Can a US President ever do anything right?
Taking the USA as an entity that will act in it's own interest there are reasons for and against the war in Iraq:
For:
1) Acquire natural resources (oil)
2) Gain a political foothold in the Middle East
3) Liberate oppressed people
4) Show that we will kick ass and take names if someone @#$% with us (Iran, you are next).
Against:
1) Death
2) World image
3) Cost
I don't think we'll know quite for some time whether or not the fors ourweigh the cons. It's a very complex equation that includes opportunity costs of forgoing the benefits of war if we hadn't gone, and measuring the costs of actually having gone to war. I'm not smart enough to know the answer to these questions. I do know I wouldn't have the stomach to make such decisions, thus I won't be running for President anytime soon.
To me, the greatest benefit of the war is that we show we are not to be messed with. Despite their rhetoric, dictators around the world are peeing their pants. Of course this is also the most morally repugnant reason for war as well.
I question whether a good man can be an effective President. I just don't see how a US President can get around sacrificing something to gain something better. If 1 really bad person needs to die, for 10 good, innocent people to live, what decision do you make? How about 100? 1,000,000? How many innocent lives are we willing to sacrifice to save more innocent lives in the future?
It's because of questions like these that I believe US Presidents needs to be respected. They are dealing with issues that have no right answer.
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