Charlie Foxtrot | The Source Weekly - Bend, Oregon

Member since Aug 14, 2006

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  • Posted by:
    Charlie Foxtrot on 08/14/2006 at 3:57 PM
    I would like Mr. Axmaster to answer a few questions: What evidence is there that any of the terrorists hate us merely because we are "American," "prosperous" or have "freedoms?" I grant you that there is no question that many are driven by religious intolerance and perversion, a problem that afflicts nearly all religions. Don't you find it interesting that most of the evil in the world has been done in God's name? Don't you think that terrorism is more often driven by the fact that the Palestinians have been denied a viable state for over 80 years, and more recently, that 130,000 Iraqis have died in (and tens of thousands have suffered grievous injuries) as a consequence of our presence? The most often offered justification for "staying the course" is that we "don't want to leave Iraq worse than we found it." The fact is that Iraq is worse now than it was in March 2003. The various Sunni and Shi'a militias are doing more damage as Saddam's henchmen. The infrastructure is in worse condition now than it was then. And the people's security is in far worse shape than it was then, even though they then lived under an unquestionably ruthless and repressive dictator. Are things getting better? There doesn't seem to be much evidence of that. Granted, some good things have happened but on balance, which is the only way these things can be judged, things are much worse. And if things are getting worse why should we want to stay? If we as a nation are unwilling to make the commitment and pay the full price to make things better then we have the obligation to get out; to "cut and run" as the name-callers put it. Since when does any nation have any right to placate a national ego (which in this case is GWB's) at the expense of others? When the Bush administrati0on demanded a war plan from CentCom it was told it would take 400,000 troops, not to beat the Iraqi army, but to secure peace. CentCom was right. If you really think we ought to be there then you ought to be willing to send another 250,000 troops and be willing to pay for it out of current income, not deficit financing.