America only goes to war with nations of strategic importance. Assurances of only moral consequence are nothing but empty promises meant to rally a gullible public. War on N Korea?? Sure. Bush doesn't have the balls, budget or troops. Theres not much that can be done.
Would you say Karl Rove was the mastermind behind this latest bit of corrupt political maneuvering to prolong the repugliklan hegemony?
I don't know if I agree. It prompts the Bush administration to follow through with 'consistency' and wage another war - considering such a big 'threat' WMD are? And a 2nd military action for the US military won't be very popular either. Furthermore, NK doing this only makes the Bush administration look like a failed attempt at diplomacy. Remember the debates? Kerry: 'I believe the largest threat to the US going forward is NK...'. Bush.. 'er, whatever he says.. I support multilateral negotation...' (in other words, let China and Japan deal)
What do you know about character? Not much! I am the same person, no matter who's around. I am true to myself. The japanese were fucking brutal.....go check the history yourself. Read the accounts from former american POW's regarding their treatment. Read about their (the japs)slaughter of millions of chinese. They were not going to be stopped, and faced with the decision of losing 2 million or more americans, we decided to make a quick and decisive end to the war. We did what it takes. War is war, and when in it you do what it takes to win the war and make some other poor bastard die for his country. We didn't start it, but we put an end to it, and I have no problem with that decision. That says nothing about my character, only cues you into my beliefs. Congrats, you bought a condo, and have 10k in a tradestation account. Very impressive. Like I said, you are better off today then 4 years ago and you have Bush to thank for it. You are safer today, then 4 years ago, you have Bush to thank for it. I suggest you stop worrying so much about what others think. And realize that we are a force for good in the world, and no matter what we do we get shit upon.
1) I never said the Japanese weren't brutal during WWII and did not commit unspeakable atrocities. And I never even criticized our response to it. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures. That still doesn't take away from my disdain at the enthusiasm you suggested for nuking so many Japanese civilians. It was in poor taste. 2) I am not better off for Bush's policies. Just because my house is worth more in dollars (which will probably be short lived anyway), it costs double to buy food, etc. etc. The dollar's (as well as other world currencies) purchasing power has eroded from the injection of TOO MUCH liquidity and TOO MUCH debt into the markets. So what if I have have more dollars when they effectively buy less? 3) I'm not safer today, and I definately live in a fearful society that is truely MORE miserable than ever. In fact, now kids (in my family at least) at 5 yrs old in school are being taught to fear terrorists.. Do you honestly think this knowledge has any practical use for them when they aren't yet capable of understanding the whole story? Whats next? Should all of the white kids be taught to watch out for those scary dark people in turbins who hold western economies hostage with expensive oil and calls of Jihad? How about a kidnapping warning system targeting muslim men in the 20s-30s? Its a little hyberbole, but not far from the truth.
For those whom advocate the proliferation of nuclear weapons, I recommend checking out The Nuclear Weapon Effects Calculator. Start by comparing a Nagasaki sized nuke (20 kilotons) to today's modern (50 megaton and larger) sized weapons. (The calculator max's out at 4 megatons). Note: The calculator only considers immediate effects - blast radius, etc. It does not consider the longer term human and environmental effects of high radiation levels unleashed by these weapons. Comparing Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the power of modern day nuclear weapons, cheapens the horrific devastation these weapons can cause. - Spydertrader