Macgregor's latest shot at the matrix: "Sheikhs For Sale"

[Ken White]

Originally Posted by Rank amateur

In response to a number of people above, the problem is welfare economics 101. If you keep sending people a check until the find a job, they don't look for work. If you pay sheiks until they create a nice stable country, they won't create a nice stable country.

If what you appear to think was happening was the fact, you'd be pretty well correct. They're getting some money -- and it goes to the Sheik to pay his people (after his rake off, of course -- it is the ME), for tribal welfare and for construction and other things. That money comes with few strings, transitioning to some strings and further transitioning to a lot of strings. The amount will vary depending upon performance. It isn't the mass give away you seem to think.

People cannot find jobs where there are none. All we could ever do in Iraq was open a window for them. We've done that. They've got to fix it themselves and all we have to do is hold the window open for a while. Think of it a a pre-Marshall Plan. Was that, BTW, welfare also?

Undoubtedly, we've made a bad situation slightly less worse, but when the best arguments intelligent people can make in favour is "We had no other choice," and "the government wastes money at home too," I think you need to concede that it's not exactly the equivalent of raising the stars and stripes atop Mount Suribachi.

Some may make those arguments, I'm not making them. All I'd say is that it's an eminently sensible approach, has been standard practice around the world for thousands of years and is the norm for business in the ME. I will say that it would be abysmally stupid NOT to do it.

Anyone who gets wrapped around the axle over Mt. Suribachi is living in a strange time warp. Those days are gone, probably never to return. There has not been a full bore, total warfare type "unconditional surrender" war since WW II and there's unlikely to be one in the future. There was never going to be a 'victory' in Iraq, the best result could be only an acceptable outcome -- which is highly probable.

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one.

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