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Originally posted by smooth
No we don't have to see that because many of us don't believe that foreign nations have the right to impose their will on other sovereign nations.
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Whether or not you agree with the game, you must at least be able to acknowledge that we're winning.
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I find your position--that imposing one's will on another somehow secures the threats against "free people"--internally inconsistent.
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Imposing one's will is invading neighboring countries to steal their assets, as Saddam Hussein did in Kuwait. Imposing one's will is killing anyone who disagrees with you, as Saddam Hussein did for decades while he was in power.
Defending oneself against threats from one's enemies is not exactly "imposing one's will."
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I don't agree that bullying people into acquiescence (as our actions have done to the Iranians and Libyans) is a ringing endorsement of freedom.
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Agents of the Libyan government blowing up civilian jumbo-jets - that's bullying. Agents of the Iranian government sponsoring terrorists and encouraging terrorism - that's bullying.
Sitting down at the bargaining table and talking - that's diplomacy.
Remember, you didn't call it bullying before the war when you and your ilk told us to pursue "diplomatic means" in Iraq.
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Iran, for example, has claimed that their nuclear program is an attempt to seek alternative power sources. So far, I don't have any evidence to suggest otherwise.
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Um, Iran is sitting on more natural energy resources than they could every possibly need. Their OPEC's number 2 exporter. Why would they need nuclear energy? Please.
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I also don't understand why people think that other leaders of other nations are so irrational that they won't be able to stop themselves from nuking the Western world once they achieve the capability to do so.
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Consider it gun-control on a macro scale.
Gun rights advocates have used the exact same argument as yours above, substituting "leaders of nations" with "individuals" and "nuking the Western world" with "shooting people." Do you agree that felons and the mentally ill should not be allowed to own guns?
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I don't even see how people believe that the leaders don't realize that their economic interests are tied to our economic well-being. It's the non-government actors that we ought to be concerned over--and that includes Western corporations as well as Eastern terrorists. Both are challenging our current model of nation-state governance.
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So, um, are you suggesting that we abandon our efforts to curb state sponsorship of terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation and instead go after corporations? Dude, are you for real?
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For as much hatred as we're taught the Eastern world has towards us, it's amazing to me how little damage has actually been accomplished. We know that people have access to dirty bombs, suitcase devices, and etc. since we've been warned of the possibility for over twenty years now. I haven't seen one go off anywhere around the world, however. In fact, no one has even set off a large conventional bomb in LA.
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Hey don't sound too disappointed, smooth.
Whether you like it or not, the good guys are winning. Consider yourself lucky to have George Bush at your back.