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Originally posted by zoson
1. The United States is the largest, most intelligent, most successful, and most powerful country in the entire world. Time and again we(the people of the US) have proven our worth and our concern for the world. I'd like to see ANYONE try to dispute the fact that the US gives back to the world more than any other nation. We head the red cross, we head the blue shield, we give billions in support to the world in the form of food, money, and supplies.
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I'd venture that Canada and China are larger, Japan is more successful financially, and our military power is subject to some question since we haven't needed to match our entire military against a foe since WWII. How well does our better technology fare against China's numbers and training? Hard to say.
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2. The world is subject to Darwin's law's of natural selection whether anyone likes it or not. Those most fit for survival do just that - they survive. If something/someone is threatening the survival of the strongest, they're going to get squished. It's just like when you kill a bug - it was not fit for survival, and thus did not survive.
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As much as some Europeans would like to disagree, the USA is not a big dumb shoggoth of a country whose whims are justified simply because it is big and powerful. We are a collection of human beings and we need to defend our actions to the world. We can't look upon an entire group of people - the Iraquis - and simply tell them "you don't matter," and kill them all.
Myself, I think this war on Iraq is justified. I think Saddam Hussein has broken enough treaties to show he will continue to build up his military. I think he remains a threat to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and Iran and Turkey and Israel. I think some of these governments are oppresive and should be replaced by ones that recognize human rights, but I don't think it is our place to invade them.
I think it is hypocritical of so many Europeans and liberal Americans to view this war as a means for the US to murder Iraquis when Saddam has been starving his people for ten years. I think it's hypocritical to view this starvation as an act of the USA, when it is the UN that made these sanctions. If the sanctions are killing Iraquis and not Saddam, then it is all of Europe who is at fault, not only the USA. I also think it's hypocritical to see so many Europeans accuse the USA of wanting to carpet bomb millions of Iraqui civilians when those same Europeans would want us to throw Israel to the mercy of its neighbors.
I don't like Bush. He is a diplomatically impotent leader. He is not clever. I think he pays too little attention to the UN. He is also something of a cowboy, though he would not seem so much if he did not follow Clinton's administration, whose passiveness helped lead to the series of terrorists attacks we've seen since the mid-90s.
I think the fact that the USA has a very minor problem with terrorism compared to our European friends does not mean that we should be content with it. The fact that the UK lives on even through the IRA bombing does not mean the USA must do the same.
I think concerns of the US installing a puppet government in Iraq are well-founded, and I hope that we leave the UN to the politics when Saddam is removed. I also realize this does not matter, for it is very common for everyone to confuse the sanctioned military actions of the UN with the soverign acts of the USA.
I respect the opinions of those for and against our actions. I don't particularly like the name-calling coming from either side. I hope people on both sides ignore the pro-war side's flag-and-penis-waving hysteria and anti-France garbage as well as the anti-war side's claims of baby-killing and cowboy Americanism.
Alchemy