Don't denigrate Iraqi Contributions ....

[lanparty]

Thats right Chalabi Allawi is our #1 allie against terrorism. The Iraqi people are our BEST friend for fighting the terrorists. If we provide Iraqis security, they'll get too lazy and they'll have no incentive for providing it for themselves.

Sorry, if I'm paraphrasing the Vice-President wrong. He made this point more than once during the evening. And I thought Edwards lost a HUGE opportunity.

It is the BUSH ADMIN that is undermining the Iraqi efforts to contribute. Iraq was/is a modern country with a VERY educated population. Virtually EVERYTHING Iraq needed to rebuild their nation was resident.

However, instead of putting IRAQIS back to work, they chose to farm out most the work to highball contractors working at 10-100 percent what the Iraqis could have done the work for. I the process, they created a people who felt powerless about their own destiny. They were belittled by foreigners taking the jobs they SHOULD be doing for themselves.

This is a fundamental problem with the President's way of thinking. He doesn't understand the need for jobs and employment. He doesn't understand it here in the United States and he didn't understand it in Iraq.

President Bush alienated the Iraqi people by tearing apart their country and then having NO PLAN to repair it beyond handing out no-bid contracts to overpaid American war profiteers. He alienated the people by refusing to put enough troops in to prevent lawless rioting and ministries critical to civil infrastructure (according to Paul Bremer).

Finally, if the future of Iraq is contingent on the formation of an Iraqi army, why did they send the Iraqi army home with their weapons and a loss of dignity. Are these not the SAME individuals we are fighting now. How many American lives could have been saved if we carefully sifted through the Iraqi officer corps to eliminate the really bad apples and put the Iraqi army BACK to work with their honor intact????

Of course, Bush has never done a hard day's work in his life. I doubt he would understand ANY of this!!!!