Yes, the UN is still irrelevant, it has become an absolutely useless organization.
Everyone will have to forgive me when their country suffers deaths from terrorism if I fail to feel sorry for you. Bury your head in the sand now, there are those intent on evil who will be sneaking up on your exposed bellybutton to land a lethal kick.
What happened in Bali? What did either the citizens of Bali or Australia do to deserve the bombing of innocents? Nothing Can this happen in your country? YES
Should you expect it? YES
Is your country doing anything proactive and substantial to stop terrorist acts from happening in the future? Probably not
Time to face facts, even you smug armchair warriors, there are people out there who hate, who envy your lifestyle, people who consider you a fair target for a number of reasons, including your choice of worship.
Will terrorism only be focused on the United States in the future? Nope
Do we need help in Iraq? Not really, we could just choose to say "the hell with it" and stomp down with an iron fist. We could bomb that country into oblivion, we could put our troops into "search and destroy" mode and clean house. We are choosing instead to try and help them form a government/security force that will allow them self-rule. One that will allow all Iragis to live in a peaceful country where they don't have to live in fear of a brutal killler of a dictator, where they can pursue a life of freedom and prosperity, where their children can be educated, receive adequate medical care and have sufficient food and water.
Those goals won't be achieved by the US bombing them, or the soldiers kicking thier tulips in combat, but by the more developed nations all coming together to bring Iraq out of the past and moving towards a future. The first step was the removal of the brutal regime of killers and thugs.
The responce from you Europeans is pathetic. The responce from countries like France, Germany and Russia is worse. They are consumed by greed, placing it above the common good or the welfare now of the innocents of Iraq. Why didn't they want to remove Saddam? Because they were making big bucks selling them everything they could, including arms, in violation of UN resolutions. Now they don't want to help the Iraqis secure a future if they can't first guarantee they will be able to return to the teat of Iraqi contracts.
Only by the combined efforts of developed nations working together to root out terrorist organizations and eliminate them will this world every be able to escape the omnipresent threat and fear these organizations present.
Has the USA made mistakes in Iraq? Yes, no doubt. But please show me any country that hasn't made a mistake or two. Then show me a country that has done more to help other countries in the distant or more recent past than the USA.
I believe alot of my countrymen are starting to feel as I do, that it's time to say the hell with the rest of you, don't look to us for help next time you find yourself in deep shxt.
This whole freaking stupid thread reminds me of a former WB squaddie from a South American country who used to bxtch about how we (the USA) didn't make sure the hundreds and hundreds of millions (probably billions) we gave his country weren't being spent well. It didn't seem to occur to him that 1) We were at least trying to help them, at a tremendous cost to our tax base, 2) The mis-spending of the money was HIS countrys fault, they were the ones wasting it. Instead of being embarrassed about his countrys pathetic situation, he could only fault the USA.
Sadly too common anymore.
Let those who are working to bring about change judge, the rest of you might consider keeping your comments to yourself.
Dago
