Thinking positive

In considering the mess in Iraq,
not to mention other areas of the world
I was moved to be thankful
that I live in the U.S.A.
We may not be perfect,
but we can hold an election
with a low probability
that the candidates will be assasinated.
We have a dominant religion
that promotes peace, not jihad.
We are able to hand over power from party to party
quite regularly without violence.

Our courts are relatively fair
and bribery is rare in my experience.
We have the best set of colleges in the world,
as is reflected by all the
foreign students seeking to come here.

Overall, this is a great country
and we are lucky to live here.

One of the chief problems in Iraq
is that they do not seem to have the
basic buidling blocks
for building a Constitutional democracy.
They come from a culture of violence,
where all disputes are
settled with guns or swords.
You can lead a horse to water
but you can't make them drink.

I think it is time to turn Iraq over to the Iraquis
with our best wishes.
Only they can make a country.
We can't do it for them.

Bob Clasen