Gautam Mukunda wrote:
>
> (...) If a foreign government killed 5000
> American citizens and we _aren't_ supposed to go to war
> over that, when the hell are we supposed to go to war?
>
If a foreign government killed _one_ American citizen
in an act of war, then I think the USA should go to war.
I hope this has never been in question here.
The two questions are:
(a) _if_ it's not a foreign government
(b) _how_ should the USA [and all allies that -
again, I guess we *all* agree - will join] should
wage this war
Alberto Monteiro
But it does seem to me to have been called into question. I read people
saying that we shouldn't use violence to retaliate for fear of a cycle of
hatred, things like that. If a foreign government did this, helped Bin
Laden (or his equivalent) do it, or shelters whoever did it - then they
have committed an Act of War against the United States and should be
treated as such. When you commit an Act of War, you get a violent
response. When you commit an Act of War against the United States, you get
a _really_ violent response. We just lost the first battle of the first
war of the 21st century. The United States historically _always_ loses the
first battle of any war in which it engages. It also, however,
historically usually wins the last one.
Gautam
