The one thing that struck me (a disinterested observer) was that your argument didn't address his arguments, at least in the initial post, but was an ad hominem attack on his motives. No matter how well justified the attack, it is still a logical error to use that to undermine his arguments.
I, frankly, am astounded that the moderators didn't pull the thread. Why? Because a similar ad hominem attack by HIM, with a viewpoint contrary to that on this board, would have been jerked immediately.
That said, the anti-war shibboleth about "just war" is just a smokescreen. The United States has never hesitated to take the battle to the enemy, even if the threat was far removed from our own shores. We warred with the Barbary pirates, the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans, the Filipinos, and the Mexicans -- all of which could be considered "wars of conquest" if you broaden the definition enough. So American economic expansionism, backed by American military might, is nothing new.
Even if we concede that our interest in Iraq is petroleum-based, so what? We didn't compel Saddam Hussein to gas his Kurdish countrymen or pillage Kuwait. We allowed him to retain his throne in Gulf War I by establishing monitoring guidelines under a UN resolution whose provisions he promptly defied. Although there is no evidence he has them, there is little doubt he is bent on developing nuclear and biological weapons. Justin seems to think the sole target will be Israel, but it's just as likely that Kuwait, Iran, and the US will fall in his crosshairs.
A war against Iraq, aimed at overthrowing Saddam Hussein, is perfectly legitimate morally and politcally.
Shouldn't the thread be locked, whacked or moved to chat? That's the normal fate of duplicate posts.
In fact, when the guy who posts a duplicate thread notices it's a dupe, the guy personally alerts the thread moderator and begs that the thread be removed.
At issue is Richard Poe's smearing of anyone who disagrees with his wacked-out theories of who is "really" behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He claims he wants to discuss my "ideology" -- but that is hardly a secret. I'm a libertarian: I believe that we cannot have an empire AND a constitutional republic. And my view is being confirmed even as Ashcroft prepares what Drudge calls "Part II" of the "Patriot" Act: secret arrest, stripping Americans of their citizenship, government spies everywhere. To call my patriotism into question, in this context, is to virtually call for my arrest by our war-maddened leaders.
To that, I can only reply, as I did in my original column on this subject: Go ahead -- make my day.
Um, assuming you have the money for pilot training (per bin Laden) exactly how much help do you need to threaten people with a box knife?