Replies

I can't quibble with a word that you have said, and if you get banned (not much of a chance of that IMHO), then I will happily join you in banishment.

The best analogy that describes my thoughts on this subject goes something like this:

You have a neighbor nearby that has an overflowing cesspool that is causing raw sewage to flow onto your land. The disease and smell are horrific and you have to do something about it. No amount of spoken words from you or any groups of other neighbors have been able to accomplish a clean-up, so you decide you have no alternative but to do the work yourself. A couple of the other neighbors have lent a shovel or two, and one guy pitched in to help for a few hours, but most of the work has been through your own efforts.

While you are doing all the work, the original neighbors with the problem are setting on their front porch watching you work. Some seem appreciative, some are angry, some are ignoring you and are having a party, some ask why it is taking so long, some ask you not to step on their flower beds, some even suggest that you could be working a little harder. More than once you have been reprimanded by them for using foul language... they say it offends them.

But none of them leave the porch to help clean up their own mess.

Are you going to be able to complete the clean-up? Sure.

Is it going to cost you a lot of time and effort? Yep.

Are you sure that you are not going to have to return in a short time and do this process all over again? Nope.

Will your neighbors ever learn not to let their sewage spill on you property? I'm afraid not.

Is there anything else that can be done short of simply shooting all your neighbors? I don't know, maybe punching a few in the nose might make you feel better, but really won't accomplish much in the end.

Just what is the solution to a problem neighbor like this? Sorry, I can't think of one.

This analogy seems to fit the situation in the Middle-East. Their sewage (Bin-Laden, Hussien, etal,) has crossed over to affecting our property, and we ignored it for far too long. We need to do something, and we are, but are we sure that we are not going to have to do this again and again over the next few years? If not for this neighbor(Iraq), but for others as well (the rest of the Mid-East)?

Is there a good definitive course of action that is correct, fair, and moral? I don't know, but if a few bloody noses occur during the process, then I am not going to worry about it very much.