I wasn't mentioning you particularly. Anyone who espouses your beliefs will fall into that category and not just you. There are lots of people in your ranks.
We are spending billions of dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan. Not just military, which at least Iraq should be able to pay us off but they are not, but we are spending money to build up their countries. Isn't that putting them on welfare?
Putting them on welfare puts very little pressure on them to actually stop terrorism. Trust me, if Iraq had to go to the international community to raise money for its reconstructions then the interim govt would have done a lot more to stop insurgency. Right now, they don't care because they know they will have foolish US taxpayers to bail them out. If they had to pay 50% interest on their debt, Zarqawi would have evaporated instantly.
The insurgency is well-funded, supplied, and manned by Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The Iraqi interim govt had no power, no military, and wouldn't have had a prayer. Not to mention that they weren't going to get anything from the international community.
"...if Iraq had to go to the international community to raise money for its reconstructions ....."
Teach me here, econ-grad: When will Iraq be able to handle its own wealth? Where is all the Iraqi money that Saddam had? When will Iraq be able to make money off its oil?
It is not 'welfare' to help stabilize these countries we have freed from brutal totalitarianism. It is the same thing we did in Germany and Japan after WW II (only much more quickly), and absolutely necessary for our own security.
It sounds to me like you may be economically educated, but a bit naive and uninformed about history, and the reality of terrorism. Just guessing from what you've written here.....