Quote from inflector:
If we followed my foreign policy suggestions then perhaps we wouldn't lose any cities. Unfortunately our government will continue to act irrationally and inconsistently thus making us the obvious targets for radical idiots. At some point this will cost us quite a bit.
I think we will lose some cities precisely because too many Americans think we should shoot first and ask questions later. This strategy only works when you can be assured of killing and destroying your enemy. Hell, we can't even stop terrorists in Iraq. How the hell are we going to stop them here where security is far more lax?
Do you really think our helping Israel improves our safety? Is it a morally tenable position?
Do you really think that acting like a good neighbor makes it more likely we will be attacked? Will having a consistent foreign policy harm us?
It is clear that you believe that if we do a 180 - abandon Israel, help the Arab street (in a way yet to be determined that bypasses their corrupt gorvenments), be "consistent" in our foreign policy with friends and foe alike (which makes no sense whatsoever, BTW) - we may be able to prevent being attacked.
Get this through your head: NOTHING THE US DOES WILL DETER THE ISLAMIC FANATICS FROM TRYING TO DESTROY US. Get it? Short of all of us converting to Islam, our women wearing veils, and sharia becoming the law of the land here, we are ALWAYS going to be a target. Good grief, they've even said so time and time again. Don't you believe them?!?
Now what exactly is your solution? Do you think we should bomb Iran? Should we imprison all muslims? Should we intern them in camps like we did the Japanese in WWII?
If diplomacy does not work, yes, we should bomb Iran and do whatever is necessary to prevent them from getting nukes. As chaotic as such action will be, I'd rather live with high gas prices and the scorn of hypocrites like the Europeans and the Arabs - who will castigate us publicly but revel in the fact that we just saved their ass privately - than to see any of our cities nuked.
I'm not a pacifist, I'm a pragmatist. I believe we should do something which is likely to work. I'm not against war when necessary as it certainly was against Hitler. I'd even be in favor of telling Iran that if they used a nuclear weapon against another country (whether Israel or Kuwait) they would be attacked.
Then you're not a pragmatist. Mutual Assured Destruction worked against the Soviets, who, as Sting reminded us, "loved their children too" and were not willing to risk their destruction for the sake of ours.
MAD cannot work against these religious fanatics, who are more than willing to end their own lives in order to usher in the next Prophet and caliphate.
I also think it is stupid to ignore our own contribution to the current problems, stupid to act inconsistently, and stupid to add fuel to the fire our enemies wish to stoke.
- Curtis
I think it is stupid to to assign all blame to us, stupid to believe we are dealing with rational people, and stupid to ignore the threat at hand.