My .02 here will probably suprise some.
I don't really agree with Rude or Hangtime.
Here you will now see the truly ugly side of Toad.
I'm totally sick and tired of seeing the US vilified everytime we try to do what we think it the "right thing". And say what you will, the US has done FAR more good than bad. Yep, we've made mistakes; we've done far more great things.
No matter what we do though, the rest of the world just squeakes.
The most annoying part of the squeaking though, is that it comes primarily from countries that never even get off their bellybutton and try to end oppression by dictators. Or, if they do try, they find they can't do it without involving us.
The Balkans were a prime example. Despite all the Euro hoo-rah of "we'll handle this one", people kept dying till Clinton violated the NATO charter and put the airstrikes in. And of course we got bashed for that too. We didn't come early enough. We used too much force. Innocent people died.
This "innocent people died" one really makes me wonder. Did it escape notice that a WHOLE BIG BUNCH OF INNOCENT PEOPLE HAD BEEN DYING FOR A LONG TIME TO A BUNCH OF GENOCIDAL MANIACS BEFORE WE DROPPED THE HAMMER?
I guess it did.
So, that's why I differ from Rude and Hang. Oh, I think Saddam is a Class I Bastige. I think he has lots of chem and bio weapons and is probably real close to a nuke.
I think a lot of innocent people die in Iraq ever day. There's ever indication he killed his own son. Think about THAT one for a moment, mothers and fathers around the world. He's a gem.
However, I'm willing to pull all the US troops out and bring them home and let the rest of you bloody know-it-alls that never actually do anything except complain handle it from now on.
I feel exactly the same way about North Korea (which I think the Bush Administration is handling in a masterful way. No talk, no more blackmail money until you put the nukes down. Perfect.) I'd bring all the US military out of there too..... right fargin' now. If the NK's come across the border, I'm sure the French will show the Security Council how to handle that in short order.
It makes no difference at all to me if I buy my next cheap television from Kim Jong Il's TV's-R-Us or from Samsung. It certainly isn't worth the life of even one American boy.
Some of you may have noticed we buy lots of flip-flops, cheap tools and cotton T-shirst from the fine gentlement that brought you Tienanmen Square. In fact, China is a "most favored" nation for trade with us. So buying stuff from repressive regimes is nothing new for us....... or for the rest of the world.
Those of you slamming our Afghan effort.... well, that one I'd still support. We did make a promise to those people. While things have vastly improved....... women in school; imagine that!...... we've not done all we can or should do there.
But, definitely time for the boys to come home, particularly from Europe. And this with a firm pledge that we'll never, ever be back. You guys know all the correct answers, so it's pretty clear you don't need our help.
I'd say the only time US troops leave home is when we've got enough proof to convince ourselves that we know who just attacked us and then we go with the same marching orders that Rome gave its troops headed to Carthage. In fact, it's fine with me if we just "reach out and touch someone" with the big hammer in that event.
For my fellow Americans that tell me we've got to be proactive and attack before we're attacked, I say BS. We've never been that way and I don't want to start now.
Yeah, we may suffer another serious attack as a result. However, we took Pearl Harbor on the chops and came up swinging. We'll do the same again and if we do, we'll HAVE the whole country behind it and that's all we need.
People die every day. I'm not afraid to die. Nathan Hale wasn't afraid to die.
The idea that Americans don't die to foreign attack was never valid. It wasn't valid 7Dec41 and it wasn't valid 11Sep01. We're going to lose more citizens no matter what we do. We'll lose them whether we attack Iraq or not. This isn't over by a long shot.
So let's not become what we've struggled against all these years: A nation that attacks another sovereign nation without cause for "just war". Let's not become what we stood against for so long.
As for the rest of yas........ it's clear that only you folks have all the bloody answers to the world's problems and only you have the gumption and morals to solve them all in the correct way.
After all, just look at the record. I defer to your obvious wisdom and incredibly successful track record.
Good luck to yas.
