[IrishHand]

I don't support totalitarian governments - I just acknowledge their right to exist in the states in which they exist. I understand how many of them came into being, and I don't share your violent prejudice that any government not like ours is a "scourge" against humanity. Everything has it's time and place - and if democracy is destined to sweep the globe, I have great faith that it will do so in its own time. Going around forcing it on nations that either don't want it or don't have the infrastructure (economic, political, whatever) to support it is a waste of time and resources. (Nevermind the fact that no nation has demonstrated that it's actually intersted in or able to do so.)

And what on earth does a nation's government have with it's right to have WMD? One would think that every nation has a right to arm itself (or that none does). Whether my nations' ruler is Hussein, Bush, Chirac or Blair, as a citizen, I'd like to have a sense that I'm not going to be overrun by another nation and have my life upheaved. The reality that you choose to ignore is that no matter how the government is run, the choices to make and/or use WMD are made by a select few. You've noted that Bush should go to war regardless of what his people think - what makes a dictator any different? Because he's less accountable? Perhaps - but we've had Republicans make some of the most disgraceful decisions in this nation's history, and they still get elected (same for Democrats). Despite this, politicians don't get elected on personal virtue or merit - they're chosen generally by party affiliation with a touch of "personal platform" thrown in. Such are the joys of a two party system. We have two choices instead of the one that totalitarian states get. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Personally, I'd be happy if there were no nuclear weapons, no chemical weapons, no biological weapons, but that's not going to happen anytime soon. As for governments...so long as the average citizen is able to live a happy, fulfilling life, I'm not too concerned. I have firsthand knowledge of countries governned by some of those dictators you hate (Cuba, Egypt), and the average citizens in each seemed to live positive lives. The information we get about Cuba in this country is particularly galling in light of what I learned about life there, but that's another matter. Certainly, there are advantages to living in the US, but there are also reasons that a reasonable person would prefer to live in those other countries (culture and community jump to mind, but there are others).