Iraqi Compromise Collapsing

[By all reports any Iraqis with the wherewithal to get out of that ravaged country -- 2 million of its middle class (doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.) as well as the crooks who have been absconding with billions of the U.S. dollars provided for defense and reconstruction -- having departed, those remaining likely to favor a Western style democracy are presumably relatively few in number and political clout. The article below suggests the Hobbesian alternative in a "state of nature" prior to an established political society run by a powerful sovereign -- a war of all against all in which one's 'rights' are determined by the amount of force that one can command. Ergo arming (or at least supporting the Kurds to the north and the Sunnis to the west (Anbar)) only encourages the Hobbesian alternative.

And in the meantime our troops are not only being killed physically, but terribly wounded -- both physically and mentally.

Looks like we are going to see a downhill slide there from here on in. As Senator Clinton suggested, we may not be quite so optimistic as 'Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum' -- my image, not hers. Wonder what it will take to get us out of the Land of Nod? Ed Kent]

...........................

Compromise on Oil Law in Iraq Seems to Be Collapsing
By JAMES GLANZ
The apparent breakdown comes just as the White House is
struggling to find evidence that there is progress toward a
functioning government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/world/middleeast/13baghdad.html?th&emc=th
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent 212-665-8535 (voice mail only) [blind copies]
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AcademicFreedom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PrivacyRights
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Israel_Palestine
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FindingHumaneJobs
http://BlogByEdKent.blogspot.com/
http://www.bloggernews.net