Why is Palin Running?

[Herb Schaffler]

Are you talking about the hood all over the country? That's another failed war of the Republicans, the War on Drugs. Unfortunately, the Democrats go along with that war also. Stop trying to paint me as an Obama supporter. I'm voting for Barr. I don't see alot of difference in the Republicans and Democrats overall. In my mind, Obama is the lesser of the evils, but not by much.

Remember, the US is a much larger country than Iraq, so naturally there would be more deaths in the hoods all over America than in Iraq, but Iraq is still an extremely dangerous place. If you read the article that I posted, you will see that people are afraid to get into areas of large traffic because they're afraid of bombs. Does the same fear exist in the hoods in America? It's just like you, nohil-billy, to try to make light of the situation in Iraq. Did you know there are still 5 million refugees in and out of Iraq? According to Kelley Beaucar Viahos at "The American Conservative":

US and Iraqi officials hailed the return of some 46,000 Iraqis from Syria in the fall of 2007. But aid organizations called it a publicity stunt. Returns have since "slowed dramatically," according to Refugees International.

Because of Bush's war, Iraqi women refugees have had to resort to prostitution, some as young as 12 years old. Is this some of Bush's promotion of family values? Again, Viahos:

Iraqi women's rights activist Hana Ibrhim reported that more than 50,000 Iraqi girls worked in the Syrian sex industry in 2007.

So, is the surge really working, or is it whipped cream on top of fertilizer? Has the cost in lives, refugees, destruction, permanent injury, economic devastation all been worth it? You know this barbaric war is bound to create future acts of terrorism against the American public. When those terrorist actions come about, I'm sure there will be more idiots like Bush and Guliani and McCain and Palin who will be saying, "Oh, they hate us for our freedoms. We better drop some more bombs and show them #### Arabs that we can't be messed with." When will we ever learn?

[nohil-billy]

No Herb, I'm talking about Chicago. Why do you change the point and then make an argument about something i didn't even address?

Now let me get this straight. You administered a severe beating to Hillary and her candidacy over the last year and a half, you say Obama is now marching in lockstep with Bush on the war, and point for point Obama agrees or is more liberal than Hillary, and you say he's the lesser of two evils. I'm officially confused by your position.

[Herb Schaffler]

I don't think Obama is the warmonger that McCain and Palin are, but he is too much of a foreign meddler for my liking. It's why I'm voting for Barr. I don't think Obama is quite as bad as McCain is on foreign policy, at least he doesn't surround himself with a bunch of neocons like McCain does, but he does seem to be getting closer and closer to McBush on foreign policy.

Now can you actually tell me that Chicago is worse than this:

AP reports that Baghdad is still very dangerous despite lowered death tolls from political violence:
"Small scale bombings and shootings persist in the capital — each a reminder that the war is not over and that Baghdad remains a place where no trip is routine and residents are still guided by precautions. Most won't drive at night. Many try to avoid heavily clogged streets, remembering that suicide bombers and other attackers intent on killing large numbers of civilians favor traffic jams or congested areas . . . [in August] at least 360 civilians were killed and more than 470 wounded in violence throughout the country, according to an Associated Press count."
That would be 4,320 civilians killed in political violence every year if the level stayed that low. (I take it this number excludes killed 'insurgents' and Iraqi security forces, so that actual number of war-related deaths would be much higher annually.)
It is estimated that 75,000 persons have died in the civil war in Sri Lanka since 1982, or 2800 a year.
Iraq is higher, just with regard to civilian casualties.
The Kashmir conflict is estimated to have killed 70,000 persons since 1988, or about 3500 a year.
Iraq is higher.
In the Lebanon Civil War of 1975-1990, it is estimated that at least 100,000 persons were killed, 75,000 civilians and 25,000 military.
If we extrapolated out Iraq's August death rate for civilians over 15 years, that would be 64,000 or not far from the toll in Lebanon's war.
Let me repeat: The level of violence at this moment in Iraq is similar to what prevailed on average during one of the 20th century's worst ethnic civil wars! It is still higher than the casualty rates in Sri Lanka and Kashmir, two of the worst ongoing conflicts in the world.
Only in an Orwellian society could our press declare the relative decline in monthly death tolls in Iraq to constitute "calm" in an absolute sense.
And that is if the August levels are taken as the baseline and if the numbers continue to be that low. If we averaged deaths during the previous 12 months, the baseline would be much higher.
The current Iraq Civil War is one of the world's most deadly continuing conflicts, worse than Sri Lanka and Kashmir and on a par with the 15-year long Lebanon Civil War!

If it is, then that's all the more reason to call off the "war on drugs". It appears that we have two bad situations. Our government is making a mess in both our country and overseas.