alansmithee

That line is CLASSIC.

And I agree with most of what Mojo is saying. It would probably be better if people were nice and cuddly and sweet all the time, but it doesn't work in practice. And what ends up happening is you need to balance practicality with idealism. Now I could see how some people think maybe the US is curently too practical, but the mentality of alot of people changed after 9/11. Personally, I think it was a big overreaction, and gave alot more power to terrorists than was necessary. But it isn't hard to see how after being attacked a country would get alot more aggressive, to the point of preemptive strikes. Also, there was this massive military complex sitting around with nothing to do after the cold war. I remember it being a big topic as to what all these agencys would do in a post-cold war world, and what our military's purpose was. Nobody is really asking that now.

The main problem with Iraq was not the war itself, but the occupation afterwards. The US gravely miscalculated in assuming that Iraq would just instantly breathe a sigh of relief, and that the troops could just leave. That obviously wasn't the case, instead what was created was a vacuum that without US presence would allow the same sort of terrorists to come into power that are in Iran or were in Afghanistan. And I think the same misjudgement might be on the horizon for Iran. If we can go in for just a military action, I think it will be a big success. But before that we must make sure that the people are as ready for revolt against the current theocracy as certain people are claiming, or it will be an even greater disaster.