Quote from aphexcoil:
No doubt about this one -- this is a given. Bush wants Saddam out and he'll do it with or without the rest of the world.
Make no mistake about it, though. As soon as the United States of America invades Iraq, the U.S. will never be the same place it was. We're turning into something ugly and the ball has been set into motion.
Many years from now we'll look back at see that September 11'th was just one day in the start of a long road of ugliness for the United States.
What are we to do? We're over 225 years old. Most of the states can't balance their budgets and the only thing our federal government can do is build a missile defense system.
Perhaps there is no solution -- maybe it is inevitable. Why can't we just get off oil, get out of regions of the world we have no business being in and focus on domestic affairs before this country gets itself into a hole that it can't dig out of?
An interesting post. I don't agree with MOST of it, but it is interesting. I have never understood the need for the self-penalizing attitude that jumps out each time one looks for answers. Understand something, it is not your place to look for, expect, or hope that most folks agree with, look like, or wish to associate with you. You have blurred together way too many standard "ISM's here, and you're not old enough to have experienced them and the reality to which they are focused and based upon. Consequently, you have standardized (IMHO) them into what would
APPEAR on the surface to be a good position to start dialog with the "World Who Supposedly Hates You!"
I too wish that America would leave the world stage to its own vices. The weight of the collapse of many of these phantom governments would allow for the changes that are ultimately inevitable. You can not police these environs with Americanized cultural standards and rules. Ever present is the liberal attitude that all will play nicely in this sandbox if we just level the fields.
There are things that we should clean up. THE THINGS THAT WE PUT INTO PLACE. The Saddam's, the Bin Ladden's, etc., that we have puppeteered. It's not difficult if you are committed. I sit in wonderment when I hear some of the posturing positions. Positions like, don't attack because many thousands of lives of Americans, our military especially, will be in harms way because of our actions.
That, is one of the understood perils of ANY military action anywhere at anytime. Wake up! This terrible fate is occurring all over the globe already by those who wish to, need to, make a statement. Where the newness of it happening here is a reality, so too is the understanding that folks everywhere are already saddened by the happenings/occurrences for some time in their environs. Welcome to the world.
I hear the continued clamor of those who fear the possible "Scorched Earth" possibilities of Saddam. Many of whom repeatedly echoed the Iraqi cry in the last tangle of, "There will not be enough body bags for all the American soldiers if they dare confront us." Many of these folks filled my TV screen daily crying that, "The military is taking the cowards approach to war by not using the same level of arms to battle the Iraqi." Yes, that was the statement.
I almost died with laughter when one analyst angrily stated, "We would be losing this war if we were to fight fairly, one-on-one, hand-to-hand. We're only winning because they only have small arms to battle against the high technology that America is using."
Trust me here. I have relatives who served then, and some who serve now. We were and are concerned for their safety, but not their ability to successfully meet this challenge. I have an uncle who belongs to a group of off-the-record Washington based generals who quietly (regularly) say that we are in trouble if we try to do this thing. He openly boasts that he has never seen combat. He is a book brat with more degrees and seminars on war to his credit than I could care to mention. He's a lifer!
He's also angry that he has not been included in the "Insiders of Power" circle. He say's that he has done the time and he now deserves the call. He told me that his answer to all this stuff is simple.
We should sit with the Iraqi leaders and offer them a solution based upon us agreeing to allow the development of whatever technology naturally,
"IF" a) we can be allowed to establish some internal monitoring of things as they develop, b) we deploy a patrol force based on the borders of Iraq and their neighbors, and, c) we be granted some land within the country to develop a solid military presence. He feels that they would accept this willingly if we were to offer some financial consideration sort of like we did in Saudi Arabia. My fear? That he and that sinkhole policy might be listened to.
Now, you'll never hear his plan on the nightly news anywhere. He won't go on the record publicly for certain personal concerns. But he happily touts that he lunches with the local media at least once or twice a week. One wonders if he might express his opinions over a meal or two.
Aphexcoil, stop apologizing every time you have a better condition than someone else. Stop trying to help others level the field by intentionally slowing and burdoning your own successes. And for everybody's sake, stop trying to understand WHY someone does not want to like, doesn't wish to share with, doesn't care to follow, doesn't want to emulate, really needs to kill - YOU! The answer for someone (WITH POWER), somewhere, sometimes, upon this whole giant sphere of ours
IS, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE MORE THAN WE DO, AND YOU'RE ENJOYING IT! Because in that arena you will
ALWAYS find yourself, guilty!
