My goodness this thread is long.
I usually try to stay out of these exchanges but I thought I would offer my 2 cents. Much like making 2 cent on a trade in market when a roundtrip is 2 cents a share, it probably doesnât mean $hit, but I think I'll write anyway?
Many apologies if someone has brought it up before. I read up to about page 12 but am sleepy as heck and got tired of scanning through all of the bad language and personal attacks to get to the main arguments. Many of you have very good ones not only that I have heard before, but also ones that I have not.
Although I have my own opinions, I always try to keep an open mind. One of the things that has helped me do that is to think about what would have unfolded if something that did happen actually hadnât.
One example is 9/11. Had it not happened, we probably could have ignored Osama, Saddam probably could have been left alone also. But Osama would still have been preaching that Americans are infidels and continue to plot ways to change or punish them in a way that he felt was ideal. Saddam and the kids, who probably werenât doing wonders for the Iraqis (personal opinion â you are welcome to ignore it), with or without WMD would continue to build up the Iraqi military.
So when does the anybody get to act on something? Intelligence on something thatâs about to happen is never 100% complete. Sometimes itâs not 100% complete even after the fact as is seen many times in legal trials. Without commenting on the initial response to Afghanistan, if it was considered as a warning that perhaps the U.S. should be weary of people / countries that could potentially do it some harm then what else could it have done given what intelligence it had on Iraq? Perhaps 9/11 was the just the trigger/excuse to act on what intelligence already existed.
(I know that last little bit was getting kind of one sided. I may be getting worse but Iâll try to stay balanced.)
Iâm going to draw a few parallels (as weak as they may be). In the case of dealing with Osama, I equate it to something similar to drinking and driving. Osama is welcome to talk about jihad and how Americans are infidels etc. Itâs like driving with one drink in you system an hour after the fact. In each case, itâs a personal call, nothing illegal and chances are it will only be held against you if something really bad happens that might be your fault right afterwards. Fast forwarding through all of the in betweens, if you have tons of drinks, fire up the car and hit and kill a few families on your way to church, regardless of what your relationship is to that family, your ass is probably going to have to be punished. Just like Osama. He got to do his thing until it was too much for people to bear (9/11) and then it was time to do something about it.
Finally hereâs where Saddam and Iraq come in. Now that the triggering accident has happened, law enforcers are probably going to be more sensitive to what people are thinking and try to tighten laws and punish offenders. Letâs say the above event did happen and the families are dead and the area is up in arms over drunk drivers and the law enforcement that let it happen. This time a different car is swaying and gets pulled over by a cop; different person too. There was reason to pull the person over, the car was swaying. There is no immediate danger as it is late at night and there are few cars and few people walking. Letâs say that the person has a history of having a few drinks but he has always been under the legal limit. Letâs even throw in a small fender bender with a parked car a few years back. No harm to any people in that past incident. The cops look into the car, the person seems a little inebriated, there are bottles of liquor all over the floor. Now lets say that the only breath detector is in town is at the police station which is an hour away. Itâs being brought out to the site to test the suspect but the whole time the person is sobering up and desperately trying to shake off the buzz. If the cop decides to just forget the breath test and book him and suspend his license for drunk driving anyway and throw him in jail for not cooperating at the station, he runs the risk of being sued and the whole episode being on Dateline. If he doesnât and next week the same person gets liquored up, and drives through a crowd of school kids. Then what happens. Now hereâs the fun part. What happens when the public finds out about the incident from the week before? There was no liquor in the car. The person may have been on the way to a recycling depot weeks after the liquor was consumed. The car was swaying could have been bumps in the road. The person looking drunk could have been just tired. Thatâs no crime. What will the people think about that?
I hope you see the parallels. Maybe itâs just the 22 hours that Iâve been awake is just playing tricks on me. If you donât, say so and Iâll complete the thought when I have time.
Now here goes the full out opinion, or what seems like an opinion to me.
So for all you who donât want anything done in Iraq, when would be a good time. Osama was only thinking about it. Heck, Saddam was probably too. Whenâs a good time to take proactive or reactive action? Would it make it better if Saddam/Iraq (I have no idea how) takes out West Virginia? What would the American Presidentâs response to all of the cries asking why nothing was done when we had so much information? What if the tragedy happens in another developed nation? Is it good enough that the UN says that the weapons inspectors were there doing their best to find the proof to take action? Should the people of Iraq just be left alone now that the perceived threat to the US has been neutralized?
2 pages of rambling⦠enough for now⦠Iâve written enough to make myself happy even though thereâs lots more where it came from⦠I know itâs coming so I might as well invite it⦠LET ME HAVE IT!â¦. Tell me Iâm an idiot. Tell me Iâm a moron. I have no idea what Iâm talking about. Iâm actually drinking and typing. Here Iâll start us offâ¦
Je$u$ F*%king Ch(eye)st DTK!
WTF are you talking about?
Did your mother hold you under water while you were a child?
Did you fail to qualify for the Special (mental) Olympics?
If your as UGLY as you are DUMB then you should post your picture to accompany the horrific ones we already have on this thread!!!
Bring it on babyâ¦.
PS - Back on the topic of the original post... There are always civilian casualties. Bad things happen to good and innocent people all the time. Different people people will have their opinions and those who still need to ask will continue to do so.
) LOL