Whoaaaaaaa,
Heavy political stuff - I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!!
Is that the English or American way to spell f***? Word down here is that there's a gold-plated, Presidential edition of Junior Scrabble on the desk in the Oval Office. It hasn't been mastered yet, but the Cowboy has bin bizzy.
Sorry Leslie. This really is an incredibly complex issue and I have deep suspicions - though I must admit I'm a shocking conspiracy theorist, and therefore prone to over-react to such issues.
I must say the Captain has put in a nutshell what you hear EVERYWHERE down here. I think the whole international reaction at the moment can be summed up in one word: suspicion. Everyone suspects everyone of having an ulterior motive.
I watch an American PBS news programme down here called the Newshour with Jim Lehrer. I like it. A lot of people watch it in Australia. So I get to hear some of the views from the American camp. It's refreshing to know that Americans are debating the issue. A lot of people think Americans all believe what their government believes and nothing else. There's a great deal of misunderstanding about the American people, and that's a pity. Problem is the US Government has such a bad track record at organising coups and interfering in other countries' policies, that no one trusts that there isn't an ulterior motive here.
I agree Leslie, there's a lot to worry about where Saddam is concerned. But is there an immediate threat, if not, why the manic rush?
I think the greatest problem in all of this is that the US government truly believes that the world thinks they have good motives. They may well have. But few believe it. I really want to believe it.
There's not only a physical opposition to worry about, but an idealogical one. The whole of the Middle East will view what takes place in Iraq as a Western Invasion and there will be those who will claim it is an attack on Islam itself. I think it will de-stabilize the entire region.
The present administration just doesn't get it that almost everyone in the world thinks they're living in a Howdy Doody Cowboy World of the 1950's. Phrases like "Axis of Evil", "Good Guys", "Bad Guys", and "Defenders of Freedom" don't help. Is it a bird, is it a plane, no.....it's super Donnie!"
They might be absolutely spot on. Saddam (whom I would love to see dissappear - along with all his cronies) may be the very essence of evil and the most immediate threat to "Western" civilization - he's certainly a threat to Israel, which greatly offends me. But there are so many other "evil" regimes that are worth taking care of, like, say, The Chinese Communist Government (but then, they're big enough to fight back), the Burmese militia, and then there's that great defender of Zimbabwe, Mr Mogabe. But no one seems to be worried about these regimes.
Perhaps they should take care of human rights abuses in Iraq by giving them the next Olympics. What's the point of holding them in Greece? The Greeks are far too peace loving these days. The Olympics should go to a true violator of human rights. That's the "spirit"!
Liah