The neocons paleocons have worked hard to portray George Soros as a fiendish international drug dealer*, which means they're afraid of him. And they should be. He's stupendously wealthy and he spends his money on promoting democracy in the world, instead of earning the hatred of the world by pretending to promote democracy as a cover for nefarious plots. Soros just published this lucid, easy-to-understand speech about the President's reckless invasion of Iraq, and why it is so important to vote him out in November.
We went to war on false pretences. The real reasons for going into Iraq have not been revealed to this day. The weapons of mass destruction could not be found, and the connection with al Qaeda could not be established. President Bush then claimed that we went to war to liberate the people of Iraq. All my experience in fostering democracy and open society has taught me that democracy cannot be imposed by military means. And, Iraq would be the last place I would chose for an experiment in introducing democracy – as the current chaos demonstrates.
Of course, Saddam was a tyrant, and of course Iraqis – and the rest of the world – can rejoice to be rid of him. But Iraqis now hate the American occupation. We stood idly by while Baghdad was ransacked. As the occupying power, we had an obligation to maintain law and order, but we failed to live up to it. If we had cared about the people of Iraq we should have had more troops available for the occupation than we needed for the invasion. We should have provided protection not only for the oil ministry but also the other ministries, museums and hospitals. Baghdad and the country's other cities were destroyed after we occupied them. When we encountered resistance, we employed methods that alienated and humiliated the population. The way we invaded homes, and the way we treated prisoners generated resentment and rage. Public opinion condemns us worldwide.
(*If Soros really was making money off the sale of illegal drugs, why is he pushing to decriminalize them? That would destroy his profit margin. Did bootleggers try to overthrow prohibition?)
