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Old 02-28-2003, 09:11 AM   #4
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
Griff's broad brush point has led to some people arguing that Democracy can *never* take hold in some areas of the world, and that's what a lot of Bush's last speech was about. He does not agree with that assessment.

I don't think the Iraqi civilians can be held responsible at all. When a dictatorship is enforced by killing and torture and such, it's more like a kidnapping situation. Thoreau can't ask somebody to actually put their life on the line in such a case unless he believes in the supremacy of the state - that someone's life is worth nothing if they don't live as part of a functional government.
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