Should we go to War?

[PSU2Fan]

I feel like starting a fight today

IMO....

NO F#&$^IN' way!! As I read in another thread one said that we are the police for the rest of the world. That is so true, and I think we even have a world or term for our spreading of Americanism (anbody??) THis whole business of accusing Iraq of having "weapons of mass destruction" is crazy. I remember hearing on the news last week that people (americans) are complaining about Iraq's continued insistance making our inspectors time in Iraq as difficult as possible. We accuse Iraq of changing their schedule's, location access, and even who they can talk to.

Let's look at this from another point of view for a second, shall we? In this alternate reality, CHina is the "big gun" on the planet. THe president is notified through the AP that China "believes" we have secret new weapon with which we plan on using against them. Since China doesn't want to get attacked they appeal to the U.N.; then take the matter into thei own hands. China tells us that they are sendig over investigators who will have UNRESTRICTED access to our governments top secrt facilities, personnel, etc. They will be allowed to go anwhere whenever they want. Do you know what GW would say to that??! Well it wouldn't be pretty, I can tell you that.

THis is one small exmple (Iraq) of what our government does. It's pathetic in my view. Sure we can say that w are only doing this for our nd their protection, that we are responsible and they aren't. Only in war, no one is responsible. We are being foolish I think. And it seems as if there is no stopping to the juggernaut GW has unleashed. It seems inevitable at this point. Sure it may not be "war", but then neither was desert storm or Vietnam; yeah right.

[Germ]

No, we should not go to war with Iraq.

[Creatures]

why not you need the oil j/k

no war please but i think it will start

Creatures

[PSU2Fan]

Yeah I think it's inevitable at this point. We've already got 100,000 in the gulf at this point and double that is expected by Feb.

I just hate how we are so eager to pound other nations for their actions. We do the same thing at home, we focus too much on punishment. If we all helped each other, domestically and foreign, I think we'd be able to understand each other quite a bit more.

[daveleau]

It is simple. Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and has been giving weapons to Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has the ability and desire to strike America. If we do not stop Saddam, he will have nukes soon, which means that Al Qaeda will have nukes soon. It is not much of a stretch to see that an American city will be targeted and hundreds of thousands lost.

If you say that the weapons inspectors have found nothing, then I would retort by saying that only the naive would believe that the inspectors are allowed to go to sites where these are being built. Iraq severely limits access of these inspectors. I have listened to many interviews on both radio and tv (many different sources) of ex-weapons inspectors and their stories all corroborate that Saddam is very sneaky and without a doubt has these weapons.

Choice:

war - lose a few American lives but create a safer world
no war- lose hundreds of thousands of lives and still have a scared-to-death world

We must be proactive. If we are not, well...then I hope you all will are not going to be the same people talking about not going to war after we are nuked. Oil has NOTHING to do with this and you are only saying that because you don't know what you are talking about!!! We only get 14% of our oil from the gulf!!! If we were going to do anything involving oil, we'd do it in Venezuela, where we get 40% of our oil. If I hear oil one more time, I think I am going to scream because people can not get it through their thick skulls that oil is not a motive! All you have to do is look at oil distribution and our actions to know this! Good grief! Who teaches you these guys this crap?

THINK, PEOPLE!

[daveleau]

Also, the President is not alerted to ANYTHING through the AP. Sorry, bud. Doesn't happen. The President and staff knows plenty before some reporter "tells" them the "facts". If you heard that through the AP, then there is about a 25% or less chance it is correct. Believe me, I know. The media doesn't know jack about this stuff and if you believe them, well, I'm sorry for you .

China is our biggest threat if you look at it in general power of the nation, but they are not led by a madman, like Iraq and N Korea are. North Korea is another worrisome topic, which I don't know what is going to happen. I can't go into detail on specifics, but they are more dangerous right now than Iraq, although Iraq is getting close to being as dangerous...

Our only real choice right now is whether we should go to war with Iraq or N Korea...

[sven222]

Those wacky North Koreans are planning something evil.

If only Bush had enough sense to realize it, and not waste all his resources on Iraq, which isnt a threat at all. They made something out of nothing.

[PSU2Fan]

Well I guess I didn't state it before but I'm not saying that under no circumstances should we go to war. I'm a firm believer in "chivalrous" fighting. And most importantly, do not fire before fired upon. If it gets to the point that Saddam is pointing nukes towards the sky and is working around the clock to that end, then by all means we need to step in and do something.

As for the CHina example, I was merely trying to force us to look at the situation in the people of Iraq's eyes. If ANY other nation brought these kinds of charges to the US, we know that we would not allow them to have access to our top secret govt. locations.

Is Saddam a mad-man? He's messed in the head that's for sure, but he's also a very intelligent person. That's why he's been able to retain his power for so long. And knowing how soundly he was defeated in the Gulf "conflict" he isn't likely to start a war. Unless of course he's lost all his sanity. In which case the BEST thing to do is what we should be focusing on; removing Saddam from power. I'm not saying I agree with assassinating a president, buy certainly charges could be brought up sufficient for removing him from power. Although our inabillity to remove him covertly during the Clinton administration makes me wonder how many lives will be lost in this war.

As for ooil, I agree with Dave. It really isn't a factor in what's going on. If nothing else, it's a bonus. I've said it before and I say it again, money is what drives the vast majority of policy in the world. I don't care if you are liberal or conservative. It's pathetic how quickly our morals dissolve in the face of money.

[PSU2Fan]

BTW, this is the healthy kind of debate I was looking for! I was afraid for a while that all us Techimoers were hippies!

Aad Sven is right, if there's anybody in power I'm worried about right now, it's the N. Koreans leader. Hopefully our intel can sort that one out soon.

[capybara]

Originally posted by daveleau
Choice:

war - lose a few American lives but create a safer world
no war- lose hundreds of thousands of lives and still have a scared-to-death world

We must be proactive. If we are not, well...then I hope you all will are not going to be the same people talking about not going to war after we are nuked. .....

THINK, PEOPLE!

well said. thank you. being proactive means that we have learned the lesson of ww2 that we cannot hide behind our oceans while saddam builds nukes. instead, we accept the heavy weight of responsibility as the worlds superpower and do what no other nation has the will or the ability to do.