For every decision – big or small – there will be dissenters. There will be people who agree and those who don’t. The constant obligations, the tremendous amount of information, the unflinching eye of the media – it would wear anyone down.

If asked, I would serve, but it isn’t something I would take on optimistically.

Press releases by Arab dictators for the benefit of the Western media are not a “basis for negotiations”. Was that the one that happened the same week the Saudis published an article in their state-controlled newspaper that Jews use the blood of children in their religious rituals?

When an Arab leader makes a *real* gesture of peace towards Israel, it’s pretty damn obvious. Anwar Sadat was welcomed with open arms by an Israel under Likud rule, while his Arab “brothers” ostracized him and then put a bullet through his head for his trouble. You are psychologically and pathologically committed to blaming it all on the Joooos, even though the history is overwhelmingly to the contrary.

It’s not true, but to the extent that the situation leans that way, we can think appeasement like yours.

If I seem to need meds… well, the next time something like the twin towers happens, I hold you partially responsible. You didn’t bring them down. You just worked hard to see that no one did anything effective to prevent it. You kind of “rationality” would drive anyone to drink–anyone that truly cared about anyone else.

That was something Clinton did several times during his administration, it was not all hearts and flowers before Bush came along.

This is a brief excerpt:

Now, let’s imagine the future. What if he fails to comply, and we fail to act, or we take some ambiguous third route which gives him yet more opportunities to develop this program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of the sanctions and continue to ignore the solemn commitments that he made?

Well, he will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on and do more to rebuild an arsenal of devastating destruction.

And some day, some way, I guarantee you, he’ll use the arsenal. And I think every one of you who’s really worked on this for any length of time believes that, too.

Now Clinton made this speech about 3 and a half years before Bush made a speech saying much the same thing before the UN General Assembly in September 2002.

You do not know what you are talking about.We did not make terrorism worse by fighting terrorists. That is like saying that after FDR decided to respond to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese killed more Americans.

Your contention seems to be that if we caved to Saddam, let him defy the UN, shoot at our planes, exterminate the Kurds and in general thumb in his nose at the world while he slaughtered his people that somehow or other that would have been a blow to terrorism. yeah right.

That is the kind of thinking that helped bring down the Towers. It is the ignore them and they will go away mindset.

They did not go away. We did not create the enemy by fighting him, we just stopped pretending he did not exists.

I am sick of hearing about the phantom WMD. The Democrats who are still making an issue of that were every bit as responsible for that intel as the Bush administration and unlike the Bush administration have as of yet taken no responsibility whatsoever for their own mistakes.Typical.

As far as that is concerned if not for the war people would still think the weapons were there. Just like most people would still think the UN did not turn the oil for food program into a farce.

In fact, left to his own devices Saddam would undoubtedly have rebuilt his stockpiles with the money he pilfered from a sanctions program that was supposed to restrain him from building weapons. No one seriously doubts he intended to do just that. And then what?

The inability of people such as yourself to see that basic simple reality is stunning.

I don’t want to see anyone else get killed, but the people we are going after are the sort of people who do kill Americans as well as the civilians our military has sworn to protect.

I think it is interesting that the same people who never tire of treating our military like monsters all of a sudden get concerned about their welfare. They are either victims or victimizers to people like you markus. They are never professionals who want to finish what they started and who do not want to be sent home labelled as losers by a lot of folks who could care less about them.

Now the Bush plan also calls for 18 Kurdish brigades to be sent to Baghdad to reinforce the coalition, so it is not just about us.No western city would tolerate this level of violence and there is no reason why these people should have to either.

If we fail here, our word will mean nothing. The morale of our military will be damaged and they will not be safe anywhere. After all, why not kill Americans..what are they going to do about it anyway? run away, that is their speciality.

So no markus, I do not want to prove Osama Bin Laden right. I do not want to prove that Americans will run away when it gets hard and I do not want to forget or ignore or render useless the sacrifices made by our military men and women. They deserve better.

BTW, only 15% of the population wants to jerk their troops out of there. 39% want to give it at least a year. 31% as long as it takes, etc. There is no strong majority opinion unless you asks the question, Do you want to win? And then overwhelingly people say yes.

The anti war people have worn out the rest of the county. No doubt a lot of people just want it over, me included. I would like to never have to hear another snarky obnoxious preachy sermon from some lefty again as long as I lived and a lot of other people feel the same way.

They think that if and when the war ends, people like Sheehan and Moore and their ilk will vanish and that will be a good thing. I can’t blame them for that.

America is not defeated in Iraq until it leaves Iraq. Too bad most Americans can’t see that.

Steven, you’re unhinged. There is no RATIONAL basis for any of this. Take your meds, and think clearly. Operation Iraqi Freedom, and its aftermath, has strengthened Islamo-fascism, not weakened it. By any objective measure, the various ideologies are stronger, more popular, and less internally divided in 2007 than they were five years ago.

Markus, I could write a long explanation, but I’ll cut to the chase. War is not the worst thing that can happen to people. If we don’t fight it, when and where we can, we’ll experience more thing like the twin towers. It’s interesting that the dark ages have been invoked recently here. Because it boils down to this: You are either for civilization or you are not. You objectively are not, even as you enjoy the fruits and carp about harder and better men than yourself.

So take your crocodile tears above, and drown in them.