Viet Nam all over again??

[dirtface]

if you think surrender is the end of the story then you really don\'t grasp the depths of what happens in war.

I realize I know very little regarding these issues but I would have that that WWII was a perfect argument in favor of your comments. I mean, wasn\'t it the shortcomings of Versailles that laid the groundwork for Hitler\'s rise to power? Had there been a better  diplomatic effort applied instead of a series of unrealistic punitive measures would there have been a basis for such extremism to flourish? To go back to sedagive's comments I suppose maybe simple logic may apply to some situations; say the circumstance where you have everything and use it to ensure that I will always have nothing would only seem to foster a contempt that is insatiable. Where else can such a situation lead?

[buswolley]

S  -- do your homework, there is strong evidence to support the fact that Japan had surrendered prior to dropping the bomb, but a missed translation caused the horrific outcome anyway; just another example to champion diplomacy.  And, as far as questioning diplomacy...does anyone remember the Cold War, Cuban missile crises, Poland, Vietnam of today...I still have high hopes for Iran.

You say you have been reading up on issues in bipartisan media, but your comments suggest different.  Hamas, Hizballiah, and Israel have come to peace in the past over diplomacy.  Hamas and Hizballah are not a threat to the U.S. or the world in general, they have no global agenda.  Even the Sunnis in Iraq could be won over with diplomacy, except that the current Iraq administration won't give them any oil concessions, which only shows you at least one group that is profiting from this war.  You're right when you say that there is no discussing diplomacy with radicals, but most of these militant groups are not solely run by radicals.  From where I sit your views are as radical as theirs; we were, after all, the invading country.  

"The strategy should be to identify the fissures in the terrorist group and widen those chasms to cause it to explode, to isolate the hard-lines and strengthen the moderates.  The risk of painting all terrorists with one brush is that you miss those signs, and so you miss those opportunities."  Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism.

Bush, by labeling all terrorist the same, is not only missing the chances to secure a peace, but he is also uniting them to one cause.  Bush feeds the Muslim paranoia that his attack on terrorism is actually an attack on all Islam, thusly unifying and rallying the radical Sunnis with the radical Shi'ites to one cause.  The bloody and horrific truth is that the U.S. has interests in the Middle East that have nothing to do with terrorism.  We have an interest in protecting Israel, destroying Iran's hold in the region, and many more, finally culminating in making sure you can still buy gas for your SUV at under...well who knows what we are really willing to pay at the pump.

No, I personally am not a pacifist, but lets be honest about what we are fighting for and 'winning my daddy's war' is not a good enough reason!

DOD -- you\'re right!

Travis - I am sorry we are using up your server space.  I promise to try and stop.
« Last Edit: Today at 1:37pm by buswolley »

[gkg]

DOD - indeed.  thank you for that reminder.

buswolley - good points, but yeah, he\'s right.

as for Travis, i think he enjoys it, to a point.  if not then he\'d have told me to back off long ago - i didn\'t get that ridiculously high posting number for knowing when to sit quietly.  

VVV yeah, what DOD said VVV

[D.O.D]

   I think Travis will drop a subtle hint.. like  "Lets knock this shit off. " ..or words to that effect. when and if the time comes.   So far it all makes for good reading.  DOD

[Travis]

Knock your selves out. I would only draw the line at knocking somebody else out with a blow below the belt.