Warning - rebutal rant from Greg who despite his best efforts couldn't just let this topic go.
The problem with pie in the sky idealism is that it sounds good on paper and gives everyone a warm fuzzy feeling when discussing it but the reality is we live in a dangerous world where evil people do evil things and don't think the way we do thus often times eliminating the lets all just sit down talk it out and get along options. How do you negotiate and talk peace with people who have trained their entire life to eliminate you and who view you as an abomination to their god and religion, people who jump at the opportunity to die themselves killing just a few for the great rewards that await them in the after life. Everyone seems to forget that we tried 10+ years of diplomacy and talking with Iraq and all it yielded was empty promises and deceit. All the time while more people were tortured and killed, the mass graves filled with men women and children, more children were ushered into prison camps, women were kept from getting the education you advocate and more terrorists were trained to do harm to America and Americans. You say Iraq wasn't much of a threat, to me that is a very naive statement, and fortunately the odds are due to the action on the part of the US and its allies we will never know exactly how much of a threat they were.
The facts are there were WMD's in Iraq, they were being used and tested on Iraq citizens (the UN, the Clinton administration the global community and the Bush administration all agree on this, hence the 18 UN resolutions), terrorist training camps operated throughout the country and Saddam Hussein's goal in life was to destroy America and Americans. The fact that no WMD's were found shouldn't cause us to question our actions or deny the threat; they should make us more diligent about finding out where they went. Again their prior existence is not in dispute and if Saddam woke up one morning and saw the error in his ways then why not comply with any of the 18 resolutions and give them up of show proof of their destruction? Just doesn't make sense. And not I will not just get over 9/11. To stick you head in the sand, ignore what happened, extend an olive branch and hope everyone just gets along only gives those who seek to do us harm more opportunity to do so and who knows how many will die next time.
You ask "If we could just give these people a chance to have the good things in life (food, health, home), they would be able to toss the few bad apples out on their own." What do you think we are trying to do? That is exactly why we are there. Accomplishing that task is impossible when the people your trying to help are being oppressed and killed by a dictator who rules with an iron fist and does not hesitate to kill mass numbers using guns and chemicals when he is opposed. Do you have any idea how much of the aid and relief the US, the red cross and other humanitarian organizations try to get to people in war torn countries is intercepted and taken by the dictators and warlords that dominate the countries and people we are trying to help? How do we do what you're saying with those people in power?
With regards to your references to Africa. Again you say we aren't helping ignoring the fact that President Bush just within the last year approved the largest AID's relief package the US has ever granted to Africa. It is so easy to sit back and play Monday morning quarterback, ignore facts and spout oversimplified ideals but we live in the real world where time and resources are limited, we cannot be all things for everyone. All we can do is do what we can while trying like hell to protect or freedom, ensure the safety of our children and our homes so that we can continue to help where we can and provide the land of opportunity that so many give their lives to try and get to for a better life.
With regards to Canada, boy I'd love to just let that one go but I just can't so I'll only say this: It's easy to be passive, neutral and play the good guy / friend to all when you're protected politically, militarily, geographically and economically by the US.
To answer your last question, yes your statements are too simple and ignore too much reality and fact. I wish that wasn't the case but it is. Over time we need to work more toward global cooperation and avoiding / eliminating the need for military action but we cannot flip a switch and make that possible overnight unless everyone on both sides agreed and that is not going to happen today. In fact removing people like Saddam Hussein from power makes what you're advocating more possible and has already had a dramatic effect on the actions of other leaders in the region.
Greg
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