----- Original Message ----- From: "JDG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <brin-l@mccmedia.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 10:30 PM Subject: Re: Is Iraq better off? (was Re: Br!n: Re: more neocons)
> At 07:54 PM 5/11/2005 -0700, Nick Arnett wrote: > >> I'm quite confident that you can handle this one on your own. > > > >Oh, please. > > > >I can't think of what I've said that is a measurement of this. I wasn't > >asking to argue about it or play games about it -- I really would like to > know > >if there is something. If I've said it, great. I just can't come up with > it > >right now. > > You misunderstand. I'm not referring to anything you've said before. If > I were, I could probably cite the disdain you expressed for "provable > likelihood of success" in an earlier post this week, or chastize you as to > why you think the increase in *hope* (definitely non-measurable) is so > unworth mentioning in Iraq. But anyhow, I actually wasn't referring to > any of that. > > Instead, I am just expressing my confidence that if you have even a modicum > of honesty you can come up with something that is measurably better in Iraq > today than it was under Saddam Hussein. After all, Saddam Hussein's > regime was one of the 5 worst regimes on Earth. Unless you believe that > Iraq is *stil* one of the 5 worst regimes on Earth, then I am *sure* that > you can come up with something - if you are willing to be honest about it. I think a reasonable measure of this would be the opinion of the people of Iraq. Ideally, the question would be "are you better off than you were under Hussein" or "are you better off than you were three years ago." But, a decent secondary question that indicates the opinion of the people of Iraq is "are things going in the right direction?" The interpretation of such a poll will be dependant on where it is taken, of course, but, at the very least, the changes in these numbers over time should reflect changes in attitude. Would you and Nick consider this at least some measure of the views of the people of Iraq? Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
