[oclug] "A Fine Job"

[Brad Barnett]

On Wed, 23 Aug 2006 07:06:03 -0400
"David F. Skoll" <dfs at roaringpenguin.com> wrote:

> Brad Barnett spews:
> 
> > All in all, Saddam did a fine job running that country, considering
> > the religious and political infighting that it was under on a daily
> > basis.
> 
> Here's the Brad Barnett Guide to Running a Country:
> 
> 1) Commit genocide against minority groups in your country (hundreds of
>    thousands of Kurds in the North; Shiites in the South.)

Claiming the Kurds and Shiites as innocents in that so called "genocide"
is like claiming Saddam innocent of all wrong doing.  The Kurds and
Shiites consistently and constantly attacked the non-Krud and non-Shiite
citizenry of Iraq, including government installations and the like.

I guess that you suggest Saddam should have simply ignored all
physical attacks from these ethnic groups, and not responded to their
constant sniping on the population and infrastructure of Iraq? Further, no
real genocide was attempted.  If it was, the Kurdes and Shiites would
likely be a significantly reduced population compared to what exists now
in Iraq.

> 
> 2) Use poison gas on your own citizens, killing hundreds of men, women
> and children, just because they're Kurds.
> 

Just because they're Kurds, is not a fair statement.  Kurds were
performing "terrorist" acts against the state.  Saddam is not innocent,
but as I stated above, "considering the religious and political
infighting", Saddam did indeed run that country well.

Take note, there are still Kurds and Shiites alive in Iraq.  This
indicates a less-than-total policy of retaliation against these ethnic
groups.

> 3) Start a vicious, bloody and futile war against your neighbour Iran,
> ending up with millions of dead for no reason.

Uh.  Saddam was armed by the US and others specifically for this purpose. 
Quote, from the Wikipedia (yes, it is not authoritative, but most non-POV
publications will state the same thing):

"The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980 following a
long history of border disputes, demands for the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein's regime, and secret encouragement by the US administration (Jimmy
Carter, conveyed through Saudi Arabia) which was embroiled in a dispute
with the new regime in Iran."

Surely you are not suggesting that simply because Iraq invaded first, it
is "in the wrong"?  The above paragraph indicates that there was a long
history of "border disputes".  It indicates that the US wanted the
invasion.

Who is in the wrong?  Amusing that the US armed Iran, then when a change
of government occurred, armed Iraq to take care of Iran.  No matter.

> 
> 4) Invade a small neighbour, just for the hell of it.

Actually, Kuwait was supposedly slant drilling into Iraqi wells.

However, how does invading Kuwait make Saddam a bad leader for his
country?

> 
> 5) Implement a policy of "Arabization" - move members of your ethnic
> group into Kurdish cities to eliminate any chance of autonomy.
>

Uh.

How is this a bad idea?  It is good for a country to be stable, yes? 
Civil war is bad, yes?
 
> Mostly, I can ignore the foolishness spouted by knee-jerk
> American-haters, but this was just too much.
> 

Too much?  Hardly.  If you look at my entire post, the out of context
statement looks like this:


"Further, there are, literally, some places that are not ready for
democracy yet. You can not foster governmental change on people, they must
desire it themselves.

All in all, Saddam did a fine job running that country, considering the
religious and political infighting that it was under on a daily basis. "


Are you claiming that Irsq is ready for democracy?  It isn't.  Are you
claiming that Saddam did a bad job, CONSIDERING THE RELIGIOUS AND
POLITICAL INFIGHTING? 

No, he did not!  Iraq, under his rule, was one of the most prosperous,
progressive and forward thinking Muslim nation in that area!  Instead, the
US has invaded, killed more Iraqis in a few months than Saddam did
during his entire regime, and tried to force democracy in an area that is
simply not worth it.

Iraq will be in constant crisis mode until a dictator returns.. or it will
descend into utter and total civil war. :/