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Sunil et. al.<BR>
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One of the idealistic ostensible goals of the US occupation and war in Iraq is to bring a stable democracy to Iraq, to bring them "freedom," a word which means what? If they want to have an Islamic government where Islam is the ruling religion, then if we offer them "freedom," why do we not allow them to choose this? And if they resist the western style democracy we are trying to establish, is it morally right for the US to kill those who resist our goals in the name of "freedom?" How ironic that as the US attempts to pacify the warring factions in Iraq, we resort to brutality and abuse which are the very conditions we claimed to be saving them from. There was a reason why Saddam was a brutal dictator besides lust for power, sadism and corruption. It was a means of holding a country together with factions ready to incite civil war. <BR>
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While the Bush administration paints the insurgents as foreign terrorists, many are Iraqis people who are resisting a foreign power occupying their country by force. We would do the same! And the Sunnis will not accept rule by the Shiite, which is what may happen with the majority Shiite likely to be mostly in control of a so called "democratic" Iraq. Get ready for US Iraq occupation of Iraq to extend for decades!<BR>
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But really, many Iraqis know why we are there: we want their oil. How obvious. Yet this rationale seems to be forgotten in this election year with the idealistic talk of bringing democracy to the world, stopping terrorism, etc. I read a quote from a resistance fighter who said just that, that the "US cowboys want to steal our oil." And I have yet to hear a good counter argument put forward when it is pointed out that Saudi Arabia has a fundamentalist Islamic dictatorship that denies human rights, treats women as virtual slaves, yet as long as Saudi oil flows with guarantees to the West, are we bombing them to establish freedom and democracy? Why do we not hear from the Bush administration a cry for Saudi Arabia to have free and fair elections, to free their women from the oppression they are under, a life that American's would find appalling? And if we show tacit support for the oppression in Saudi Arabia as long as the oil flows our way, then should we not question whether freedom and democracy is our real goal in Iraq? Or is it future guaranteed access to the second highest known oil reserves of any country in the world, with a military presence in the heart of the middle east to protect the oil? <BR>
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This is so obvious I feel silly pointing it out.<BR>
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Ted Moffett</FONT></HTML>