OBL(UBL) Killed

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

I can't believe I'm about to say this but... I can definitely appreciate all of your responses and see your side of it. I'm not going to go point-by-point because I think our difference of opinion comes down to philosophical differences.

You were there and able to see it in person so your perspective is definitely much different than mine. There is no denying that all my knowledge is based on my research of other people's accounts, sifting through information (and mis-information) and piecing together my own opinion.

Is the world a better place because of some of Bush's actions? Sure. I'll buy that. Are the lives of Iraqis better today than they were ten years ago because of the US invasion? Definitely, even though they are now burning US flags and calling for the US to get out of their country.

What I don't agree with is that the US is better off and safer today thanks to the US invasion of Iraq. As demonstrated last week, we should have been focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan. One thing Saddam did extremely effectively is maintaining control of the populace. He ruled with an iron fist and squashed any kind of extremism that had the potential for threatening his rule. The al Qaeda movement is exactly the group of radicals that Saddam would not allow in his country. The only major terrorist in Iraq was Saddam because he would not have allowed a group like al Qaeda to operate autonomously.

The Iraq war will easily surpass $1trillion dollars of primary costs and many estimate that it already far exceeds that number when you take secondary costs into consideration.

With regards to Africa and funding AIDS funding (and many people will call me a heartless bastard, which I'm fine with), my opinion is that it is not our responsibility. 3/4 of that entire continent is anarchy. The societies there are incapable of living with any kind of civility. On the other hand, we have veterans who sacrificed their lives for this country who are now homeless and sleep with their head on a bench in Boston Common, kids who don't know where their next meal is coming from, an education system that loses more and more funding every year and an infrastructure system that is crumbling apart. When we have things fixed here, then I'll consider it ok to send money to Africa. Until then, let them deal with their own self-inflicted problems.

That was probably one of the most fair-minded posts I have read in a long time...

"Are the lives of Iraqis better today than they were ten years ago because of the US invasion? Definitely, even though they are now burning US flags and calling for the US to get out of their country."

When you say "they" are burning US flags, keep in mind that "they" do not represent everyone. People here burn flags every day...We cannot please everyone, it should not even be a goal. I like knowing that some folks hate us (like Al Queda), it means we must be doing something right...

"What I don't agree with is that the US is better off and safer today thanks to the US invasion of Iraq"

I sure can't prove you are wrong...all I can say is (1) lots of dangerous insurgents are dead, (2) lots Of Iraqiis saw first-hand (and thus appreciate) that we risked a lot to help them, and (3) Saddam is dead, and while there were no WMDs, we did find lots of wevidence to suggest that he was going down that road (lots of yellowcake uranium found).

Are we safer? I don't know. Am I proud too have helped those people? Yep. Was it worth the lives of a few thousand Americans? I can't answer that, way above my pay grade...

"The al Qaeda movement is exactly the group of radicals that Saddam would not allow in his country. "

Awesome observation, and it's one of the biggest challenges in that region. Guys like Saddam are dispicable, but they know how to keep Al Queda from establishing any presence...

Remember that we didn't go into Iraq in a rush. We gave the guy all kinds of chances to comply with the UN resolutions, and he refused. In my opinion, actions like that have to have serious consequences. What if we did nothing, and it turned out he had WMDs? What would history say about Bush then? I just get sickened by all the politicians (mostly Dems) who were all in favor of ousting Saddam, until things went bad, and then they all started acting like Bush acted on his own. I don't like politicizing war, because it's not fair to the guys sticking their necks out...

"my opinion is that it is not our responsibility."

Lots of folks would agree with you. I'm Catholic, so I tend to feel that the strong have certain obligations to the weak. That's just my $0.02. I'd rather see a tax hike to keep someone alive than see a tax hike so that cops can continue to retire at age 42, let's put it that way!

"we have veterans who sacrificed their lives for this country who are now homeless "

If they sacrificed their lives, where should they live? Only kidding, I know what you meant, and I appreciate the sentiment...

Most of that is because of mental disease, it's not because there aren't programs to help them...you'd have to round them up and strap them down to keep all of them off the streets. I'm not saying I have the solution (I wish I did), I'm just saying that problem isn't as suggestive of a heartless society as you might first think...