@Retired: "A little while ago my wife called me into the family room, and I was stunned 
and delighted by what I saw!!!
That remarkable report tonight was wonderful. Did you see it? Fox focused on 
weddings, the stock exchange, people in the street, elections, shopkeepers, 
a fast-growing economy, opportunity, building, vacationers, and ordinary 
life in Iraq. It was very positive from the Iraqi point of view  extremely 
encouraging. It's the first report I've seen that was so optimistic. 
Winning? Winning! Iraqis made Bush look like Solomon and American soldiers 
look like heroes, though they want us to finish the job and leave - just 
like rational Americans want to finish the job and leave. I've been trying 
to convey such views to people here, but they see only the casualty numbers 
in the media, and it seems risky to share my optimism.
Many know that I strongly support capitalism as a potential antidote for 
fundamentalist Islam, which has its roots in misery and fear. A healthy, 
growing, opportunity-for-all economy makes it difficult to recruit suicide 
bombers. For example, the problems in France have nothing to do with Islam 
and everything to do with personal greed, and that supports my theory that 
the Islamification of western civilization may not be inevitable if Muslims 
can be converted to capitalism in accordance with the Iraqi model in 
general, and the Kurdish example in particular. Success breeds envy, and if 
the opportunity is made available, envy breeds more success.
Such a solution is best demonstrated in The Other Iraq: "Kurdistan", a 
region that covers N Iraq, S Turkey, NW Iran, and a sliver of NE Syria. 30M 
Kurds (5M of them in Iraq) have become the largest ethnic group without a 
homeland, though in the past 2,500 years they've certainly earned one. 
They're energetic, hard-working, and profit-seeking capitalists with their 
own language, history, and ethnicity. The city of Erbil is a fine example of 
success  170 plants currently make concrete blocks, bricks, and other 
building materials for a soaring economy. "Kurdistan" has about 45B barrels 
of oil  sufficient to lubricate the birth of a nation, and of the many 
diverse maps of "Kurdistan", some show a port to the far west, carved out of 
Northern Syria and southern Turkey. Wow! Remember, this region shares 
borders with countries that are very important to America (Iran, Syria, 
Turkey, Iraq)  to the Kurds, America is wonderful!
<url>
<url>
<url>
<url> <-so ugly maybe it's by antiKurds?
<url>
If you feel like checking things out in Kurdistan, there are two ways to get 
there. You can fly directly from Frankfurt to Erbil via Kurdistan Airlines, 
or you can enjoy a bit more drama. Vacation in Turkey, arguably one of the 
most wonderful bargains in all of tourism, then fly S to Diyarbakir airport 
and take a taxi to the Iraqi border. Pay ten pounds sterling for your visa, 
change cabs, and head for Erbil.
I'll meet you there. Bring your checkbook... This place is booming, and it's 
not bombs.
Ike "
    @Retired: ""Al Superczynski" <email_address> wrote in message 
news:<email_address>
<quote>
We can leave "Iraq" once the Iraqis can handle security, and it's fast 
approaching.
As for permanent bases, when Iraqi Kurdistan loses the first word our base 
there won't be in Iraq. I see little need for a base in western Iraq 
assuming - again - that emerging Kurdistan includes a common border with 
Syria.
Would I appear a bit overhawkish if I suggested a base near Tehran? I've 
spent time there during the Shah's reign, and the liberty was great!
Ike "
    @nada: "What a bunch of crap! "I don't like" Ike! FoxNews is for the ignorant. 
There lead man Bill O'Reilly is a Irish-American bigot and loud mouthed 
bully who grew up on Long Island, NY in one of the first suburbs. His 
Catholic roots show and he is stuck like the lot of you in mid last 
century.
<quote>
	-Seancito
	-Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. (Sigmund Freud)"
    @Retired: ""trudogg�" <email_address> wrote in message 
news:<email_address>
<quote>
Does the source change the information itself? Last night's program showed 
scenes that are impossible to stage for the camera, attitudes that are 
clearly spontaneous and sincere. Fox set out to make a point, filmed many 
events, and was editorially selective to make that point. That's certain; 
there's nothing new about that... but what about the basic truths of the 
information?
