He causes all, the small and the great, rich and the poor, the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads...

... and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. He who has understanding ....


Well, let us see .... surely my dear CCD friends recognize the rich ironic appropriateness of quoting a book of our GOD entitled REVELATIONS..... given our beloved co-founders recently "revealed" confessions of a realization not without prompting ... yet nonetheless sincerely appreciated.

Shall we begin?

First to Jambo - perhaps you haven't availed yourself of the opportunity to view our back logs. But this is was my precise intent by moving the conversation from micro to macro Iraq policy. From yellow cake nuances to the motivations of a wartime administration. This is the conversation I've been driving - what to do on September 12th, 2001? Better yet, what do each of us do?

And clearly my assertion had a profound affect on Titus. Not that I drove him to his answer, but rather that I drove him to seek one ... and in a most satisfying coincidence, we have drawn the same conclusion - Iraq was not merely the "best" move, but the ONLY move we had to make given the enemy we face and her geographical location.

It was my theory that the ultimate preemptive strike at the heart of Radical Islam would be the introduction of democracy into greater Mesopotamia ... a free Iraq trading with Lebanon and perhaps Israel ... accepting disenfranchised and perhaps "hunted" Iranian defectors from Iranian college campuses and professionals of all stripes - history shows us that when fascists or despots of any stripe take stranglehold control of a nation the subsequent brain drain of indigenous intellectuals can have a profound impact on the future defeat of that same despotic regime (tragically whether they are killed or flee), i.e. Einstein leaves Germany and helps us develop "the bomb." And Iraq could serve as just that portal from Iran for the secularist intellectuals and professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers) much like the German and Russian Jews of the 20th century fleeing to the UK, America and France.

Add to that the economic explosion a free Iraq would enjoy given the unquestionable preference the USA, and in theory all of the free West, would put on doing business with the only Middle Eastern democracy in existence aside from Israel. It could give us an ally in untold reciprocity concerning Islamic terror - land bases, human Intel, fossil fuels, a partner in peace and war (they have no great love for Iran .. perhaps a blood debt or two million). Properly functioning the strategic advantages are too numerous to make - AND I MADE THESE POINTS SOME POSTS AGO, I might add, thus initiating this "PAX BUND ROMANO."

And add to that your point Titus that because we can park A1 Abraham Tanks within urinating distance of Persian soil (perhaps with US friendly Iraqi soldiers in them), thus having operational containment - or at least deterrent - as a real possibility without ever invading their land (a much deadlier endevour for our armed forces with a Saddam controlled Iraq) and it quickly materializes that a properly functioning free Iraq is the single best asset for America and the free West in this new war of the 21st century.

I won't mock your conclusions nor will the mark left be made by me (although I'm tempted ..... steady boy ... STEADY) for this is the essence of the "Bund." An assertion is made and is attacked and defended until a consensus is reached; or a question posed and answered until the same ... it just so happens that this is the quintessential "biggie", and I must admit to some amount of pride (I'm not Catholic, I don't find it sinful ... he,he) in not only introducing the "Macro Iraqi Studies" question, but first posing that the only geopolitical strategic move to make for the world's remaining superpower in a post 9/11 era in order to even attempt some version of a "Islamo-fascist free" world was to inject not just our presence into Mesopotamia, but the least imperfect system yet devised for man's dealings with his fellow man - democracy (and the strategic advantages over Iran that come with it, as you so eloquently pointed out).

Success may very well have a thousand fathers, but on this day I dare to brush aside the other 999.