Some of my Muslim friends have mentioned how it's strange that people change their profile pictures to support France, but not one changes their profile picture when the attack happened in Lebanon a few days early. There is this idea that western lives still matter more than people in the 3rd world. You can have a war and thousands of children can die because their lives don't seem worth as much - and that is part of the reason many Muslims feel torn because while they may feel that what happened in France is horrible and it is, what about the horrors that are perpetrated against Muslims by both ISIS and the West??? It's as if there is this idea that Muslims are responsible for ISIS and Saddam and that their deaths are not innocent.
More likely 1.) Majority of people (at least Americans) don't follow the news as much as some others for whatever reason whether it be ignorance or simply just focusing more on other things like living their life. 2.) And even if you do follow the news casually, you still may not see it, since the media doesn't cover terrorist acts in Muslim countries nearly as much. 3.) And even if you did see the news, terrorist acts in non-Western countries are such a regular occurrence you may have become number to it over time. 4.) And lastly, the obvious one. Terrorist acts in non-Western countries don't hit as close to home, because they're harder to relate to, and thus invoke a less emotional reaction. I think those four reasons play a much bigger part than the reason you posted, even though I'm sure it has some merit in certain circles.
You know you are finished when the state is strong enough to stand on its own and are prosperous enough to ward off extremism. That said, you'd probably want to keep a permanent base there anyway just in case much like has been done everywhere the US has ever gone to war.
I'd be for it as opposed to making the situation a disaster by leaving. Also, there is PLENTY of BS that can be cut from the budget to make it to where you don't have to raise taxes all that much if at all. Even without the war the budget needs to be completely overhauled.
Everyone is a deficit hawk when it comes to cutting things they don't like. That's my point. If Bernie Sanders said he believed in small government, except for a single-payer medical plan, free tuition, and expanding social security, it wouldn't be any more absurd than some of the things many "small government" hawks in Congress have said in the last 40 years. War is expensive, especially when you outsource much of it to publicly traded companies that have to deliver shareholder value.
Yes, war is expensive, but if you are running the government in a fiscally responsible manner, it can be afforded when necessary. Right now spending is completely out of control due to free spending Democrats AND Republicans. Of course that's a separate issue.
The (second) Iraq war is said to cost $2,000,000,000,000 already. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/14/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314 That's over $6000 per American. Start making those budget cuts!
So what's the budget, who is paying? Are you going to bring the VA up to the Windows Vista level? What's the scenario where a Muslim culture adopts western ways? The place is more full of weaponry than Chicago and we can't even stop the carnage within our own major city. And we can't even hold Turkey, it's a freaking NATO country. Give it up Bobby, we can't save them with US troops and we never could. It's just the reality. Let go of the guilt man.
I remember how so many questioned Bush the Elder and James Baker leaving Saddam in power after the first Gulf War...
I accept that you don't understand how it could be done, but that in no way means that it cannot be done. Does the VA need an overhaul? Of course, but you could overhaul the VA and save money in the long run, there is WAY too much waste going on there and elsewhere. Entire government agencies should be completely removed. Cuts should be made almost across the board in order to pay down the debt and put the US in a stronger financial position. You could cut spending from damn near every government program, including the military, while paying for forces to remain in Iraq for security AND pay down the debt all without significantly raising taxes. It just takes a different way of looking at government in order to realize what can be done. Hell, if we payed down the debt the US owes it would save over 220 billion a year in interest payments....220 billion a year would be 2.6 trillion dollars over the 12 years we've been in Iraq. Iraq however hasn't cost 2.6 trillion meaning that a war in Iraq is significantly cheaper than the current out of control spending.....and that out of control spending can not be blamed on Iraq.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-iraq-war-by-numbers-2014-6?op=1 lol at now removing "entire government agencies" and cutting social services to fund a nation-building project in Iraq (???). um...why? What has the Iraqi war done that a fruit vendor in Tunisia couldn't?
It would be an investment in the region that IMO would pay off over time. A stable, prosperous Iraq would go a long way towards stabilizing the region which, again IMO is worth it. I think you spend a lot more on wars in the region if it remains a mess. A success story could do a whole lot of good. As to cutting those programs, I wouldn't be doing so in order to fund activities in Iraq, I'd cut them permanently, it would just a step towards more fiscally responsible spending. Even using your numbers of 1.7 trillion over 10 years, that comes out to 170 billion, the US pays considerably more in interest every year due to borrowing ridiculous amounts of money to fund an out of control budget....and you can't blame that on Iraq because looking at the budget that's just a drop in the bucket.
The amount of money America paid for the Iraqi War (not counting the debt it took on as well as the interest payments due) is enough to pay for college for 70 million Americans for a year. but no, "What could your government do if war is peace guys? have faith!" lol
um, again, how is the Iraqi war a better result than what one fruit vendor in Tunisia managed? You know, minus the 500,000 deaths, the democracy that kowtows to Iran, the torture/death squads America had to employ, and the 8 trillion dollar spend. A success story that did a lot of good, eh? Why didn't America just put 8 trillion dollars in a Pixar movie, it would've been better ROI.
Also, factor in that one terrorist attack on 9-11 cost 178 billion dollars when only counting economic impact and physical damage. Terrorism can very quickly become more expensive than war.
We didn't get a success story because things were mismanaged at the end. If we actually had a success story then that would be something. Since Bush and Obama combined to completely blunder the situation in Iraq all we have is wasted money.....but it didn't have to be that way.
You didn't even come close to answering my question. Even if it was a "success story", how is the "ideal" Iraqi war a better result than what one fruit vendor in Tunisia managed?
yeah, especially if that war didn't even stop terrorism and actually encouraged terrorists to flock to Iraq.
