Has Iraq war made U.S. safer? That's questionable.

[Nyceane]

Bush has made U.S more dangerous....

 

[antantrevolution]

Well, no matter what the America does as a country, there will ALWAYS be someone who hates her. We have tried to do many things, most of which are short-sighted, I will agree. But to sit here and try and tell us that the US and Bush have made this world MORE dangerous? Come on. Take a look around you. Bin Laden has not one ounce of respect for human life. He ordered under his bastardised muslim beliefs, his followers to take Boeing 777 jumbo jets and slam them into buildings that housed thousands of people just doing nothing more than going to work. How many people died? How many poeple were blown apart and couldn't be identified? How many police, firefighters rescue workers were killed for no good reason? Do you know how much it hurt to look at the skyline every time I went into New York on the weekends, realising that the city will NEVER be the same? How many of you think that there isn't a possibility that there will be an attack agains some of you on your own soil? It can happen to anyone.

Bush may not be popular, trust me, he isn't here at this very moment. But I don't support my leader and his decisions, I support my troops that have to go out and fight for what they believe in and what they think is the right thing to do. I feel that we should have done more in Iraq the second time, I feel that we should not have diverted troops that were hunting Bin Laden, but it isn't my decision. And to hear so much about how americans only do things for their own personal gains, well, you tell me one country that hasn't. I could go on for hours about England, Russia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Italy, France and others. But I won't.

You all can give me negative marks and what not, but I am sick of hearing about how evil we are.

Peace,

Ant

 

[senseiman]

Well, no matter what the America does as a country, there will ALWAYS be someone who hates her. We have tried to do many things, most of which are short-sighted, I will agree. But to sit here and try and tell us that the US and Bush have made this world MORE dangerous? Come on. Take a look around you. Bin Laden has not one ounce of respect for human life. He ordered under his bastardised muslim beliefs, his followers to take Boeing 777 jumbo jets and slam them into buildings that housed thousands of people just doing nothing more than going to work. How many people died? How many poeple were blown apart and couldn't be identified? How many police, firefighters rescue workers were killed for no good reason? Do you know how much it hurt to look at the skyline every time I went into New York on the weekends, realising that the city will NEVER be the same? How many of you think that there isn't a possibility that there will be an attack agains some of you on your own soil? It can happen to anyone.

Bush may not be popular, trust me, he isn't here at this very moment. But I don't support my leader and his decisions, I support my troops that have to go out and fight for what they believe in and what they think is the right thing to do. I feel that we should have done more in Iraq the second time, I feel that we should not have diverted troops that were hunting Bin Laden, but it isn't my decision. And to hear so much about how americans only do things for their own personal gains, well, you tell me one country that hasn't. I could go on for hours about England, Russia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Italy, France and others. But I won't.

You all can give me negative marks and what not, but I am sick of hearing about how evil we are.

Peace,

Ant

This isn't about how evil America is, its about how dangerous the world is becoming thanks to the Bush administration. If we accept that terrorist groups like Bin Ladin are the number one threat to world security (there are other threats, like global climate change and nuclear proliferation, which I think are of at least equal cause for concern) then we have to asses whether or not Bush's policies have made that threat greater or weaker. I think the threat of terrorism is much greater now than it was 3 years ago, in large part because of the war in Iraq, which has played right into the hands of the Islamic extremists by vividly illustrating the threat America poses to the arab and Islamic world. The war has provided the extremists with both targets (lots of US troops and civilian contractors in Iraq), massive amounts of weapons and ammunition abandoned by the Iraqi army, and most importantly a huge recruiting boom. So even accepting that terrorism is the greatest danger to the world today, you have to admit that the actions of the Bush adminstration have made the world more dangerous because they have strengthened the hand of the extremists.

 

[antantrevolution]

This isn't about how evil America is, its about how dangerous the world is becoming thanks to the Bush administration. If we accept that terrorist groups like Bin Ladin are the number one threat to world security (there are other threats, like global climate change and nuclear proliferation, which I think are of at least equal cause for concern) then we have to asses whether or not Bush's policies have made that threat greater or weaker. I think the threat of terrorism is much greater now than it was 3 years ago, in large part because of the war in Iraq, which has played right into the hands of the Islamic extremists by vividly illustrating the threat America poses to the arab and Islamic world. The war has provided the extremists with both targets (lots of US troops and civilian contractors in Iraq), massive amounts of weapons and ammunition abandoned by the Iraqi army, and most importantly a huge recruiting boom. So even accepting that terrorism is the greatest danger to the world today, you have to admit that the actions of the Bush adminstration have made the world more dangerous because they have strengthened the hand of the extremists.

Islamic extremists will ALWAYS be a threat to countires across the globe. I don't feel that the US going into Iraq just made that happen. The US has a long history of doing things to further itself, all countries do. But I, and many of my American and non-American friends feel that the move into Iraq was justified because the actions taken earlier this year should have been carried out in the 90's. I feel that we should have been scouring Afghanistan and Pakistan for a much greater time before diverting troops elsewhere, but that isn't my decision. Like I said before, I don't always agree with my leader, but my homeland was attacked without remorse and any link to that deserves extreme punishment.

I agree that it is a hard thing to talk about, but you have to understand where I am coming from. Seeing the WTC on fire and burning up close is something you will never get out of your mind. Knowing that there are friends that you will never see again because animals that can't comprehend the meaning of life and decides that they will carry out the mass deaths of thousands of people in a god whose teachings in the Coran tell of peace and not harming others.. it hurts, you know?

And to hear from people that don't even live here that the US this and the US that... and that we only care about ourselves. They are the ones that should realise that there is much more to this country than her Government.

