talk.politics.misc

Ernst Blofeld wrote:
> On Oct 11, 8:02 pm, Jeffrey Turner wrote:
>
>>As if that's the end of the story and the gov't can just do
>>whatever the Iraqi gov't is doing and still maintain legitimacy.
>>The Iraqis obviously don't feel that way.
>
> Says who?

The Iraqis. The authority and control of the central gov't is
minimal in the provinces.

>>>So the democratically elected government lacks legitimacy--but any
>>>group of people who happen to pick up guns automatically has
>>>legitimacy?
>>
>>Everyone but mouth-breathing right-wingers realizes that a gov't
>>has to serve the interests of its people to be legitimate. Your
>>opinion of who should be the legitimate gov't of Iraq isn't
>>really important to the Iraqis.
>
> Who says the government lacks legitimacy? Sounds to me like you're
> taking a neo-colonialist attitude towards the Iraqi people and telling
> them that they really didn't mean it when they elected a government.

Sounds to me like you're throwing around buzzwords without
comprehension. They elected a gov't in the expectation that
that gov't would tell the Americans to leave. The gov't can't
maintain order, much less provide the services that are the
normal function of gov't. But who would expect the Bushies to
do a better job over there than they are doing over here?

>>>There are all sorts of insurgencies. Some are popular; some are just a
>>>violent minority, such as the Shining Path or the Sunni groups in
>>>Iraq.
>>
>>All things considered, you should be more respectful of your
>>pals', the Saudis', favorite part of the Iraqi insurgency
>
> Oh, I have a long and distinguished record of being anti-Saudi.

I'm sure. Bandar Bush notwithstanding.

>>. But
>>the Sunni groups are only one part of the insurgency. There's
>>at least two main Shi'ite groups - the Mahdi Army and the Badr
>>Brigades. And none of them want to be under American domination
>>and military occupation.
>
> So the Sunni insurgents lack legitimacy, because they're a minority
> that only wants to perpetuate their minority rule, while the shiite
> insurgents are legitimate representatives of the people?

The whole insurgency, except, perhaps, al Qaida in Mesopotamia,
has more legitimacy than the foreign occupiers. But then again,
QM is just another group of foreigners trying to exploit Iraq
for their own purposes.

--Jeff

--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
--Dwight Eisenhower