antantrevolution said: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 said: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 said: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
Brooker said:@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.