quote:Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
...I personally do not like to hear negative criticism of the US, even when it is right...
Doug my friend, it is human nature to lay axe to the tallest trees. America IS a great nation. The critics prove it.
People flock to the US from all corners of the globe to find a better life, and we accept them. They flock here because the world views the US as a place of safe harbor, a place of hope and freedom. Few countries tolerate the diversity we do. Those immigrants DO find a better life. When there is crisis in the world, volunteers and money from the US are there first to lend aid. Hell, after we defeat a country in battle, we return and rebuild it! How often has that happened in the history of civilization?
Is the US a perfect nation? NO! Let the citizens of the perfect nation be the first to criticise the US.
Frankly, I think my government was 30 years too late in defending its citizens from terrorism. Are we as a nation handling our "war" on terrorism properly? Probably not, but I don't have a better plan myself, nor do I have a constructive criticism. But I do think that "doing nothing" has only encouraged terrorism, and made it bolder.
It stands to reason that the religious fundamentalists in that region of the world do not want a free nation in their midst, where women are treated as equals, where the populace is educated, one that is freindly towards the west, one that practices free election, one in which religion is practiced privately rather than dominating daily life. I'm sure that frightens them tremendously. My understanding is that the folks lobbing bullets & missles at our soldiers aren't citizens of Iraq, but mercenaries from surrounding nations. So if the US pulls out now, would it be accurate to call it a civil war, or an invasion? And if the citizens of Iraq who want a new democratic society are defeated, and a foreign religious fundamentalist power takes control, Iraq will become a support nation to the terrorists, and the soldiers who have lost their lives over there will have died in vain.
I don't have the answers, these are just my observations. What is hard for our country to do is to separate Bush from the debate. Its not Bush's war, it's our government's war. What would be the best course of action for our government? Bush's term in office will be over soon enough.
your socially philosophical friend on the DTBB