🚀 go-pugleaf

>>>>> "Merlin" == Merlin Dorfman <dorfman@rahul.net> writes:

Russell> Heh.  If we actually cared about the Kurds, don't you think
Russell> we'd be doing something (i.e. intervening) with the Turks,
Russell> our allies?  Our policy in Iraq has nothing to do with the
Russell> Kurds.  The Kurds provide a convenient excuse to maintain
Russell> military pressure on Iraq.

Merlin>      Actually the Turks are doing something...but not due to
Merlin> any American intervention.  They want to join the European
Merlin> Community, and there are some standards they must meet before
Merlin> even being eligible.  One is abolishing the death penalty,
Merlin> which they have just done.  

Was this before or after they executed the Kurdish leader?

Russell> There are two ways of being safe in the world: a) make sure
Russell> no one _can_ hurt you; and b) make sure no one _wants_ to
Russell> hurt you.  We've been pretending that, for large parts of the
Russell> world, option a) is our only choice.  It seems to me, in a
Russell> highly interdependent world that we say we want (see WTO,
Russell> etc), option b) is our only honestly moral choice.
Russell> Otherwise, let's just haul out the death star and the Darth
Russell> Vader capes and get to work.

Merlin>      Needs to be a mixture of both.  The only way to make sure
Merlin> nobody wants to hurt you is not to take any stands on
Merlin> anything.

No, that's not the only way.  Another way is to have a truly inclusive
consensus-building organization where either everyone or no one has a
veto and where other peoples "vital national interests" are considered
as well.

-- 
Russell Senior         ``The two chiefs turned to each other.        
seniorr@aracnet.com      Bellison uncorked a flood of horrible       
                         profanity, which, translated meant, `This is
                         extremely unusual.' ''