Emminent Threat???

[hlanelee]

We have just fought a war and maitain a military presence where we give up at least one American life a day in a country that was an "emminent" threat to our safety. They did not actually attack us or an ally nor did they have the capability of an attack other than a limited one-time terrorist attack like the one committed on 9/11/01. Does this constitute an emminent threat? I am currently unemployed and don't care much about Iraq. However, when I was working I did not care much about Iraq either. Now my big concern lies in the fact that a check for the amount it costs to make and deliver a Government Issue smart bomb or cruise missle would make my family financially secure for a long time.
The first 30 years of my life we lived under the "emminent" threat of a nuclear attack form the USSR. We spent countless billions of dollars on the proliferation of nuclear weapons to retataliate. We were following an initiative called Mutually Assured Destruction. Now these weapons gather dust wherever they are these days, the USSR does not exist anymore. We still throw money at the Strategic Defense Initiative program and any scientist that is not affiliated with the program itself says it would never work. The USSR never attacked America, their threat to us was actually a "perceived" threat.
How much money has to be spent and how much freedom must we surrender to fight the invisible terrorist threat today? Will we randomly select countries by profile and bomb them into submission? In essence be terrorists ourselves?

[Vash]

i thought that this war with Iraq was a completely pointless waste of life (both Iraqi and American). There was no reason to go to war other than oil. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and even if there would have been there would still be a lot less than we have. But i guess killing people is more important than feeding the hungry in our country and others. Listen to this:

"Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country, for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria."
Howard Zinn

[zulu]

I also agree that the War on iraq should never have happened.
Apart from the lives lost - many of them innocents - and the money which could have gone elsewhere, there is also the precedent which has been set by virtue of the fact that the US and it's few supporters condoned the violation of another nations sovereignty because they did not agree with the leadership in that country.
Let's face it, by know its failry obvious the WMD threat was somewhat of a farce - even if they do find a couple - they would need to find an enitre arsenal to be able justify the death toll caused by the invasion, and the ongoing disorder in iraq today.

The selling line of the Bush administration to rid Iraq of a meglomanic tyrant and free the iraqi people would only hold if they did that with the countless other nations around the world suffering at the hands of similar leaders. Furthermore, if the Bush administration sincerely had the interests of the iraqi people at heart, they would listen to them now and leave Iraq as they have been asked to do by the population. How can they though, the place would descend into even more chaos and disorder than exists at the moment. Surely Bush would have had the foresight to perceive this situation in advance, or was his judgement slightly impaired by the need for iraq's oil, or the need for a war to direct attention away from a downturn in the economy, or possibly a war to boost business for the massive defence companies which play such an integral role in providing jobs and offcut business interactions to smaller companies.

It must be said that Saddam's style of leadership must never be condoned, and I hope that my post does not in some way infer this.
Yet the reasons for the invasion of Iraq are, in my opinion, cluttered at best. Was it to find WMD? Was it to save the Iraqi people from a ruling tyrant? Was it because of a link to Al Qaida? Did or did not Iraq pursue enriched uranium from West Africa as was reported? Where are the WMD now? What has happened to the compelling evidence highlighting their exstence, or the existence of a capability to develope them? I'm assuming that if such things had indeed been found, the world would be made sure to know of their discovery imediately sliencing all the crticism which was voiced by those in opposition of the attack. I am not against war as such, it can indeed be used for a greater good, yet this greater good must be clear and apparent. For this to be the case with the invasion of Iraq, there are a lot of question which still need discussing.

As always, these are my views at present and can easily change which is why I read this forum. Responses are much appreciated.

Zulu

[zulu]

I also agree that the War on iraq should never have happened.
Apart from the lives lost - many of them innocents - and the money which could have gone elsewhere, there is also the precedent which has been set by virtue of the fact that the US and it's few supporters condoned the violation of another nations sovereignty because they did not agree with the leadership in that country.
Let's face it, by know its failry obvious the WMD threat was somewhat of a farce - even if they do find a couple - they would need to find an enitre arsenal to be able justify the death toll caused by the invasion, and the ongoing disorder in iraq today.

The selling line of the Bush administration to rid Iraq of a meglomanic tyrant and free the iraqi people would only hold if they did that with the countless other nations around the world suffering at the hands of similar leaders. Furthermore, if the Bush administration sincerely had the interests of the iraqi people at heart, they would listen to them now and leave Iraq as they have been asked to do by the population. How can they though, the place would descend into even more chaos and disorder than exists at the moment. Surely Bush would have had the foresight to perceive this situation in advance, or was his judgement slightly impaired by the need for iraq's oil, or the need for a war to direct attention away from a downturn in the economy, or possibly a war to boost business for the massive defence companies which play such an integral role in providing jobs and offcut business interactions to smaller companies.

It must be said that Saddam's style of leadership must never be condoned, and I hope that my post does not in some way infer this.
Yet the reasons for the invasion of Iraq are, in my opinion, cluttered at best. Was it to find WMD? Was it to save the Iraqi people from a ruling tyrant? Was it because of a link to Al Qaida? Did or did not Iraq pursue enriched uranium from West Africa as was reported? Where are the WMD now? What has happened to the compelling evidence highlighting their exstence, or the existence of a capability to develope them? I'm assuming that if such things had indeed been found, the world would be made sure to know of their discovery imediately sliencing all the crticism which was voiced by those in opposition of the attack. I am not against war as such, it can indeed be used for a greater good, yet this greater good must be clear and apparent. For this to be the case with the invasion of Iraq, there are a lot of question which still need discussing.

As always, these are my views at present and can easily change which is why I read this forum. Responses are much appreciated.

Zulu

[Export]

I can't help but agree on most of what you said. Listen, there's a website that you may find interesting if you haven't found it already. It's <www.whatreallyhappened.com> I know it sounds like some kind of 'conspiracy theory' website, but I find it really interesting to duck into once a day.

The guy that runs it (and no, I have no connection to the site whatsoever) updates it once a day, usually in the evening. He's not making any of it up, he links to real news sites (non-American) and it really makes you think about what's really going on. Check it out and see what you think!

Export

[zulu]

Export - Thanks for posting that site!

Approached it with a does of salt!... but it makes for very interesting reading and does seem to come accross as a viable information source. Very, very interesting.

Zulu

p.s. my classmates were quite intrigued with it as well...