes Iraq different from other Islamic nations, but I think they can figure it out, and we are listening to them. Here I don't mean the US government listens to them, I mean the free press does.

CNN, the BBC, Sky News, Al Jazeera, they all have different takes on what's really happening in Iraq, but they have unprecedented access to the people now. Journalists are interviewing regular everyday Iraqis for the first time in decades, and cameras are everywhere broadcasting the state of Iraq over the air and online. Polls are being conducted, and they've proven to be accurate. Yes, for the first time someone is asking Iraq what it really wants, and because of that we are here on this board discussing their dissension when before we could only guess what they wanted. Those of them that can read english are probably reading this board, and at some point they may be moved to participate in our debates. A dialogue is begining, and for once they're speaking out against their oppressors without fear of being silenced, put down, jailed, and murdered. They may hate us, but we'll let them because we know they'll grow up someday.

Ignorance is forgivable as long as it is temporary. Childish behavior is to be expected, but it can't be tolerated forever. Our forces are going to leave Iraq, that's a certainty. I still think it's our responsibility to leave Iraq better than we found it. They don't have to Americanize themselves for us, they just have to mature to our level. Iraq as it appears on the world map is still a young country, younger even than the USA, budding with lots of potential. The right thing to do at this point is to impart some wisdom and point them in the right direction. Whether they choose to follow our lead is up to them, but we can't abandom them on the basis that they might not follow us. We don't know what's best for Iraq, but at this point they don't really know either. One thing's for sure, the UN sanctions agains them should be lifted permanently, but they have to earn it. Before we can sign a peace treaty with them they need to have a their soverignty and a government to represent them. Those are worthy goals, I think they should persue them, and from there they can do what they want.