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<H1><FONT size=2>Neener neener! notwithstanding, and with apologies to Messrs.
Burch and Leitl, but the discourse of what we do and how we get there is an
important one and something we need to keep alive IMO:</FONT></H1>
<H1><A
href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/02/02/notes020205.DTL&nl=fix"><FONT
size=2>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/02/02/notes020205.DTL&nl=fix</FONT></A></H1>
<H1><FONT size=2>Come See Our Brutal Democracy <BR>Freedom rings in Iraq! Bush
was right all along! American wins! Or, you know, not</FONT></H1>
<H2><FONT size=2></FONT></H2><!-- END HEADLINE/DECK & SUBHEADLINE/SUBDECK -->
<P class=author><!-- START WRITER CREDIT--><A
href="mailto:mmorford@sfgate.com"><FONT size=2>By Mark Morford, SF Gate
Columnist</FONT></A></P>
<P class=date><FONT size=2>Wednesday, February 2,
2005<!-- END WRITER CREDIT--></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Ah, the violent march of democracy. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Beautiful thing, really, seeing repressed and weary Iraqis vote
for the first time, and dance in the bloody bombed-out streets, and avoid the
suicide bombers and of course not be able to travel between provinces or drive
anywhere in their locked-down nation and by the way watch out for the snipers on
the roofs. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>It really is amazing, watching the deeply flawed system of
democracy take hold in a raw and decimated nation like a thorny weed cracking
through shattered concrete. All people deserve to be free and now Iraqis have a
tiny bloody taste of it and this is always, always a good thing. I am not
kidding. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>So, should we be proud? Is Bush's thuggish and illegal
pre-emptive attack strategy justified? Are Iraq's first-ever elections a
defining moment in American political history? Are we all righteous and good and
holy, despite all the dead bodies and the hatred? </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Well, sort of. But then again, not really. Should Bush get some
credit for all the cheering Iraqis who are now breathing sort of free? Well, no.
Not even close. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>While it's always heartwarming to see a brutalized and
disheartened people flex their newfound freedom for the first time, the costs of
this teetering, fragile, force-fed, implode-at-any-moment democracy are
nauseating and appalling. You already know the numbers: $300 billion, over 1,400
dead U.S. soldiers and over 10,000 permanently wounded and countless thousands
of dead innocent Iraqi civilians -- and many, many more to come. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>But let us not forget the biggest disclaimer of all: Not a
single one of BushCo's alleged reasons for dragging our fractured and bankrupt
nation into one of the most brutal wars since Vietnam has actually proved valid
or justifiable. The disgusting array of </FONT><A
href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v27/n03/wein01_.html"><FONT
size=2>WMD/nuclear/biotoxin lies</FONT></A><FONT size=2> and deceptions are not
suddenly erased because we set up some polling places. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>How quickly we forget: A democratic Iraq was never the reason
Bush forced us into this war. Iraq's fledgling democracy is a pleasant side
effect, an bonus PR move, a heartwarming and patriotic patina of bogus
humanitarianism BushCo is now trying to slather over one of the most disastrous
and inept military efforts in recent history. It makes for terrific photo-ops.
It makes for miserable and debilitating foreign policy. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Look. Democracy is good. Treasonous BushCo dishonesty and
misprision and an outright ignorance regarding exit strategies and the true
costs of war, are not. Republicans and Bush apologists are quick to ignore, in
this momentary orgy of political spin and PR, how not a single one of the
problems Iraq faced before the elections have been solved. The brutal insurgent
violence is only increasing. U.S. soldiers are dying in record numbers. Iraq is
a violent mess. And Bush just asked for $80 billion more from the broke U.S.
economy to fund the occupation, with no end in sight. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Let's just say it outright: The ends do not justify the means. A
barely democratic Iraq is fine and good, but you well know that if Bush had
mumbled to the nation three years and $300 billion ago that we were going to
start bombing this piss-poor country back to the stone age and gut the U.S.
