ryhoyarbie said:
i can agree with that statement because it seems like these kinds of countries hate the usa for what it is, the people, etc. although it's great that saddam has been captured, i don't know how much the iraq people like us, even now since we got this guy. it's like this guy brainwashed everybody to be so negative and hateful because thats how he was and he enjected this to the people he was governing and that's how these people are. i'm sure there are people glad that saddam got captured, but i'm sure they still hate the us. people in other countries find that the u.s. is the policemen of the world, sticking their nose in other people's lives and that maybe why i agree with the statement above.
ryan
As I follow this thread I have to wonder if some thoughts are based entirely on the VietNam fiasco. That was one war, in one segment of history. It has to be put into perspective. I grew up through that war, and countless of my closest friends were drafted into it against their will. I won't go into the price my friends paid and still pay to this day, and I did not support it in any way. And now South VietNam thrives and is a tourist destination, of all things.
Every conflict is framed differently, and we are in another time, another place. The United States does not "play policeman" of the world because it has nothing better to do. Quite the contrary. Both World Wars were well underway prior to our involvement despite repeated entreaties from Europe to get over there and help them. In fact, we were only seriously involved in the first World War for one year, that being the last, when we finally went over and finished the job at their request. They'd probably still be at it if we hadn't, as the second war grew from the root remnants of the first. In addition, we put up with sporadic terrorism for decades before making a military commitment. No one commits troops to battle lightly.
Behind the scenes, we are constantly asked for help. Like Ghostbusters, Who ya gonna call? This isn't necessarily a burden that any administration welcomes. Whether it is financial, military, humanitarian or all three, it's our phone number on the first page of presidential rolodexes the world over, like it or not.
During the VietNam conflict, if you were a young man of good health just graduating high school, or in college, or newly married and starting your life, you knew you were doomed to the draft; there was nothing to do but wait for your draft number to come up, or flee to hiding in Canada. Two of my brothers enlisted before their numbers came up, because you had a better chance of staying Stateside if you did, and fortunately they did. Today service is voluntary - the military are in the military because they choose to be, creating a superior entity. On September 12, 2001, my son decided to enlist. Did I, having come up through VietNam, raise him to think military? Obviously not. Did I recognize that this is another world, with a new imperative to protect the idea of living free? Yes. Chances are good that he'd be over there now, but he was turned down based on his medical history.
Young Americans are for the most part lacking a thorough grounding in world history, and without that there can be no thorough understanding of the world they live in.
As to news media, we have available to us the widest array of free press media information in the world. Some media lean left, some right, some are centrist. It is OUR responsibility to use common sense, avail ourselves of many sources of information, and to process information intelligently.
Again, the Iraqis do not hate us, though I see that this unfortunate idea has taken hold. There are tiny pockets of resistance because those who resist benefited financially and in social status from alliance with Hussien, are currently being paid very well indeed by his second-in-command to engage in murdering our people, and expect to gain yet again in future. Iraqis themselves are giving up the bad guys to us, but that appears to be conveniently forgotten.
It's quicker and easier to criticize than to gain full understanding. The right to live free is what's at stake here, for all societies which have it and those aspiring to it. There were sloppy pockets of violent resistance right here after the Revolution, too. It took quite some time for the nascent United States to stabilize. The first terrorist attack on the United States was in 1812, when the British burned down the White House. Should we have given up then, as well? I think not. Living free takes work, sacrifice and responsibility. The Iraqis are ready and willing to do what it takes to live free.
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