re: london fix - jan - apr 2006 data
lord elpus ... i do agree with the 3 points you made earlier about why the US will not go to war in Iran, but just as a thought .... i
n Iraq the US are essentially occupying a country which now contains peoples who are at war with themselves. The US could take full control of Iraq if they wanted, but the brutality that they would have to use would shock the Americans at home in their living rooms just like it did in Vietnam. These little wars (not so little in monetary costs, but definitely little in the fact that the US goes in with no doubt in their mind they'll be able to overthrow the country's govt in only months) that are fought these days can have political ramifications for the politicians in the 'clean' Western countries who started them (in this case US. Australia, England, etc) because those at home muncing on their dinner in their living room get to see what really goes on. I believe that politicians are acutely aware of this when looking at Nixon's popularity during the Vietnam war. Infact, ultimately the US administration bowed out because of the political carnage due to the war. Bush is finding this a little harder because if he exits then the public won't be too impressed with a 2 trillion dollar adventure that achieved ZIP ... apart from aggrevating future suicide bombers. If he stays thencost goes up further, and the no. of body bags coming home gets higher and his popularity gets worse. He's stuck between a rock and a hard place. So ... today we don't have all out brutal occupations like Poland/France in WW II by the Germans, where the Gastapo would simply have 200 people executed at random when their was any insurgent attack on the occupiers. Today ... when pollies go to war, the public scrutinise the ethics of our soldiers abroad because they can, thanks to media... and then the public hold pollies accountable for the ethical conduct of a war, which is ridiculous when you think about it considering the nature of war. Just wait till another big war comes and then you will see clean war go out the window. You'll see the worst of human nature (and best for those who can hold themselves together) in a nuclear war!
