I appreciate everyone views and agree with some and disagree with others. But think about this for a moment .....haven't these people been killing each other for 1000's of years? What makes us think we can make them stop?
I don't have an answer;but Americans parading around in all their high tech hardware only makes for a enticing target to get your"cause" on CNN when you blow yourself up .

Again what makes us think we can make them stop killing each other?

 

Like you, I don't think we can make them stop, nor do I think we can force feed them our notion of freedom or democracy. The question is, do we leave and open the door to a major slaughter, or do we stay and make a long, long committment.

Do we have a responsibilty for destabilizing the region and destroying whatever structure there was? Or, should we simply act in our own interest, if we can figure out what our interests are?

 

We can't leave. Our elected government made the long term commitment for us already. We are stuck like it or not and no matter how many people get killed. You can't back out of your obligations just because you are bored with them or they aren't desirable or appealing at this moment.

The decision to go in or not should have been considered well over a year ago before the first troops crossed the border.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cthree

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Da Hapa

 

So here we are ;we're commited or should I say our government is committed to spend billions in materials and goods,while Mothers and Fathers here at home not to mention children shead billions of tears as our brave men and women "police " an out of control region of the world.
......and what of Afganistan?

 

I go back to my original comments either in this thread or the other one. We can't have troops all over the world. We can't do this militarily. We need to make America admired around the globe again. We need to make these people WANT to be like us. We need to teach them how to farm, how to get clean water, how to eliminate ignorance and get a basic education. Only then will they see that freedom and knowledge is the way to go. IMHO. Otherwise, we'll keep bombing, they'll keep hating, and the beat goes on.

 

The WTC basement bombings went without a rebuttal.
USS Cole. Same thing.
Then comes 9/11.
How long do we sit around and play nice guy while extremists who hate us continue to poke holes in the fabric of our society.
We can't sit around and wait for anyone to want to be like us. They don't have to be like us. It's up to them.
At some point we have to fight back. By not responding to earlier terrorist attacks we raised their confidence level to the point of 9/11. Pretty bold.
We don't have a choice. We didn't have a choice. We must fight back or continue to be pounced upon.
Military personnel assume the risk of losing their lives. If they don't then they shouldn't be there or anywhere they're needed. This is the role of a country's military. Don't join the military for the benefits.
The alternative is an exponential loss if defenseless civilian life. Is that what we want?
Since the beginning, civilization has had warriors who sacrifice themselves for preservation of their people. It's not much different now.
We didn't cause 911 and don't ask to be attacked. But if we are, we need to respond. Pure and simple. Unfortunate, but true. That's the reality.

 

Forgot to answer the original poster's question. We may never fully achieve resolution. Timing in this debacle is everything. Pull out too early and we are perceived as weak and inneffective. This will do nothing to deter future attacks. Not sure if anything will do that. The trick is to get Iraq to a recognizable state of rebuild that is acknowledged by the UN and our allies. Pull out too late and we are displaying occupation. The shift of power has to happen ASAP. I believe we are making all efforts to do just this, however, there are enough enemies over there who wish for us to fail. This is where the pot shots at our guys and allies are coming from. We can't let that deter the overall mission. This is a tough situation. But we need to persevere and pick the right time to find closure.
The war on terrism will never end. It should never end. If we were paying attention, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. Our anti-terrorism segment of government failed us miserably. Blame whomever you want.
These posts would not even exist if 9/11 didn't happen. Saddam would still be over there and who knows what new problems would have arisen and what our battle of the day would be. Can't change history, but we can sure as hell try to secure the future.

As a side, I have two close friends in NY who lost immediate family in 9/11. If you ask them their opinion on what we're doing in Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism and you can only imagine their response. Something tells me if you were them, you'd want to nuke the whole Middle East.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BrotherRex