the apparent swift US victory should once and for all, quiet ALL those people who have second guessed this administration. Reminds me of Jack Nicholson in "a few good men" admonishing Tom Cruise for questioning the manner in which he lives in freedom. These anti-war people should NOT question why they have the luxury of libing in freedom. We'd prefer you just said "thank you". nolan
I don't get your reasoning. Merely registering dissent doesn't imply one doesn't value the liberty one has. Following your logic would mean that all those who opposed the Vietnam war should have left the U.S. Sometimes loving one's own country requires one to be critical; in fact, it may be one's duty to warn that it has gone too far, at least under some circumstances. If patriotism allows no dissent, then we are no better than living in a totalitarian country. The proper attitude is to engage the arguments themselves, i. e., to examine whether this war is just or not, not whether one should be grateful for the freedom one has. That's a different issue. stock.
It could be that the Iraqis really are rolling over, that they really have recognized that we're on their side, and that we really did score a major hit on the leadership - destabilizing it even if we didn't kill SH and his sons. On the other hand, though the early signs do seem good, it's way too early to declare victory - as sweet as a remarkably clean, "boring' victory would be.
There are people who think disagreement is the same as being a dissident. These people are fools, like Gore Vidal amd Noam Choamsky. What if the critics are reflective anti-American?
Agree. That's why we need to look at the arguments themselves, and examine the reasons why people are anti-American instead of merely labeling them as traitors? There are some cases where it'd be shameful to be citizens of one's own country, for example, to be German and to be doing nothing while millions of Jews were perishing in concentration camps. Patriotism is dangerous when one is carried away by delusions of grandeur. stock.
>>The proper attitude is to engage the arguments themselves, i. e., to examine whether this war is just or not<< Yeh, how many of these twits who are demonstrating are able to think for themselves ? In a way it makes me think that people don't deserve the luxury of a democracy. I say this not because they happen to have an outlook opposite mine but because they don't seem to have a brain in their head. Churchill called the Second Worldwar 'the unnecessary war'. As early as 1936 Churchill was telling everyone who stood still long enough to listen 'let us nipp them in the bud before it is too late. Unfortunately there were many people with memories of the horrors of the previous worldwar walking around with badges in their lapel showing a broken gun with the words 'no more war' underneath. As a consequence Churchill was labelled a warmonger. If only those ostriches had been able to see the obvious the horrors of the subsequent worldwar could have been avoided. Now whether these demonstrators then (and now) are or were deaf and blind or whether they were brainless I'll leave to you to decide. freealways
Daschle and others have been saying this is a dark time for america, I say this is a great time for america. We have shown that we have enough backbone to do what is necessary, and at the same time we have shown that we are not bloodthirsty. Lord knows we could have totally destroyed the Iraqi military by now but chose to give them a chance to surrender, even after all deadlines have passed. Some people will continue to wallow in propaganda and resentment, but I think most will simply see the plain truth that we are just doing what needs to be done, and that it was overdue.