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Cassius

Ah, I miss the days of programming text-based games in BASICA / GWBASIC.

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TheNewGuy

I don't know, seeing as how the country used to be run by a crazy-ass dictator and is now replaced with a democracy (in its first stages) I wouldn't really say the situation has deteriorated all that much.

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teufelfisch

I think it's deteriorated. The country is on the brink of civil war.

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Higher Logic

All good things in time, all good things in time.

And thanks for the laugh Cass

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Buzzby

Iraq has democracy only as long as the US military is there to keep it from collapsing into civil war. That part of the world has a tradition of autocratic government stretching back for millennia. I don't think it's possible to impose democracy from the outside. People have to take it and hold it for themselves.

Meanwhile, dozens of people die every day from insurgent attacks and the might of the US military seems to be incapable of even slowing them down. 2,227 American dead and counting. How long is this country going to put up with it? From Bush's and the war's approval ratings, not much longer.

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killer12382

At least Sadam was able to keep the lights on. Yes, he was a dictator. Name one leader in the middle east (other than the israeli leader) who isn't a dictator.

TheNewGuy

Thats a small number when compared to pretty much any other war we've ever been in. Not saying I would want to be one of those 2,227 people, or that I don't feel bad that people are dying, but the mass media would have you believe that the situation is worse than it is, or that because of us Iraq is somehow more vilolent than it already was. I don't think the different factions were getting along with eachother before we went in either.

Meh, we'll come for them too soon enough. Maybe they'll have the sense to keep the lights off, it'll be harder to paint targets that way.

killer12382

You see, there is a problem with that 2227 number that is batted around by the mainstream press. It is ONLY the number who have died on the battlefield. It doesn't include those that were airlifted out and died in Germany or some other stopover. And lets not forget about the maimed and wounded. I've read estimates close to 40,000 wounded. And now lets talk about the Iraqis (they're people too). I've read estimates of Iraqi casualties that range from 100,000 to 150,000 dead and double that wounded. The economy is trashed in Iraq and we are quickly going into debt ourselves to pay for this misguided war. All in an effort to stop terrorism. Thats turned into a big failure as Iraq is a breeding ground for terrorists now. The Iraqi people loved us when we came in with pledges of peace and freedom but now we are no longer liberators but occupiers. We need to do what we did in Vietnam.....declare victory and leave.

Cassius

Yep, and while we're busy trying to spread democracy around the world, we're losing our own country. Average American consumer debt per household is around 80% of the GDP, where it was 20% less than fifty years ago. The federal debt is now growing exponentially, and the dollar is worth less and less. Social Security and Medicare are bankrupt, although they haven't admitted it yet. In the 30s when Social Security was created there were 43 workers for every one that was eligible for Social Security, today there are about 3 workers for every one, and that number is decreasing. In 2012, the baby boomers begin retiring, and in 2016 they are required by federal law to start withdrawing their 401(k)s, which may lead to the biggest stock market crash in history. China, having entered the World Trade Organization, is now the largest source of human capital in the world with 1.3 billion people, and is very likely to surpass us as the largest economy in the world in a matter of decades, if not years. Japan, the second largest economy in the world, is also on the brink of bankruptcy, and suffers from a declining birth rate and soon to be a declining population. And our antiquated Industrial Age education system is still training our children and young adults to do as the WW2 and baby boomer generations did, go to school and get good grades to get a safe secure job. Guess what, it's not the Industrial Age anymore, it's the Information Age, and there is no such thing as job security.

It doesn't have to be doom and gloom, it could be doom and boom for us. If we knew how to manage money, then money can be made when markets go down as well as markets go up. We could become, once again, the leaders of the new world, if we paid attention and kept up with the times. But instead, we are happy to be spreading "freedom" and "democracy" around the world while completely ignoring the problems our own country has. It's like a toddler who covers his eyes and proclaims, "You can't see me!"

Cassius

Awww, no takers? Surely I said something in there that somebody disagrees with =P