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Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
it seems reasonable to hope that a reasonably democratic, and only moderately Islamist government will eventually emerge.
Assuming this happens, was the invasion worth it? In my view, No.
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How can you post the shit you do? Do you understand the concept of a bullshit filter at all?
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An invasion to change a government can be justified, if at all, only when it is assured of quick and fairly bloodless success, and of a rapid handover of power to a reasonably democratic alternative.
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By this logic we shouldn't have started the United States.
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From the viewpoint of the world as a whole, the issue is much clearer. The $200 billion spent on the war could have saved millions of lives if even half of it had been allocated to health care in poor countries. Even if the money were spent in the US, it could have saved tens of thousands of lives (the usual estimate is that marginal health interventions cost about $5 million per life saved).
A fraction of the military resources used in the war could have supported a more robust international intervention in Darfur (not an invasion, but peacekeeping with vigorous rules of engagemetn), again with a huge saving in lives. Or there are a bunch of other dictators who could have been pushed aside with less cost in lives, some of whom are allies of the US. Cheerleaders for the war are hailing the possibility of partially free elections in Saudi Arabia and Egypt as a consequence of the war. But particularly in the case of Egypt, the US could have ensured free elections any time it chose by telling Mubarak that his aid would be cut off unless he held them (ideally with a carrot of more aid if he did hold them).
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And we'll call the land Shangra-la!
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As far as weapons of mass destruction are concerned, the real problems in Korea, Iran, Pakistan and the former Soviet bloc have got steadily worse while we spent years chasing shadows.
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True, but the Dems have been voted out now, so we're on the case. Hey. How come he didn't include Libya?
