Old Guy: Perhaps I didn't put it well which made you misunderstand me. You say: I think the Government knows how to deal with these things better than we do. I think we should let them do their job. We steer the government through elections.

Yes we are so called friends of Saudi Arabia but they could / probably will turn into another Iraq if we don't do something to democratize the area. Liberating Iraq would plant a seed of democracy that hopefully will spread to neighboring countries.

See, I don't believe we have the right to 'democratize' the world. That was my belief long before the Iron Curtain fell, i.e. I felt that if capitalism is better than communism, they'll find out in due time. Containment is different as is an outright attack on their neighbors or on our allies, which is where a United Nations comes in. We need to police 'actions' not others' philosophies. Our own philosophy needs to be well thought out and publicized, and that should spell out that war is ALWAYS the last resort. Diplomacy always and sanctions when needed have to be the way of coexistence.


Richie, you say: I don't think the Taliban is too organized at this point, maybe they will regroup, that's none of our business. As long as they don't allign themselves with or harbor terrorists it's their (Afganistan's)decision. Hopefully the US will get out of Afganistan soon.

Getting rid of terrorists is a difficult task but since they have declared war on us, it will have to be done.

But there is a possibility that if Saddam is gone the whole region might stabilize and the terroists would have less room to operate.

Your position seems to me a hard one to defend. If Saddam is gone, the region might stabilize? Have you looked at the various factions that have a vested interest in the area? (That isn't even including us!) For that matter, remember what happened in Iran when the US-backed Shah had to flee? One could say Iran's situation stabilized, but definitely not in the US's favor.

You could use the analogy that when you pull down the strongest pillar, the small ones will collapse, allowing in the floods and debris.