[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I was referring to World War 1, which was fought for very foolish and pointless reasons in the first place. The reason Hitler was able to take over was because of Germany's loss in the first war and the forced reparations. I love it how you can just choose certain parts of history and ignore the rest. I think this is much more like Vietnam than World War 2, a country that even most conservatives admit today that it was a mistake to ever invade.
It didn't sound like you were referring to World War 1, which actually had six underlying causes. And what part of history am I ignoring? I was the one who told you that Hitler's rise to power had to do with promises to the German people. Those promises were made because of the Versailles conditions.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]In order to justify war the burden of proof is on the hawks to show there is a threat. Otherwise we could just attack any country we felt like, I mean theres no proof that India isn't a threat, lets bomb them next. They've already got nukes in fact.
I think Saddam using chemical weapons on innocent civilians is constitutes a threat. I think tying a person to a post, cutting out his tounge, and leaving him to bleed to death because he spoke out against Saddam constitutes a threat. I think that throwing people into plastic shreaders constitutes a threat. I think ignoring UN and Ceasefire orders despite the threat of war constitutes a threat. I think firing on American and British aircraft enforcing the no fly zone before the relatively recent war talks even began constitutes a threat. I think that attempting to assassinate the American President constitutes a threat. And you know something? Bill Clinton's administration thought Saddam was a threat too!
I have been on the fence for a while, but I'm sick of all of the flawed logic and slogans that a lot of these war protesters are reading off of cereal boxes and clinging to them as if they were law. Here is something to think about. Why is it that not a single protester mentions any of the above statements? This is why I have such a problem with what they are saying. I havn't seen massive rallies of people protesting the disgusting way that dictators treat their citzens. Before the war, I never ONCE saw massive rallies of people demaning that Saddam comply with the UN! I never ONCE saw people protesting Saddam slaughtering political "dissidents". He could have stopped this war! People should have demanded he left his country when Bush told him he had two days, because THAT would have prevented war. This war is not the US's fault. Saddam could have prevented it. So why is it that these protesters are burning American flags?
I don't like war. Anyone who says they do is either a fool, or a liar. I don't think Iraq is a military threat to the US, so I don't buy that when President Bush says that. But you have to ask yourself. Is Al Queda a MILITARY threat? Militarily, no. Al Queda wouldn't stand a chance against Americas army under any conditions. However, you don't need a military if you've got guys who are willing to kill themselves in order to kill 100 others.
You should listen to that MP3 I posted up in another thread, it's really interesting. See if you can answer that guy's question.
Now. I have problems too with this war, but I want to make sure that people know what they're talking about before they sound off. The Bush Administration was way to aggressive in early talks, and people knew their minds were made up before they even talked to the UN. Bin Laden and other terrorist groups are definitely going to use this as recruiting material, which will put the West in a sticky situation down the road. People of the Middle East may get a more negative impression of the US and therefore the West, which may also cause us problems. And, most importantly, a lot of good men and women are going to die because of these actions. A lot of families are going to lose treasured members because of the dangers of combat. I listen when protesters are saying FACTS like these, but I don't listen to them when they ignore basic facts about the situation and create fairy tails like "this war is for oil" in order to get people to buy what they sell.
People, we should rally behind the troops! The bombs are falling now, there is no turning back. Blocking traffic trying to prove your point at this point will accomplish little more than making a lot of people late for work. No matter where you stand on this issue (or sit, if you're on the fence like me), the troops need your support to get the job done!