PD, what I see from history is that war kills people. I see that Switzerland is a prosperous country, with leading medical technologies, and high education, and they have no military at all.
I think we should have a military for defense, but everything we are doing these days is offense.
The US has not learned from its mistakes at all. I find this the saddest thing, and the one reason I have not obtained my US citizenship. I am still a German citizen, only because I disagree with the war-mongering and military emphasis of this country. The American people are too supportive of the military.
The military drains our economy, for it doesn’t produce anything. It wastes GDP, as does buying and selling homes to each other.
The courageous and bright men and women of the military could be more produtive making alternative fuels, than learning combat missions.
As far as defending our border to the South, you’ve got to be making a joke That border is a sieve. Osama bin Laden, when he comes back, will come through the Otay Mesa border.
I think it is good to go after Osama, but why invade an entire country? Rumsfeld is not as smart as people think – he miscalculated the insurgency, and did not send enough troops in the beginning. I’m not for the war, but he promoted it, and he executed poorly. He just checkerboarded the troops all over Iraq to respond to each insurgency outbreak, all the while strenghtening their resolve.
So you believe that others have a small military because they rely on the US when they need? Then please prove your point. When did the US defend the borders of Italy, Germany, Switzerland in response to an invasion on those countries? In recent history, when did anyone try to invade any of those countries? They learned from the world wars, and mind their own business. They do not want to repeat history by meddling in other countries’ foreign affairs.
Just remember that billions are made off war, by US corporations. They are eager for the war to continue.
But the military does not improve the standard of living. It siphons off resources from education social programs, research and development. Without the military, our taxes would be cut in half.
With a smaller and smarter military, I would feel safer. I think that we make enemies by our foreign policy. People like Osama are angry at our meddling in the Middle East, and their attacks are revenge on what we did before.
It’s best to just remain at peace with all nations. We need more negotiators, and fewer fighters, more R&D engineers and less combatants.
I find it ironic that Bush is kiling in the name of God, which is supposed to represent Love. He believes God wants him to fight the war.
PD, again I ask you if you are a military family, or from where comes your strong conviction of the military?
My beliefs just come from being against fighting and war, and a distrust of the reasons that our country goes to war. I constantly feel they lie to me. Iraq is another example. Our President said we need to find WMD, and that was the reason we went to Iraq. But after realizing they were not there, Bush did not apologize or withdraw. He kept on. So what was the real reason for Iraq war?
Bush’s tough-guy stance is primitive. Last month, Bush was still telling Iran that all options are on the table, hinting at nuclear options that could bust underground bunkers. Iran countered with threatening to cut off oil supplies. Fearful that oil disruptions would completely decimate our economy, the US promised that if Iran would stop nuclear production, they would eliminate a decades-old embargo, and would again sell airplanes to Iran. Iran has spent several days considering this proposal, and it shows promise.
So you see, you don’t need primitive cave man brute force, such as weapons and militaries to make deals. You can use your higher functions, your intellect, your productivity (airplanes) and resources (oil) to entice other nations to make deals. This is the way I think we should move toward.
A real foreign relations department will reduce military reliance, and be in the position that other countries want to stay on our good side because they desire our trade, our intelligent designs and products, patents, creativity, etc. This is the high road, and will guarantee prosperity and world peace through our intelligence, not our brute strength.
