I wrote an even better analysis here of the man after he came to our small town in July 1999 for a 2000 NH primary campaign stop, but unfortunately I didn't save it and it's not available in the FR archives any more.
You were thinking, and that’s more than most folks do. You have to project into the future, to avoid pitfalls and achieve decent goals.
All three of those are problematic.
I believe three is less feasible than you thought. It seems to have worked reasonably well for ‘the West’ in Iraq.
It didn’t in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Trying to win these folks over is very problematic do to the influence of Islam.
I’m not under any delusion about Iraq, but at least it is peaceful with it’s neighbors. It isn’t killing it’s citizens, the Kurds, or threatening other nations. We do still have friends there, IMO.
Thank you for the link.
I think your number three had some merit. I just think it’s very problematic considering the terrorism we have here, the hatred for the U.S. taught over generations, and no way to really facilitate the harmony we both want.