On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 16:32:24 +0000, Charlie Self wrote:

Point being, though, that we do occasionally need to learn a lesson. I'm not
sure when that will happen, but in soggy little ********s, we do not need to
leave people hanging, often fighting and nearly forgotten (give Iraq another
3-4 years and see what happens), expending our resources to no good purpose
(arguably, Germany and Japan were good purposes).

The problem is that the disease which culminated in 9/11 breeds in these soggy
little ********s. The lesson I see is what happened after the Soviets
retreated from Afghanistan, leaving a fertile ground for the extremists to
build training camps and a homeland from which to launch their jihad. If
we pack up and leave now, I see 9/11 as only a warm up, and the mid east
situation going even further out of control (if that is possible). The
argument that mid east Muslim nations are incapable of some form of
democratic government displays no confidence in democracy itself, let
alone the sterotypeing of all the people of those nations.

-Doug