economy and put thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent
Iraqis in death's way to deliver it, all while sending the nastiest possible
message to the world and actually increasing the threat of terrorism while
turning our backs on every major U.S. ally, I doubt many Americans would have
giddily waved the flag of support (except maybe Ann Coulter, who apparently
loves anything involving guns and dead foreigners). </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Let's put it another way: Here is your choice, America: $300
billion and massive international disrespect and a huge pile of dead American
soldiers in an effort to force a fragile democracy onto a torn and fractured
Iraq by ousting their useless dictator who was, let us repeat, no threat to us,
or to anyone, and who was, in fact, our ally, until he dared to threaten our
oil. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Or: $300 billion to assist struggling nations and battle AIDS
and protect the planet, to evolve our international relationships and set up
treaties and unifying alliances and maybe even have a little left over to help
fix our own schools, maybe help all those destitute American city upgrade their
hospitals and fix their homeless problems and even maybe launch a national
health care plan, spend that money on trying to solve a huge host of social ills
plaguing this crumbling beautiful egomaniacal empire we call home. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Which do you choose? What cost democracy? Where do you draw your
lines? </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Bush does not get credit for Iraq's fleeting glimpse of
democracy for the exact same reason you don't give the tsunami credit for
cleansing the streets of Indonesia. His motives were never, repeat never, to
bring democracy to Iraq. His motives were to oust a pipsqueak dictator who
threatened our access to 10 percent of the world's oil. It was about power, and
regional control, and ego, and petroleum. Period. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Does this matter anymore? Iraq gets a glimmer of democratic hope
and all lies and broken international laws and oily policy shifts are forgiven?
Hardly. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Because if this is our new agenda, if we are suddenly the Hammer
of Democracy who slams our political system onto every country we feel deserves
it and damn the fiscal, emotional, spiritual, and human costs, well, let's get
to it, already. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Let's right now start preparing for U.S. forces to march into
that pesky repressive China. Let us look forward to BushCo declaring war on
Iran, and then North Korea, and then huge parts of non-democratic Africa. Any
day now, yes? How about Egypt? And Pakistan? And Jordan? Dictatorships and
monarchies and repressive, anti-democratic oligarchies, all. Man, we'll be at
war until 2045! Whee! </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>What about poor, beautiful Nepal, where the king just shut down
the government and closed all the airports and </FONT><A
href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/02/01/international0309EST0431.DTL"
target=_BLANK><FONT size=2>severed communication with the rest of the
world</FONT></A><FONT size=2>, and over 10,000 people have died in rebel
fighting and the military is patrolling the streets and citizens are terrified
and repressed and democracy is dying on the vine? Shouldn't we be marching in
there next week, Georgie? Saddle up, cowpokes! </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Oh wait. Won't happen. Reason: Not convenient. Not strategically
lucrative. No oil reserves. No real power gain, except for maybe Iran, which is
why BushCo is already busy working with Israel to </FONT><A
href="http://www.detnews.com/2005/politics/0501/28/politics-66874.htm"
target=_BLANK><FONT size=2>map out bombing strategies</FONT></A><FONT size=2>.
</FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>In fact, to prove we don't really give a crap for the lovely
"march of democracy" Republicans so love to gloat over, let's note right here
how the U.S. regularly gives billions in aid to those very same repressive,
dictator-friendly burgs of Egypt and Jordan and Pakistan. Ah, flagrant
hypocrisy, thy name is Bush. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Look. Does America have a responsibility to the world to promote
peace and democratic ideals in the world whenever possible? Hell yes. Does the
world's richest and most gluttonous superpower have an obligation to intervene
when absolutely necessary and help repressed peoples taste freedom and emerge
from the shadow of evil dictators? You're damn right. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>But not this way. Not at this cost. Not via a staggering and
soul-mauling string of lies and misprision and a brutish foreign policies that
only alienate and aggravate and inflame. Not through torture tactics and
economic plundering and fear stratagems designed to keep the exhausted American
populace from asking too many questions about this administration's real
motives. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>And not by way of a thuggish pre-emptive attack-first policy
that goes against everything America has stood for (i.e.; defense, containment,
peace) for the past 100 years. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Meanwhile, in related news, an international team of scientists
and researchers announced that the world has roughly ten years before the
effects of global warming become permanent and irreversible. Before the Gulf
Stream is permanently weakened and massive ice shelves melt and the world is
plunged more deeply in danger than we could ever imagine. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>You really want to protect democracy, Dubya? Ensure its
survival? You really want to have a lasting legacy, one not tainted with blood
and war and humiliating claims of "mission accomplished?" Here's a tiny
reminder: that $80 bil you just asked for to kill more Iraqis is 17 times higher
than the EPA's entire budget. Maybe, just maybe, something is just a little off
in our nation's priorities? Just, you know, a thought. Go democracy!
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