Comments on: Rotten boroughs http://www.likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/ Ron Coleman’s retired general topic blog Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:32:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Top Posts « WordPress.com http://www.likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-1413 Top Posts « WordPress.com Wed, 18 Jul 2007 23:59:14 +0000 http://likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/#comment-1413 [...] Rotten boroughs Arnold Kling, via Instapundit: I think that President Bush has got one thing very much right, which is that […] [...] [...] Rotten boroughs Arnold Kling, via Instapundit: I think that President Bush has got one thing very much right, which is that […] [...]

]]> By: Ron Coleman http://www.likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-1415 Ron Coleman Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:02:15 +0000 http://likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/#comment-1415 <i>Iraq is still in a state of tribalism. Whatever nation or nations evolve from it, its people’s self-identification with each other cannot progress in the short run. </i> This might be the biggest mistake we made. We thought of a nation state, perhaps with some sectarian strains, but not the level of murderous hatred that underlay the fascist template of Saddam Hussein. Or Harry Reid. Iraq is still in a state of tribalism. Whatever nation or nations evolve from it, its people’s self-identification with each other cannot progress in the short run.

This might be the biggest mistake we made. We thought of a nation state, perhaps with some sectarian strains, but not the level of murderous hatred that underlay the fascist template of Saddam Hussein. Or Harry Reid.

]]> By: Mike Devx http://www.likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-1414 Mike Devx Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:37:45 +0000 http://likelihoodofsuccess.com/2007/07/17/rotten-boroughs/#comment-1414 Democracy - and its better descendant, representative government - can only survive when the people of a sovereign nation identify with each other. "We are all Americans", so the saying goes around here. That overarching identity, over time, beats any neighborhood, political, or religious identification. Iraq is still in a state of tribalism. Whatever nation or nations evolve from it, its people's self-identification with each other cannot progress in the short run. Our own democratic and republican institutions developed over centuries, and painfully. There is no short cut. We need to keep this in mind as we attempt to foster stability in the Middle East. Pie in the sky solutions always collapse, leaving an anarchy in the wake of the collapse that is worse than whatever came before. There's no substitute for wisdom. Democracy – and its better descendant, representative government – can only survive when the people of a sovereign nation identify with each other. “We are all Americans”, so the saying goes around here. That overarching identity, over time, beats any neighborhood, political, or religious identification.

Iraq is still in a state of tribalism. Whatever nation or nations evolve from it, its people’s self-identification with each other cannot progress in the short run. Our own democratic and republican institutions developed over centuries, and painfully. There is no short cut.

We need to keep this in mind as we attempt to foster stability in the Middle East. Pie in the sky solutions always collapse, leaving an anarchy in the wake of the collapse that is worse than whatever came before. There’s no substitute for wisdom.

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