quote:

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Originally posted by Hawkeye:
Amazing to me how quickly some people forget.

For the families of those that perished the
horror will never be forgotten. I recall vividly
in the days after 9 - 11 how everyone wanted
revenge, justice, whatever you want to call it.

Bush could have nuked several countries at that
time and people would have cheered. Instead he
has taken a more precise approach and in doing
so spared innocent lives over there, but the
cost was high in terms of U.S. led coalition
lives.

Now, I hear lots of arm chair quarterbacks
questioning the sanity of going there in the first place - oh how quickly we forget - till
it happens again!

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Very true
 

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Posted by agmSS (Member # 853) on :
 


Personally, I think it's about dang time people started seeing it like it is. Sure, it's pretty repulsive and despicible, but then again, so are the vermin bent on killing us.

There's been tremendous outrage at what happened in the Iraqi prisons, and rightfully so, we're not there to do that stuff. I can't believe how incredibly stupid those soldiers were, not only to have carried out those acts, but also to have been dumb enough to provide photographic evidence. They've set back our mission significantly. However that sense of outrage over the prison abuses just begs the question of where it was when our civilians were being butchered and hung like trophies from bridges while vermin looked on and cheered. Or where was the outrage when innocent men women and children were being gassed and slaughtered by the thousands under a tyrant's rule? Where is the outrage over these militia's targeting civilian leaders and authorities who are tyring to rebuild their country and establish a government at peace with its neighbors? Where is the outrage over an oil-for-food program being used to line the pockets of its administrators rather than service the people it was intended to benefit? The hypocrisy of silence from the leadership in the Islamic community, our own liberal media, and other nations in the world is shameful.

Many have sighted the Geneva Conventions in this war. I would argue that in this war, they really are obsolete. I say that because they were created in a time when men faced each other on the field of battle in honorable combat. We don't target civilian centers when we wage war. It's frustrating when our enemies hide their soldiers and their weapons, and do their plotting and strategizing in hospitals, schools, and mosques because we respect those structures and their cultural and social value, and we respect and try to safeguard the innocent civilians who have no voice in these cowardly choices. We hold ourselves to standards of conduct that our enemies do not embrace. I don't believe in torture for the sadistic pleasure of being able to inflict it. Our brave soldiers suffered and endured that as POW's against the Japanese and in Vietnam. However, when you have an enemy plotting major attacks against your civilian population centers with the desired outcome of inflicting mass fatalities and destruction, it becomes more gray and torture beomes a legitimate tool to extract the information necessary to prevent such an attack. This is not honorable combat between militaries on the field of battle, it is the mass murder of innocent non-combatants on a horrific scale.

Our greatest weakness is our forgetfulness. We need reminders from time to time of what we are dealing with. Many people just don't get it that we're truly in a war against an enemy that not only wants to destroy our way of life, but also our very right to be alive and exist in the world. They do not share our regard for the sanctity of human life and celebrate the slaughter of innocents as great victories. And to add insult to injury, they twist and pervert a religion and claim it is all in the service of that faith.

Whether you agree with the President or not, like him or not, it's tough to argue against the fact that as long as we're taking the fight to them and have them running for their lives and hiding in caves, it leaves them a whole heck of a lot less time to be attacking us. Every dog has his day, and sooner, I think, rather than later, we're going to get them. The President never promised a quick and easy win, in fact, just the opposite. Have we made some mistakes along the way? Unquestionably, yes. We cannot forget however, who and what we're up against and the sooner people stop looking at this through their PC, I'm OK, you're OK, can't we all just get along, rose-colored glasses, the better off we'll be. If they break our will to see it through, we're in big trouble.

Sorry if this comes across as a rant, but I truly feel that we need pay attention and always keep in mind the nature of the enemy we are at war with.
 

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Posted by mattp (Member # 2140) on :
 
WOW, dead on.
 

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Posted by Hawkeye (Member # 88) on :
 
ditto - just keep reminding everyone - it's
way too easy to forget and move on with our
lives, till someone tries again.
 

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Posted by FireChicken (Member # 2067) on :
 
Wow. Thank you for posting that, its awesome.
 

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Posted by DGOETZ (Member # 1846) on :
 
The truth is hard for many to take.

People will go in droves to the movies to see Good overcoming evil only to walk outside and turn away from a mugging.

Sprout a pair people and stand up for your way of life...because your enemy is coming to take it from you.
 

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