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« Action Hero | Main | Barnucopia » December 12, 2005Today's Reading ListThe War: The commander of the 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee Army National Guard, returns home from 21 months in Iraq with a new perspective on life - and some comments about the task of planting democracy in a country whose people have has known only dictatorship, in a really nice story in today's Tennessean. Holmes said his unit made real progress in teaching the fundamentals of democracy to a people who have never known it. ... He lost six soldiers and numerous Iraqi allies - the cost, he says, of establishing a democracy. Still, it's a price Holmes said most Iraqi civilians seem willing to pay as they learn that their needs can be fulfilled through a system in which each group has a voice regardless of ethnicity or who has the most weapons.Howard Dean and a growing number of Democrats say we aren't succeeding in Iraq, can't succeed in Iraq, and shouldn't be trying in the first place. It's a good thing we send men like Holmes, instead of like them, to do the job. Lance Frizzell writes, "LTC Holmes was my CO and I can say with confidence that he had the admiration and respect of every soldier in the squadron." Politics: A dead man apparently voted in the special election in Memphis to fill a state Senate. And there's more evidence of fraud in that election - much more. ... The Tennessean editorializes in favor of a proposal backed by state House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh to let cities and counties impose payroll taxes, real estate transfer taxes and other taxes. Currently, cities and counties in Tennessee have only two taxes - sales and property. The paper says cities and towns won't go on a taxing-and-spending spree if given broad taxing authority. A payroll tax is merely an income tax disguised as a tax on a business's aggregate payroll. Posted in Today's Reading List
Comments
Howard Dean and a growing number of Democrats say we aren't succeeding in Iraq, can't succeed in Iraq, and shouldn't be trying in the first place. It's a good thing we send men like Holmes, instead of like them, to do the job. Good thing we don't send George Bush either. (Although, we all know his record on showing up for military duty.) He said the war is unwinnable, too. Posted by: brittney at December 12, 2005 9:31 AMA dead person voted in Memphis? I'm shocked, just shocked. Posted by: sbk at December 12, 2005 10:50 AMWhile I certainly am grateful to Lieutenant Colonel Holmes for his service to our country, I see nothing in the story beyond general platitudes that indicates an imminent flowering of democracy in Iraq. It is time for conservatives to be realistic with the country for the sake of our own future. I realize that it is difficult to admit you're wrong when you have been trumpeting the same argument for three years, but your continued self delusion of leaving Iraq as a stable western style democracy are going to ultimately lead to significant damage to our own country. Label me a traitor, a defeatist, or as an advocate of a "cut and run policy" - I don't care, I'm not running for anything. I am concerned about the United States of America - and I fear that conservatives' inablity to face up to reality in Iraq and persist in shifting the rational and the goals of the occupation and at the same time shouting down any opposition as treasonous is dangerous for all of us. Regardless of how many times you or Fox News declares that Iraq is improving, any serious minded person can see that the only thing preventing that country from collapsing into civil war is our military presence. And I fail to see how our soldiers, who are taught to fight wars, not build democratic nations, are going to do much to stop that. Every soldier I have talked to who has been in Iraq has had a dim view of the Iraqis' ability to build a demorcratic nation anytime in the next twenty years. In fact, most of them advocate leaving an authoritarian figure in charge of Iraq when we leave to ensure its stability. At some point, whether it is today or five years from now, you will have to stop playing politics and face the reality of the debacle. The first step is to clear your mind of the illusion of building a thriving democracy in Iraq anytime soon. Posted by: Tomj at December 12, 2005 2:01 PMThe paper says cities and towns won't go on a taxing-and-spending spree if given broad taxing authority. Are these people insane? Posted by: Joe at December 12, 2005 2:36 PMBush said the war on terror is unwinnable, which is probably true. We just want to get it back to being statistical noise. The war in Iraq is, perhaps part of that, but I don't know of Bush saying that it is unwinnable. Posted by: Michael Chaney at December 13, 2005 9:23 PMThat is the problem with having two wars going on. War on Terror when it fits, and War in Iraq when it best fits. Posted by: brittney at December 14, 2005 2:31 PMA quiz just for Brittney: Question #1 A. Just Italy. Question #2 A. Never more than one at a time. Question #3 A. Of course not. Post a comment
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