Reply #34: Thanks! I have a couple more ....

[Babel_17]

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/IZXX0008.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070803/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070802125014

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070804/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070802125035

My question: We decided the Iraqi people deserved democracy/freedom from Saddam but do we owe them a massive outpouring of cash and resources to alleviate situations like the above?

Is it up to them to turn things around or do they have a moral claim on us to be doing much more?

Cutting to the chase I think that in a few years it's going to get real ugly for american politics when it comes time to slash the budget to pay for our share of all the related costs of the war and its consequences.

Too much stuff seems to be off the table for the presidential primary debates.

P.S. I work outdoors, often while laboring in/with hot asphalt, but even my mind boggles at what our troops are going through yet again this summer in Iraq. Wearing all the armor and protective gear and clothing while hauling, what, 80 pounds (or better) of weapons and essentials, is an epic task. Amazing people.

P.P.S. Answering my own question: We need to get all the skilled professionals who've fled Iraq back into the country somehow. And we need to employ many thousands of technicians from all the countries of world in an effort to get Iraq back on a sustainable track to recovery. The country needs jobs and work projects. We need to think in the small and medium terms of a disaster recovery. Give the people a palpable stake in the reconstruction.

The cost would be astronomical and it would require the type of leadership Lincoln demonstrated when the chips were down.

I'm sure it could be done simpler and cheaper but you'd need high level administrators with some mad skills. We've got some great people on the ground working with the Iraqis, if we could generate enough genuine enthusiasm and cooperation from top to bottom we could maybe tip things toward a positive direction.

What do we owe the Iraqis? We owe them an honest effort, not one based on face saving lies and a refusal to accept responsibility and the truth.

Given that Bush won't provide the essential leadership we who are in opposition to him are faced with excruciating choices.