« someone beat them with a reality stick, please | Main | another sign »

Oliver's army*

Oliver floats a balloon:

I've been thinking a lot about post-Saddam Iraq and all the argument about what should and can be done to the country. I think bloggers and other concerned citizens should come up with a list of certain rights, freedoms, governmental structures that we feel would really put Iraq on the word to an actual, living democracy. I'll have mine up sometime tomorrow.

Interesting concept. I think all bloggers who have been writing about the war - pro or con - should take part in this.

I also couldn't help noticing that the Amazon ad on Oliver's site was currently touting Ann Coulter's Slander while I was there.

*the title is not a good one for this post, I just always wanted to use it.

Comments

The American Bill of Rights would be a good start.

Or maybe just the right to life, liberty, and personal property. Ah, that's my libertarian streak. They can worry about how they'll build interstate highways later. :)

Yeah, well, that Amazon script is a lot like Coulter: not particularly smart and prone to spitting out the wrong results.

In my opinion we should provide a safe
forum and let them figure it out.
However, a nudge & a hint or two couldn't hurt. :o)

I believe we ought to do exactly what worked well in the past. As much as I like new ideas there's an almost 60 year old blueprint for building free, stable and prosperous societies out of defeated dictatorships. We need look no further than Japan and Germany.
We should do exactly what Truman did, install a military government while building a civil society. Japan and Germany had their ups and downs since 1945 but they haven't invaded anyone for 58 years now, might just be a record for those guys.

We're going to decide for the Iraqi's what form their democracy will take, but here's the deal. Only input from those who've been supporters of real change in Iraq get to make suggestions. That leaves out Willis, who has spent most of his time engaged in traitorous trechery than he has in being a helpful member of the team dedicated to a free Iraq.

Butt out, Willis. No body likes a late joiner.

Hey Paul, throw your hatred for Willis elsewhere.

I admire and respect him and I think he has not engaged in anything even close to treason.

Oh, God, treason? What am I gonna tell my mom?

I'm drawing a blank as to who said this, but there's a quote that's something to the effect that if it setting up a new government, a country would photocopy the Constitution and Bill of Rights, scratch out "The United States of America" and put in their own name, it would be the greatest compliment to the U.S.

I don't feel qualified to tell the Iraqis what to do. They could probably do worse than seek inspiration from our Constitution and from the Federalist Papers. Nevertheless, no matter what they put on paper it will be worthless if they do not support their free institutions in the future and learn to restrain the lusts for power among their politcal leaders. We cannot teach them that, it must come from within. We owe a great debt to George Washington for his example of first refusing to seize power by the army at the end of the Revolutionary War and later for retiring after two terms in office. Even Geroge III admired him for that. Look what is going on in Venezuela right now. Hopefully the experience of Saddam and the Ba'athists has burned the extremism and greed for untrammelled power out of the Iraqis, as 36 years of Franco seem to have done for the Spaniards.