>I think it would be more efficient to give people the basic needs such as freedom and all that comes with it.

Dean:

So far 100,000 Iraqis have been killed, this would not meet my standard of efficiency.

I am not sure if you are aware of the Tribal nature of these countries. It is very difficult to get some demcratically elected offical from the capital to impose taxes or rules on the Tribes.

Even though Saudi Arabia does not have elections I still consider it a democratic country. If the tribal leaders want something they pretty well get it. If a common person comes to the Baladiya (mayor) with an issue about medical care, education, school, the sewer project on their street etc. he really tries to help them. Like if your child needs medical care in the US, they will pay to send him there plus the hotel bills for the gang of people who always tag along.

You should be aware that true democratic freedom in Iraq means the Shiites who are 60% of the population will take over. The Shiites lean toward Iran. My own opinion about Iraq is that the US should have stayed out of there. Saddam's days were apparently numbered because the people were turning against him. If we could have just let them handle this themselves I think it would have come to a better conclusion over the next 10 years.

Now if you are thinking of giving "freedom" to the Russians, you will have to define it. They already have elections. Or were you planning to eliminate the black market and give them a "free" market. The concept of a free business market exists in the Western Hemisphere and in Eupope. As you go east from Europe the concept of a "free" market gets more and more diluted. There are reasons for this. The people who run the "black" market pay enormous sums to the military and government employees. Because the people in power are getting so rich from the black market it is pretty hard to get them to change.

My feeling is that the conversion from centralized power to elections and from the black market to a free market has to come from the people not from a B52. It will take years but these guys have to compete in the world and gradually competitive pressures will force them to reduce the graft. The key thing is that the people have to force this on themselves, we cannot force it on them with weapons or propaganda.