If you had a son who enlisted in the marines

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

The poll is bullshit. It presumes that the life of a soldier dying in Iraq was wasted but one dying in France or the Philipines was not. I'd be equally proud of sons dying in either context, and revere them, and be equally proud of them for going to fight. America is worth dying for anyplace anytime. Stick your poll, waters, it's offensive. Go vote Obama, you're kindred souls.

I was actually with you until the last sentence.

[Tex]

Originally Posted by Cali Coug

I was actually with you until the last sentence.

Right. Obama, the warhawk.

[DJRoss]

Originally Posted by Tex

Right. Obama, the warhawk.

Did you say Chickenhawk?

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by Tex

Right. Obama, the warhawk.

You don't have to be a warhawk to appreciate the sacrifice of American troops.

[woot]

Originally Posted by DJRoss

Guard. I have served and so has my father (served 3 tours of duty in Nam). So the answer to the question is serving your country whether you die or not is always worth it. Until they change the Articles of Faith, and until the priesthood has been wiped off the face of the earth or Christ comes again the issue is not about dying. It is about honoring the commitment you made when you entered active duty. Dying is always a risk war or no war, and dying fighting in Iraq is at least better than dying in a car accident. Why? Because there was a purpose behind your death.

Same old "All wars are worth fighting" and "war for its own sake is a good cause" bullshit. I reckon this sentiment will disappear as soon as a democrat decides to bomb somebody.

[MikeWaters]

Bush sends the soldiers out, and they sacrifice their lives. But the given reason for why they must make this sacrifice keeps changing.

What exactly is the purpose of this sacrifice? If I am to believe VistaMitt, it is to fight Al Qaeda. Sorry, I just don't buy it.

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by woot

Same old "All wars are worth fighting" and "war for its own sake is a good cause" bullshit. I reckon this sentiment will disappear as soon as a democrat decides to bomb somebody.

Remember the GOP during the Kosovo thing with Clinton? Remember GOPs proclamation, no peace keeping, no national building?

I fear if a democrat is elected, he or she might try to flex his/her muscles, just to get some street cred.

[DJRoss]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Remember the GOP during the Kosovo thing with Clinton? Remember GOPs proclamation, no peace keeping, no national building?

I fear if a democrat is elected, he or she might try to flex his/her muscles, just to get some street cred.

Yeah I remember. I was living in Europe at the time, and got to see first hand the wreakage that was his bone headed foray into that fiasco. We had to handle the fallout of:

1. Islamic radicals literally destroying entire villages along the Albanian countryside because Clinton mistakenly fell for their stories of how they were being mistreated. (Word to the wise, you might want to do a little due diligence before allowing one group carte blanche over a country in turmoil.

2. UN forces using abandoned buildings as brothels where they held captive prepubescent Albanian girls who survived the Islamic destruction of their families.

3. A total failure to understand the cultural connections between ancient nations, and foes and the roll they played in the what transpired.

4. Another half-assed effort on the part of the US to get the job done. (If you are going to stick your nose in like that, you better be prepared to either finish the job and do it right, or make a mess of things by pawing at it like a geriatric fruit with arthritis)

The GOP should have focused on what the real issues were. The nation building mantra was crap, point blank. The lack of understanding the political and cultural ramifications of what transpired during the breakup of the former Yugoslavian Republic as well as Albania, Moldovia, Macedonia, etc is what creates these global Bravo Foxtrots.

[MikeWaters]

Wow, DJRoss, it's a good thing that the USA has never completely misunderstood a culture while fighting a war and rebuilding a country. Glad that hasn't happened since Kosovo.

[SeattleUte]

Waters, query: Why did Lincoln want to soldier on in the Civil War as he was trailing in the polls to Obama, er, I mean McClellan who was preaching immediate capitulation to the South?

(Caveat: I'm not claiming to have the answers. I just think that saying pull out asap and honor and prestige be damned may be too facile, especially for someone with limited foreign policy experience.)