--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, MDixon6569@ wrote: > > <snip> > > > The overwhelming reason we are there today is to > > > create a democracy in a region that is traditionally > > > held by dictators or absolute monarchies that have > > > a reason to suppress their people and keep them > > > ignorant and in poverty so as to be able to maintain > > > their own power. > > > > Actually, Iraq was quite prosperous until > > sanctions were imposed. Poverty wasn't a > > big problem. Iraq had made great strides > > in education as well under Saddam. > > And his successes were slipping by the time he started the war with Iran. And they went > down DRASTICALLY during that war. You don't need to evoke the demonic forces of sanctions > to explain the failures of Saddam's Iraq--Saddam gaveth and he tooketh away all on his own.
That's true, the war with Iran drained the economy. But Saddam could have brought it back if it weren't for the sanctions. My point here is not that Saddam was a good guy and should have been allowed to stay in power indefinitely, but rather that practically everything we did in deposing him was a disaster, and the result has been that things are vastly worse for the Iraqis now than they were when he was running Iraq. Given the situation as it has turned out, all the reasons MDixon gave for "regime change" are one big sick joke. And it's not as if the administration wasn't warned umpty times over. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/