welsh
Junkmaster
Prez- Honestly, I seriously doubt that the war in Iraq is aimed at keeping the Islamic militants on that side of the world and keep them from coming here. Granted, each decade since the Iranian revolution, we've seen Islamic militants go somewhere to fight for Islam.
But considering that you'll always have a small portion of Muslim islamists who are willing to take the "war" to the "great satan" (that's us), then the war in Iraq actually increasing our insecurity.
Let's play with some conservative and hypothetical figures-
Let's say 2% of Islamic terrorists will ever think of coming to the US and only 10% will ever succeed at anything.
Well if there are 100 terrorists, only 2 will think of coming ot the US, and chances are none will come over.
But, if you stick with the proportions- if you have 1000 terrorists, then 20 might think of visiting the US, of whom 2 will actually achieve anything.
IF you have 10,000 terrorists- then you are also ratcheting up the likelihood that someone is going to ruin some American's day in the US.
SO cultivating war in the middle east actually increasing the likelihood of terrorist attack.
THe great question of politics is always- who gets paid. Who benefits from this policy? MOre terrorist fears, greater support for strong 'imperial' (as called' by constitutional law scholars) presidents, weaker legislatures, more money going to security industries- that are generally domestic. But neither you or I are safer.
But there is another point- what is our national security goals. This is a question of values.
IF its just to protect lives, the basic security value- then by cultivating war we actually reduce our security.
But what else- our ideals? Our values? How important are the values of America to Americans? How much faith do we give them and how far are we willing to go to protect them?
If you are a powerful country there are two ways to influence others- by convincing them that your ideals are good and in their interest (and thus getting their consent or at least acquiescence to your ideas) or by domination.
As a democracy, domination shouldn't be part of out modus operandi.
But what about in the middle east? Should we impose our ideals by force or should we convince them that our ideals are better?
And if we impose our ideas by force, aren't we also saying that our ideas are bankrupt? And if so, then maybe we should just write off the American democratic experiment.
Of course there are those that will say that democracy isn't universal- that some cultures just won't jive with democracy. Maybe. But then it becomes a question of what you believe in.
SO if you don't believe in the ability of democracy to make a better country in Iraq, then go with force. But then you have to ask, what is it we're really fighting for.
But considering that you'll always have a small portion of Muslim islamists who are willing to take the "war" to the "great satan" (that's us), then the war in Iraq actually increasing our insecurity.
Let's play with some conservative and hypothetical figures-
Let's say 2% of Islamic terrorists will ever think of coming to the US and only 10% will ever succeed at anything.
Well if there are 100 terrorists, only 2 will think of coming ot the US, and chances are none will come over.
But, if you stick with the proportions- if you have 1000 terrorists, then 20 might think of visiting the US, of whom 2 will actually achieve anything.
IF you have 10,000 terrorists- then you are also ratcheting up the likelihood that someone is going to ruin some American's day in the US.
SO cultivating war in the middle east actually increasing the likelihood of terrorist attack.
THe great question of politics is always- who gets paid. Who benefits from this policy? MOre terrorist fears, greater support for strong 'imperial' (as called' by constitutional law scholars) presidents, weaker legislatures, more money going to security industries- that are generally domestic. But neither you or I are safer.
But there is another point- what is our national security goals. This is a question of values.
IF its just to protect lives, the basic security value- then by cultivating war we actually reduce our security.
But what else- our ideals? Our values? How important are the values of America to Americans? How much faith do we give them and how far are we willing to go to protect them?
If you are a powerful country there are two ways to influence others- by convincing them that your ideals are good and in their interest (and thus getting their consent or at least acquiescence to your ideas) or by domination.
As a democracy, domination shouldn't be part of out modus operandi.
But what about in the middle east? Should we impose our ideals by force or should we convince them that our ideals are better?
And if we impose our ideas by force, aren't we also saying that our ideas are bankrupt? And if so, then maybe we should just write off the American democratic experiment.
Of course there are those that will say that democracy isn't universal- that some cultures just won't jive with democracy. Maybe. But then it becomes a question of what you believe in.
SO if you don't believe in the ability of democracy to make a better country in Iraq, then go with force. But then you have to ask, what is it we're really fighting for.
