Henry David Thoreau vs. Iraqi innocents

[Undertoad]

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.