[quote]makkun wrote:
Brad61,
Brad61 wrote:
[…]
The war was planned by ivory tower academics (not by military planners) most of whom had no military background and had never stepped foot in Iraq even once. (I’m talking about Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and Paul Wolfowitz… three of the main planners for the Iraq war).
According to their theory, if you remove a dictator the people will automatically welcome you, they will all join together and then they will vote for democracy. None of those things are very realistic for Iraq and none of them have come true.
Interesting comment from Francis Fukuyama on this in the Guardian:
Neoconservatism has evolved into something I can no longer support
The US needs to reframe its foreign policy not as a military campaign but as a political contest for hearts and minds
Francis Fukuyama
Wednesday February 22, 2006
“[…]Promoting democracy and modernisation in the Middle East is not a solution to jihadist terrorism. Radical Islamism arises from the loss of identity that accompanies the transition to a modern, pluralist society. More democracy will mean more alienation, radicalisation and terrorism. But greater political participation by Islamist groups is likely to occur whatever we do, and it will be the only way that the poison of radical Islamism can work its way through the body politic of Muslim communities. The age is long gone when friendly authoritarians could rule over passive populations[…]”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1715179,00.html
Interesting thought. Any views?
Makkun[/quote]
That’s a good article, I read it somewhere else (NYT or Washington Post) recently, he makes a lot of sense about how the laudible aims but foolish means of the neo-cons have run into reality in Iraq.