A Democratic Police State
-- or --
The Emperor's Clothes
In the 20Sep04 article on www.misleader.com they talk about how Rumsfeld lied regarding the current number of Iraqis in the security forces, overstating the number by 100%. I believe it glosses over something exceedingly ugly.
We are still working to attain over 205,000 trained Iraqis. That is about 1% of the Iraqi population, and only refers to forces we have trained and classify as security forces. Our total military level in Iraq, combatants and support troops combined, is 130,000.
Take the U.S., we have a population of 294 million. 1% of that is 3 million. It sounds obscenely high. A security force trained by an occupying force of that size could promote nearly anything in the world except for liberty.
Deductions from facts like these appear to me straightforward and as plain as the big old nose on my face. It screams out at me, this vast security force which will be necessary to enforce the Bush vision of democracy upon the 'democracy hungry' population of Iraq. I sometimes feel I am the only person in the world who sees these obvious, self-defeating, and frightening deductions.
I generally get blank stares when I point out something like this. I predict right and left alike will go into a trance when I compare the size of the foreign trained security force in Iraq to numbers we can relate to for our country, and ask how that can possibly encourage liberty. It's really not hard folks, once you let yourself see how naked the emperor is.
Since I have started following politics, I have been startled to find most, or all, of my simplistic observations like this one have proven out. Goodie, goodie, for me. It does not make me pleased or satisfied in any way. It's more like seeing in ultra slow motion so you can imagine the bullet's damage long before it lands. It sucks, totally sucks, for me.
We are still working to attain over 205,000 trained Iraqis. That is about 1% of the Iraqi population, and only refers to forces we have trained and classify as security forces. Our total military level in Iraq, combatants and support troops combined, is 130,000.
Take the U.S., we have a population of 294 million. 1% of that is 3 million. It sounds obscenely high. A security force trained by an occupying force of that size could promote nearly anything in the world except for liberty.
Deductions from facts like these appear to me straightforward and as plain as the big old nose on my face. It screams out at me, this vast security force which will be necessary to enforce the Bush vision of democracy upon the 'democracy hungry' population of Iraq. I sometimes feel I am the only person in the world who sees these obvious, self-defeating, and frightening deductions.
I generally get blank stares when I point out something like this. I predict right and left alike will go into a trance when I compare the size of the foreign trained security force in Iraq to numbers we can relate to for our country, and ask how that can possibly encourage liberty. It's really not hard folks, once you let yourself see how naked the emperor is.
Since I have started following politics, I have been startled to find most, or all, of my simplistic observations like this one have proven out. Goodie, goodie, for me. It does not make me pleased or satisfied in any way. It's more like seeing in ultra slow motion so you can imagine the bullet's damage long before it lands. It sucks, totally sucks, for me.
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