I enjoy time with returning Marines (it's what I did for decades before 
turning to the tech business world), and am frustrated by the media shaping 
America's viewpoint and doing such a terrible job of showing what's 
happening among Iraqis. Fox or not, last evening's program was consistent 
with reports by Marines who were in Iraq as recently as a couple of weeks 
ago. You may not like Fox, but the information correlates well and deserves 
respect.
Of particular interest was Fox's reporting of the economic rocketship called 
"Kurdistan", which was very gratifying to me. I have written, lectured, 
persuaded, and lobbied regarding cooperation, trade, support, recognition, 
and investment there - for good reason.
It's the "Other Iraq" right now, but that's just 5M Iraqi Kurds and there 
are more than 30M Kurds seeking a homeland sitting on 45B barrels of oil. It 
is possible - barely so - that success of the Kurds will help solve what 
Samuel Huntington called a Clash of Civilizations. Last evening's program 
didn't take it that far, but hopefully other media channels will pick up 
where Fox left off.
Ike "
    @nchen: "<quote>
Wouldn't' make any difference to some of the folks here. It's not what 
they want to see 'cause it doesn't support what they want to believe.
 > Snip"
    @nchen: "<quote>
CBS and ABC aired poll's showing 39% of the troops think we should pull 
out of Iraq. 55% say we should stay and finish the job properly. How do 
they conduct these polls if the troops have been officially silenced?
Ah yes, the cruelty of the Shah. He was so cruel, he let his most 
deadliest enemy the ayatollah kohmani live and let him go to France 
where he was given sanctuary. From France, the ayatollah gained the 
support of the French and the Brits who assisted him in ousting the 
Shah. The Shah, whose major crime was that he wanted to bring Iran into 
the 20th century.
<url>"
    @nchen: "<quote>
No more the comic style than you.
You didn't read where the French and the Brits supported the ayatollah?
Yep, he was so mistreated that the Shah let him go to France.
You must have read quickly for it's likely that you overlooked:
"So it is scarcely surprising that as Muhammad Reza Shah of Iran began 
to adopt more and more Western models of society and government, and 
began to actively oppose the Shi'ite fiqh  courts by setting up his own, 
that the Shi'ite clergy would turn on the regime and eventually declare 
it to be illegitimate. The Shi'ite clergy, with Khumayni as a popular 
leader, would use the Shi'ite sense of history as a powerful weapon 
against the Pahlavi Shah, aligning themselves with figures such as 'Ali 
and Hussein, the third successor to 'Ali who was killed by the second 
Umayyad caliph, and aligning the Pahlavi government with the evil forces 
that through history have oppressed the truly faithful. In 1975, 
Khumayni declared the Shah's government to be illegitimate and opposed 
to Islam."
Naturally, it's the terrible things that are most important. That's 
what's best to remember, harp on, and principally mention when one wants 
to exhibit a one sided point of view."
    @nchen: "<quote>
You can't? Then that means all these folks here who don't watch Fox news 
because to them it's one sided news and therefore would much rather 
believe news reported by CBS and ABC,  are obviously ignorant of the 
fact that these media would tend to make up their news stories.
Hmmm. I guess that's belieable."
    @nchen: "<quote>
The CIA put the Shah in power? Interestng ... but not true.
<url>
Your using todays liberal sought after democrat society to view the 
conditions that would have prevailed in Iran back in 1979? That's 
assuming the US controlled Iran, which would never have been allowed to 
happen and you think I should get real? Though it's true that Kissenger 
had a great influence with the Shah and it was Kissenger who told the 
Shah to raise the price of oil so that more military armament could be 
bought. Well, when you're  just a kid like me I guess things just look 
different. I still try to put a round peg in a round hole and a square 
peg in a square hole. I'm not much for daydreaming."
    @Just_Joody: "On Sun, 04 Dec 2005 22:30:56 GMT, " \(HMFIC<<*>1369\)" <Here I am
<quote>
	Geez, of course that wouldn't work; *we* can't even manage the
metric system.  <g>
Judy~
<url>"
{'source': 'USENET', 'other_information': '{"reply_count": 9, "forum_name": "alt.military.retired.20141207.mbox"}', 'file': 'data/output/usenet-alt.military.parquet'}