Replies

"And you'd prefer us to sit on our hands and do nothing ala Clinton?"

And you'd, what, have us shape the world in our image...while, not coincidentally, put puppet governments
in place, a la Afghan--whose newly picked el presidente
was a Unocal lobbyist...Unocal being the erstwhile company lobbying for an oil/gas pipeline from the Caspian to Asia?
BTW, did you catch the post tonight about the record
Afghan opium crops? Must be our government has begun a
'war on drugs' there now, too.

"Sitting around doing nothing got us 9-11."

O really. Name me one connection of Iraq to 911.

"These people already hate us and mean us great harm."

They might not if we'd get out of their faces.

"Don't give me the simpleton solution of abandoning Israel either, it's not going to fly."

Abandoning Israel? They're one of the top half-dozen
military mights in the world, on top of which they're
said to have weapons technology we don't have.

"Israel is their coveinent excuse, they hate everything to do with Western Culture."

That's h.s. from our ministry of propaganda. What many
there hate is our imposing our culture on them.

"Their so called religion has embarked on conquering the world on other occasions, this is simply their latest attempt."

An example or two might make your point believable, but
I believe you have it backwards...it was called
the Crusades.

1. Given the present alternative of the dictatorships who not only foster the radical elements of Islam, but fund it, yes. So what if the guy was a lobbyist? The point is he's pro western and has been exposed to democracy and not a theocrat or dictator. Just how long has the new government there been in power? How long does it take to grow, harvest, and process the opium? Being in a different hemisphere, aren't their seasons at a different time of year than ours? Weren't the Taliban funding Al Queda using drug money?

2.The connection is Al Queda. Simple enough for you? We did nothing after the first WTC attack, nothing after Khobar, nothing after two embassy bombings, and nothing after the Cole, we cut and ran in Somalia. This only emboldened them. Recent reports have an Al Queda chemical weapons facility in of all places.....Iraq.

3.In case you haven't noticed, they got in our face 9-11. What are your suggestions? Say we're sorry? That we understand? it's all our fault? Is Isolationism your solution? Withdraw from the rest of the world and no one will bother us again?

4.22 to 1 odds may be great odds on a horse race, but not a war.

5.Where have we imposed our culture on them? Culture and political systems are two distinct things.

6.Try the Moors invasion of Southern Europe and the Ottoman Empire. You'll find in both cases they were Muslims.