+100 I would add that we didn't resolve the issue in the Balkans. It was an international effort. I am not down playing our role. However, nor should we downplay the roles of others. Without a joint plan including the UN, and others we will be at this a lot longer than need be and will greatly reduce our chance at success.
Heald, Timothy J wrote: > I will say this much. I have recently given a lot of thought to the > "bomb them to the stone age" mentality, and I came to the conclusion > that my thoughts were driven by a desire for revenge, not for peace. > > My politics, my morals, do not allow me to believe we should allow a > third party (the UN or Iraq or anyone) to tell us how to conduct > ourselves. > > The government of Sadaam Hussein invaded Kuwait, an ally and trading > partner, and we couldn't allow that to stand. Bush Sr. was wrong not to > follow that war to it's logical conclusion. > > He almost paid for that mistake with his life. > > A decade later, Sadaam was no longer following the guidelines laid out > after his surrender. No matter what other issues there were, that is > enough for me. He and his nation performed acts of war against the US > on multiple occasions, I would think at the least you could admit that. > > With or without the UN we had the right, some would say the > responsibility to act. > > Now, I know the justification put forth on the issue were the wrong > ones. I said so even then as people were coming down on them. I said > "oil is a national security issue" "he tried to kill a president" "his > troops fire on our airmen, an act of war". > > Dana, I honestly don't believe that you have a point at which you say, > yep, war is needed here. > > I think that there have been a great many mistakes made along the line. > We shouldn't have told people not to change their lives. We shouldn't > have went to war, in Afghanistan or Iraq, without a formal declaration > of war. We should have moved our nation to a war time economy and > footing. > > However we got here, we must now decide what we need to do moving > forward. > > I know it's nice and easy to say "we broke it we bought it", however I > also believe its true. If we were to leave there we would plague not > just Iraq, but the entire region, with years, if not decades of > violence. > > Brezhnev (sp?) was on NPR yesterday. He spoke of conflict resolution in > the Balkans. How it should be a model for what we are doing in Iraq. I > don't think he took it far enough. I don't think we are taking it far > enough. In order to do the right thing we need to tell Americans the > truth. That we WILL be needed in Iraq for the foreseeable future, that > Syria, Iran and other nations in the area are our enemies, that they are > supplying the terrorists inside Iraq and that this is also an act of > war. > > We didn't fix the Balkans by just going to Bosnia and calling it a day. > No we started with one area, and pacified it, and built the government > and infrastructure it needed, then we went to another and another, > crossing national borders as needed. Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia. > > During these missions (one of which I served in) war fighting wasn't our > primary concern, but it was important. Our main concern was civil > affairs and intelligence. Make the good people happy, arrest or kill > the bad people. > > If we are looking for a lasting peace in the middle east something major > must be done. During World War 2 we didn't stop at the Rhine, and say > "ok, they're back in they're borders". We went on until Berlin, and > then stayed to rebuild most of Europe. The same can be said with Japan. > We didn't leave until we knew they were back on the straight and narrow > and able to handle their affairs. > > See, right now if we leave, no matter what, the people of Iraq, of all > of the middle east really, will be resentful of us. We destroyed their > country, their infrastructure, and would be leaving them with nothing > but violence. > > However if we rebuild, indoctrinate or execute the worst offenders, and > don't leave until there is a stable society, we will be looked upon as > the saviors we truly are. > > The US can be greedy, but we are generally trying to do good, this is > not always, or even mainly, true dealing with other nations. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Macromedia ColdFusion MX7Upgrade to MX7 & experience time-saving features, more productivity.http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion?sdid=RVJW Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:230013 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
