To address the topic, yes, any soccer player, Iraqi or otherwise, who picks up a gun to fire at coalition troops should be killed as quickly as possible.
roid wrote:if that actually IS what this 'war on terror' is all about though (mending past ****ups), then perhaps we'd have heard a statement to that effect.
we havn't, so if this IS the underlying reasoning behind the war on terror then you're never going to win. because you don't defuse longterm idealiogical wars with lies. they are defused with things like truth and trust.
To address your first point, I honestly do believe that this is what this war is about. This is primarily because I don't believe Bush or any of his administration to be evil or stupid or bent on world domination. I believe that they are doing what they feel is in the best interests of this country. Even IF they are wrong, it doesn't make them stupid or evil. Few administrations have had to deal with the issues that this one has faced.
Furthermore, you will never hear Bush or any other President say that "we are correcting past mistakes", because to do so would be to besmirch the legacies of his predecesors, who actually made those mistakes. That's not going to happen.
We "win" the war on terror if Afghanistan and Iraq can be successfully rebuilt as functioning members of the international community. Poverty and oppression breed the hatred that motivates the terrorist. Give a sane man the ability to take care of his family and live his life in peace, and he will not become a terrorist. I don't believe these goals to be unattainable, just difficult, painful, and slow to achieve.
As to winning not with lies (which is a weak, weak charge) but with truth and trust, through past mistakes we've long since lost any hope of gaining the trust of our enemies. We've long since passed the point where we could expect the enemy's requirements for ceace-fire to be reasonable. They think killing us gets them into heaven, they are no longer rational.
In short, we've crossed a point of no return. These groups filled their ranks over the years to the point of a global reach. The most efficient method to stop, or at the very least slow down, the frequency of global terrorist acts is to reduce their numbers in the short-term and eradicate the breeding grounds further reducing membership in the long-term. Negotiation would take years and years and there is the strong possibility of attacks on civilians each time one of these groups loses patience with the process. Not to mention the possibility of talks lasting years, only to break down thus putting us back at square one. It's just not worth it.
roid wrote:taking the dog outof the hunt while the hunted animal is wounded and therefore dangerous is not a good idea.
iraq was a ****up, atm it's a cleanup phase, with insurgencys ALREADY attacking so soon, we're ****ed.
Whether or not Iraq was a fuckup is still up in the air. I would expect insurgencies to pop up right after the invasion, when the security of the country is at its most vulnerable. Were you expecting some sort of grace period? You seem to believe that these people represent the majority of Iraqi citizens, which they do not. I hear that Syrians and Iranians are also there working their mojo. It's very bad now, yes, but there was a time in the American west when a trip to the bar to play cards could result in you getting shot and killed. The country was still forming and some areas were still lawless, much like Iraq is right now. As Afghanistan and Iraq get their ★■◆● together, the insurgencies will stop, either through negotiation or through violence.
roid wrote:we will never win this. by destabalising Iraq we have handed it to the Islamic militants, unless we want to stay there FOREVER fighting them off. sorry
The stable Iraq of before was lead by a wet turd of a human being, violent and belligerent to his people and his neighbors. By destabalising Iraq, we have given Iraq its first chance for TRUE stability in decades. I can't help you with your generally negative attitude and woefully pessimistic outlook on the situation, but you are right about one thing.
No offense, but it is the prevalence of negativity and pessimism such as yours which will lose this war. Right now, you are in the minority, in your own country and globally.
"We can't do this."
"We will never do that."
"That's impossible."
"We're fucked!"
What solution are you advocating? Should we give up? Because giving up means surrendering to all their demands, no matter how ridiculous. Why should they let us have any concessions? We've lost the stomach to fight. We will appear weak, and we will have only rented peace for a while. Fight them now, or fight them later.
j/k
