Войска ПВО, you are indeed disrespectful. I served 2 tours of Iraq, 2 tours of the Balkans, 1 of Sierra Leone and several of Northern Ireland. 31 years in total. And I lost a fair few friends to whichever enemy we were fighting along the way.
Now YOU drop and give ME 20.
Seriously, I enjoy the blooming debate. What I don’t enjoy is the thought of an America so completely polarised its citizens seem incapable of balanced argument (even amongst themselves) without petulant mud slinging.
Terry Gain: “They can’t even work up the courage to fight the enemies within”…..Like Saddam did? Hitler? Should we throw up some concentration camps for our 5M (voting) Muslim minority? We’ve made similar mistakes before and paid the price accordingly.
And: “Only the completely clueless could believe that dirt rich Afghanistan is more important than oil-rich Iraq, Afghanistan is a Stone Age country. Iraq has the capacity to become a modern country.” It was a modern country, in terms of infrastructure and its’ oil industry. What it will become is at least 2 separate countries (incl Kurdistan) possibly 3 post a civil war. At least 1 will become a theocracy closely aligned to Iran. Women might be able to vote there now, but what about when we’ve left? For how long? (I guess you can blame the ‘pansie’ Brits for that, right?) Whither then the grand American victory and a safer World?
Stars and Stripes: Iraq was a relatively easy target – ostracised by the rest of the World and almost wholly incapable of any realistic defence against the greatest military force the World has seen. Saddam may have been a tyrant and was undoubtedly guilty of most if not all of the crimes you articulate. But the War was not sanctioned by the UN and America’s aims not understood by your European friends. And you wouldn’t wait or explain….”With us or against us…”
And what then, of North Korea? Happy to exercise ‘soft power’ on that one AlexinCT? Picking and choosing your targets may be a benefit of being the only World super-power and let’s face it, no one could stop you. But US foreign policy has been inconsistent under Bush to say the least. And Stars and Stripes: “Last time I checked we were the ones that lost those people at the WTC” – With all respect, heartily felt and meant, you’re really not the only ones to lose countrymen at the hands of terrorists (and I’m not going to enter into some Top Trumps crap over how many European countries have lost however many lives over the last 40 years..) And last I checked, there were approximately 120 Brits in those towers on that fateful day…And last I checked, we didn’t bomb the crap out of the Republic of Ireland over any IRA atrocity. Because there was never any evidence that the Republic’s government had anything to do with any of them.
I truly admire and respect America. I know your soldiers. I have fought alongside them (none of whom have ever offered anything but friendship and respect for us, as we have for them, Terry Gain) I know nothing much about Obama other than he symbolises a great deal of hope, if not for you Republicans in the US then at least for most of the rest of the World. And that’s all I inferred.