I'm just so tired of hearing it.

Christ.

Well, that's my thought. You all probably hate me now, sorry.

Ant

 

[Foxtrot Uniform]

I don't see how invading Iraq is justified. Iraq did not have links with Al-Qaeda, they did not have any weapons of mass destruction, and now they have been atacked by America without any remorse. So far there have been about 12,000 civilian casualties caused by the military intervention in Iraq, so now instead of being worried about the dictatorship, Iraqis can now worry about getting killed by the Coaltion.

I cannot see how this has made the world a safer place or how it has defended the freedom of America.

 

[senseiman]

Islamic extremists will ALWAYS be a threat to countires across the globe. I don't feel that the US going into Iraq just made that happen. The US has a long history of doing things to further itself, all countries do. But I, and many of my American and non-American friends feel that the move into Iraq was justified because the actions taken earlier this year should have been carried out in the 90's. I feel that we should have been scouring Afghanistan and Pakistan for a much greater time before diverting troops elsewhere, but that isn't my decision. Like I said before, I don't always agree with my leader, but my homeland was attacked without remorse and any link to that deserves extreme punishment.

I agree that it is a hard thing to talk about, but you have to understand where I am coming from. Seeing the WTC on fire and burning up close is something you will never get out of your mind. Knowing that there are friends that you will never see again because animals that can't comprehend the meaning of life and decides that they will carry out the mass deaths of thousands of people in a god whose teachings in the Coran tell of peace and not harming others.. it hurts, you know?

And to hear from people that don't even live here that the US this and the US that... and that we only care about ourselves. They are the ones that should realise that there is much more to this country than her Government.

I'm just so tired of hearing it.

Christ.

Well, that's my thought. You all probably hate me now, sorry.

Ant

You had friends who died in the WTC? I'm sorry to hear that, you have my condolences.

I agree that Islamic extremists would continue to be a threat with or without the invasion of Iraq. But I believe that the Iraq war has definitely made those groups (ie groups seeking to kill Americans) much stronger than they would otherwise have been and that the Bush administration, in deciding to wage this war ( a war of choice, not necessity) bears very direct responsibility for this and the increased threat that terrorists pose not only to the US but to the rest of the world as well. Therefor, IMHO the Iraq war has not made the US safer.

Iraq had absolutely zero link to 9/11. The only known connection between Al Quaida and Iraq was a meeting between an Al quaida operative and an Iraqi intelligence agent in which Al Quaida asked for help and Iraq told them to piss off. Ironically there are way more AL Quaida operatives in Iraq under US occupation than there were in Iraq under Saddam. I really fail to see how anyone could justify the Iraq war, especially now given what we know about all the lies the Bush administration has fed the public and the grave cost in lives lost, dollars spent and loss of international goodwill.

 

[TimF]

As long as there are two people on this earth there will always be war and conflict.

 

[Brooker]

@antantrevolution
You are angry about 9/11 and so was I. But now you're looking for someone to take that anger out on. As it's been said, Saddam had no connection to 9/11.

Finishing something that should have been finished in the 90's? You mean keeping one country from controlling a large amount of the oil? I really don't think Saddam was ever much of a threat to the rest of the world. He was a bastard and greedy, but so are a lot of politicians. Saddam never attacked or even threatened to attack any U.S. targets. And there is no proof that he ever intending to do so. The main problem the U.S. had with Saddam is that he wouldn't follow their orders. I'm not saying that we should feel sorry for Saddam, but just pointing out how the actions of the U.S. were not justified.

The U.S. attacks Iraq in the 90's for attacking another country without getting a U.N. resolution and then attacks that country years later without a U.N. resolution. The worst thing about all of this is that America is making itself look like the bad guy in the eyes of the world.

I understand that it's hard to hear criticism about America from non-Americans, so hear it from me, a fellow American.

 

[blessed]

Is Iraq safer: no. because before, the country was split in two: but 40 % of the population were safe and arguably "comfortable"; thats even hard to claim for a democracy. Now, pretty much no one is safe: the Sunni muslims are still being chased by the Shiites and the Shiites are being chased by the Occupying forces.
Their war is religious, whether saddam is there or not changes little, they will still fight.

 

[akaisha]

@antantrevolution
You are angry about 9/11 and so was I. But now you're looking for someone to take that anger out on. As it's been said, Saddam had no connection to 9/11.

Finishing something that should have been finished in the 90's? You mean keeping one country from controlling a large amount of the oil? I really don't think Saddam was ever much of a threat to the rest of the world. He was a bastard and greedy, but so are a lot of politicians. Saddam never attacked or even threatened to attack any U.S. targets. And there is no proof that he ever intending to do so. The main problem the U.S. had with Saddam is that he wouldn't follow their orders. I'm not saying that we should feel sorry for Saddam, but just pointing out how the actions of the U.S. were not justified.

The U.S. attacks Iraq in the 90's for attacking another country without getting a U.N. resolution and then attacks that country years later without a U.N. resolution. The worst thing about all of this is that America is making itself look like the bad guy in the eyes of the world.

I understand that it's hard to hear criticism about America from non-Americans, so hear it from me, a fellow American.

Considering those words were along the lines of what I was going to say(but written much better) all I can say is agree with what Brooker said, and I stand by his words, also as a fellow American.
But a simple thing I need to say is that we aren't making ourself look like the bad guy because between the Bush Addministration(I say that because I refuse to put all the opinions of US citizens in the hands of an idiot) and Saddam in the current issue on 'terrorism' that Bush has been trying to justify, the Bush Addministaraion is the bad guy, they aren't making the US look like one, they are making us one.