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Originally Posted by mbrown
Well.. let's see.. In recent times the far left has supported the Palestinians over Israeli's.. Anyone see Svend 'that was MY diamond' Robinson over there? What an idiot. The left is on the side of Saddam and seemingly the Taliban. Afghanistan WAS sanctioned by the UN and yet the left sill wants Canada to be out of there as well. The left likes to burry their heads in the sand and wish it all away where people with more 'balanced' view points stand up and try to make the world a better place.
Ask the Soldiers who they were hoping to win the last election.
'nuff said in my opinion.
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Wow, another world class stupid post. Do you bother to think before you post, or do you just make like a monkey and start hammering the keys and hope something intelligible comes out?
Ironic that you shoud bring up the Israel issue. The problem with the Israel/Palestine issue is very similar to the Iraqi issue. Many in the world view the Israelis as the occupier, just like the US is in Iraq. The Palestinians have the right to their homeland and have the right of self government. The Israeli occupation and settlement in Palestinian land is the crux of issue. If the Israelis would negotiate in good faith, and stop with the assinine eye-for-an-eye attacks, this issue could likely be settled and allow the healing to begin. It is going to take generations of Israelis and Palestinians living with/next to each other before the hatred subsides. Until a resolution is found through political means this conflict will continue to go on forever, or until one side is completely wiped out.
I also laughed outloud when you said it is the left that is burying its head in the sand and hoping problems will all just go away. I hate to break it to you, but one of the tenets of conservatism (the right wing) is to lessen change and ignore new dynamics. Conservatism is all about burying one's head in the sand and hoping change will go away. Religion is the foundation for conservatism and religion is all about no change. What happened 2000 years ago is the basis for our society today? Where is the head of anyone who believes that? Firmly planted in the sand, or between their butt cheeks?
Finally, who cares who the soldiers voted for? The military is NOT a democracy, and the soldiers do what they are told. Frankly, if ANY country is relying on their soldiers to decide policy or sway the vote one way or another, they are in serious trouble. The military is filled with society's rejects. The military recruits those that have no place else to go and hope they can turn them into something. Trust me, I work around ex-military personnel all day, and they are the dumbest bunch of people on this planet. The reason they went in the military is because they needed someone to tell them what to do and which boot goes on which foot. The men and women in the military get trained very well in how to do things, but free thought and comprehension of concepts is not something they are exposed to. Analysis of information is left to the contractors who have their wits about them. The military is there to execute the plan. Who these "mental giants" would vote for is irrelevant. I also think you are incorrect in your assumption and the numbers would be pretty close to being split, as was the whole country. But that is for another argument another day.
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Originally Posted by CalgaryCowboy
By force I hope you mean a strong central government with a constitution and fair bill of rights not death squads.
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Death squads? Hey, what ever it takes! Just kidding. Of course I'm talking about a strong central government and constitution. Without that, democracy cannot work.
I've been waiting to see if anyone would post the information on the Afghani who was arrested and put on trial for his conversion from Islam to Christianity some 20+ years ago. That conversion is the worst crime that a muslim can commit and the sentence for the guilty is death. This man went back to his native Afghanistan to help rebuild his country (that he was forced to leave 25 years earlier) and this is what happens to him. What is very interesting is that this case is the first real test that democracy in Afghanistan faces and would indeed be the proof that democracy was working.
Democracy works based on the tenets that are used to define and defend the society and the individual. The Afghani constitution defines that people have the freedom to practice what ever religion they choose and may not be pursecuted for that belief. Yet this man is on trial for his life, because Islamic law states he is a criminal. Now a true democracy would see this action play out and prove whether the tenets of democracy, those that protect all people regardless of affiliation, are the ones controlling the political mechanism, or if it is the theocratical tenets that rule the land. The courts, a key component of a true democracy and a reflection of the people's ability to understand the constitutional protections alotted to them, would make a ruling that would forever set precident and prove whether the state were capabe of protecting the rights of the individual, a democracy, or whether the religious laws would be what the state lived by, a theocracy.
Interestingly enough this whole issue was cut short after an intervention by the Bush administration. Bush and Rice exerted their influence and had the case tossed out by means of a change of plea, the man saying he was temporarily insane during his conversion to Christianity. This appeased the Islamic court and gave everyone an out. Unfortunately it prevented the PEOPLE from deciding their own way. It prevented democracy from working and proving whether the democratic mechanism had a chance of working in a country where religious beliefs are the guiding tenent for daily life. The first big chance that democracy had to work was quashed because those in Washington saw what was playing out and exactly where things were headed (or beheaded, depending on your view of the case).
IMO, this was a chance for the world to see whether Afghanistan and Iraq had any chance of having an honest to goodness opportunity at self-rule. Sadly, the world saw that the puppet is still at the end of a string and will do what ever the puppet master wishes it to do. Democracy had a great opportunity to makes its first spark and kindle the fire in all the people of the region. Bush and co ****ed all over that, snuffing the flame and not giving the people the chance to set their own path.
Democracy will not work, because democracy is not what the United States wants in the region. The United States wants a subserviant body that will do what ever it says. If the Bush Administration felt otherwise, they would allow the people of these countries to chart their own course though these democratic mechanisms.