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Roman

Life is too good.

About Me

From President Eisenhowers Farewell Address to the Nation January 17, 1961Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industryThis conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence economic, political, even spiritual is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.www.StopTheWarMachine.org

My Interests

Music, Live Music, Old Music, New Music, Advertising, TV, Movies, Pop Art, Great Design, A Good Idea, Optimism, Truth, Honesty, Astronomy, Astro-Physics, Quantum Physics and String Theory, Social Issues, Politics, Open Minded People and those who aren't easily offended, Freedom of Speech, Questioning Authority, Independence, Free Thinking and Individualism. I also really enjoy smoking.

I'd like to meet:

A Plan to Hold Iraq Together

The following Op-Ed by Senator Biden appeared in The Washington Post today describing a better alternative for Iraq.

A Plan to Hold Iraq Together
The Washington Post
by Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Four months ago, in an opinion piece with Les Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, I laid out a detailed plan to keep Iraq together, protect America's interests and bring our troops home. Many experts here and in Iraq embraced our ideas. Since then, circumstances in Iraq have made the plan even more on target -- and urgent -- than when we first proposed it.
The new, central reality in Iraq is that violence between Shiites and Sunnis has surpassed the insurgency and foreign terrorists as the main security threat. Our leading civilian and military experts on Iraq -- Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gens. George Casey, Peter Pace and John Abizaid -- have all acknowledged that fact.
In December's elections, 90 percent of the votes went to sectarian lists. Ethnic militias increasingly are the law in Iraq. They have infiltrated the official security forces. Sectarian cleansing has begun in mixed areas, with 200,000 Iraqis fleeing their homes in recent months for fear of sectarian reprisals. Massive unemployment feeds the ranks of sectarian militias and criminal gangs.
No number of troops can solve this problem. The only way to hold Iraq together and create the conditions for our armed forces to responsibly withdraw is to give Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds incentives to pursue their interests peacefully and to forge a sustainable political settlement. Unfortunately, this administration does not have a coherent plan or any discernible strategy for success in Iraq. Its strategy is to prevent defeat and hand the problem off when it leaves office.
Meanwhile, more and more Americans, understandably frustrated, support an immediate withdrawal, even at the risk of trading a dictator for chaos and a civil war that could become a regional war.
Both are bad alternatives. The five-point plan Les Gelb and I laid out offers a better way.
First, the plan calls for maintaining a unified Iraq by decentralizing it and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis their own regions. The central government would be left in charge of common interests, such as border security and the distribution of oil revenue.
Second, it would bind the Sunnis to the deal by guaranteeing them a proportionate share of oil revenue. Each group would have an incentive to maximize oil production, making oil the glue that binds the country together.
Third, the plan would create a massive jobs program while increasing reconstruction aid -- especially from the oil-rich Gulf states -- but tying it to the protection of minority rights.
Fourth, it would convene an international conference that would produce a regional nonaggression pact and create a Contact Group to enforce regional commitments.
Fifth, it would begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces this year and withdraw most of them by the end of 2007, while maintaining a small follow-on force to keep the neighbors honest and to strike any concentration of terrorists.
This plan is consistent with Iraq's constitution, which already provides for the country's 18 provinces to join together in regions, with their own security forces and control over most day-to-day issues. This plan is the only idea on the table for dealing with the militias, which are likely to retreat to their respective regions instead of engaging in acts of violence. This plan is consistent with a strong central government that has clearly defined responsibilities. Indeed, it provides an agenda for that government, whose mere existence will not end sectarian violence. This plan is not partition -- in fact, it may be the only way to prevent violent partition and preserve a unified Iraq.
To be sure, this plan presents real challenges, especially with regard to large cities with mixed populations. We would maintain Baghdad as a federal city, belonging to no one region. And we would require international peacekeepers for other mixed cities to support local security forces and further protect minorities. The example of Bosnia is illustrative, if not totally analogous. Ten years ago, Bosnia was being torn apart by ethnic cleansing. The United States stepped in decisively with the Dayton Accords to keep the country whole by, paradoxically, dividing it into ethnic federations. We even allowed Muslims, Croats and Serbs to retain separate armies. With the help of U.S. troops and others, Bosnians have lived a decade in peace. Now they are strengthening their central government and disbanding their separate armies.
At best, the course we're on has no end in sight. At worst, it leads to a terrible civil war and possibly a regional war. This plan offers a way to bring our troops home, protect our security interests and preserve Iraq as a unified country. Those who reject this plan out of hand must answer one simple question: What is your alternative?

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Music:

Recently: Radiohead, Doves, Keane, Röyksopp, Coldplay, Sigur Rós, Beck, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, Camera Obscura, New Pornographers, Supergrass, Belle and Sebastian.Old Faves: U2, Cheap Trick, Happy Mondays, Rush, INXS, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran, REM, B-52s, Van Halen, Sugar Cubes, The Police, Nirvana, Golden Palominos, Zebra, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, ABBA, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, DEVO, Curve, The Cure, XTC, The Doors, Aerosmith, The Smiths, The Police.

Movies:

Recently: Syriana, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck, Babel, Garden State, War of the Worlds, Fahrenheit 9/11.Old Faves: Grand Canyon, The Exorcist, The Omen, Logan's Run, Star Wars (the original), The Deep, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jaws, War of the Worlds, Close Encounters, Pulp Fiction.

Television:

Dexter, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Real Time with Bill Maher, Lost, Invasion, South Park, Dr. Katz, The Ctritic, Family Guy, Drawn Together, The Daily Show, Six Feet Under (rest in peace), Lost, My Name is Earl, The Office, Medium, The Runway, Airline, Discovery Channel, Science Channel and The Learning Channel.

Books:

The Elegant Universe, The Celestine Prophecy, Ishmael, Cosmos.

Heroes:

Bill Clinton, Kii Arens (please visit http://kiiarens.com) Romero Britto, Bono, Dakota Fanning (she's a supreme being not of this earth, wise beyond Confucious, Buddah or the Dali Lama and the closest thing to God you may ever come in close proximity to), My Brother.