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Originally posted by taxwonk
Yeah, me and my Pollyanna view that, in the wealthiest society in the world, it's wrong for people to go to bed hungry, or in a culvert. It's pathetic, isn't it? Have they no dumpsters?
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With welfare, food banks, and all the programs designed as safety nets, I don't think there are that many people starving here. Any? I really doubt it. Most of the people who are sleeping in culverts are the mentally ill, who we sort of cast out out of a misguided concern for their right to select to live in a culvert. Shall we incarcerate them for their own good?
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If we're doing such a great job, then why are there so many places we can't control? Including the part of Baghdad where our soldiers and diplomats live? Why are there so many people blowing things up?
Iraq won't be a success, and in fact won't be anything but a loss for the US, unless we can leave it with the people in a state of peace and a functional government in place. If we leave before achieving both, then we will be leaving an Iraq that is far more dangerous and far more likely to be a continual breeding ground for terrorists than it was before.
You are deluding yourself if you think that we will be able to do that with our current level of spending, and at our current level of involvement.
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If things settled down right now, and we left in months, there would be quite a few remaining die-hard fanatics bent on violent overthrow who would then resume their bombings on a new, weak government without our support. We're stuck cleaning up the remains of an overly-quick invasion (isn't THAT a funny concept?) that failed to kill enough off. I'm amused, though, at the sudden decision by millions of Kerryites that the progress is failing - seems like the concern materialized simultaneously across the liberal world in the last week - couldn't be a realization that they need an issue in 45 days, could it? Bush said this would take a long time and cost a lot of money when it started. Now, you're saying "Bush lied! He said it would be slow and expensive, but it's slow and expensive! Liar!"
