Comment Re:One more option (Score 1) 603
I learned from Frontline (Great news program on public broadcasting) that Saddam was not complying with the UN, and that Rumsfeld and Wolfawitz really had it out for the guy. I never thought the issue should have been swept under the rug nor dealt with. I do, however, think the timing and the manner in which Saddam was dealt with was poor, to say the least.
Bin Laden, the terrorist behind the 9/11 attacks, should have been our primary focus, if counter-terrorism was our true mission. He is now laughing at us, and can you blame him?
I simply do not believe that we are doing the right thing by this war. In spite of Saddam's atrocities, there are certain "rules of engagement". By Saddam not attacking any nation or posing any eminent threat to us (which has pretty much been proven), we set a new precedence for war by attacking Iraq. It could very well come back to haunt us (as well our dismissal of the Geneva Conventions will come back to haunt us). It was hasty and I have to question the motives behind it.
I am not without compassion. There are numerous dictators around the world that do not share our values- it's the nature of the beast. But, is it not incredibly arrogant to think America should be the ultimate savior? Maybe the people don't want to be saved, maybe we CAN'T save them. And what of all civilians that have been killed- how did we "save" them or their families? There are are a plethora of atrocities being commited around the world and numerous UN sanctions being ignored. Why don't we invade them too? Or, more appropriately, why did we REALLY invade Iraq? Because we should know what our soldiers are dieing for. If they told us the truth, maybe we would not have agreed. And maybe, that's why they lied.
Email from a friend:
Following is an interesting, and perhaps timely, quote by Mr. William Shakespeare [I guess some things will never change]:
Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.
It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind... And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.
Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know?
For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.
"Thoes who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it."- George Santayana
Bin Laden, the terrorist behind the 9/11 attacks, should have been our primary focus, if counter-terrorism was our true mission. He is now laughing at us, and can you blame him?
I simply do not believe that we are doing the right thing by this war. In spite of Saddam's atrocities, there are certain "rules of engagement". By Saddam not attacking any nation or posing any eminent threat to us (which has pretty much been proven), we set a new precedence for war by attacking Iraq. It could very well come back to haunt us (as well our dismissal of the Geneva Conventions will come back to haunt us). It was hasty and I have to question the motives behind it.
I am not without compassion. There are numerous dictators around the world that do not share our values- it's the nature of the beast. But, is it not incredibly arrogant to think America should be the ultimate savior? Maybe the people don't want to be saved, maybe we CAN'T save them. And what of all civilians that have been killed- how did we "save" them or their families? There are are a plethora of atrocities being commited around the world and numerous UN sanctions being ignored. Why don't we invade them too? Or, more appropriately, why did we REALLY invade Iraq? Because we should know what our soldiers are dieing for. If they told us the truth, maybe we would not have agreed. And maybe, that's why they lied.
Email from a friend:
Following is an interesting, and perhaps timely, quote by Mr. William Shakespeare [I guess some things will never change]:
Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword.
It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind... And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry.
Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know?
For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.
"Thoes who can not remember the past are doomed to repeat it."- George Santayana
