What about weapons of mass destruction? Maybe those countries are not that much of a potential threat to the world?
Without a shred of evidence, an Iraq that has had sanctions on it for 10 years after being bombed back to the stone age has technology that threatens the USA?? I really don't think so, and its ironic that none of its neighbors are particularly worried about it either. If its oil, then fine. That is the reason. But I don't want to hear the b.s. about liberating the poor Iraqi's after Madeline Albright felt that over a million Iraqi children dying because of sanctions was acceptable. Its not our job to babysit the world, not force our ideals about government, religion or anything else on a populus. Our job is to make sure they grow up loving McDonalds and Coca cola and further our economic strength. I don't believe in this "White Man's Burden" that has to help the poor, poor Iraquis.
You did not answer my question. I was not talking about liberating the people. I was talking about weapons of mass destruction. You don't need that much technology for that if you are willing to invest a high percentage of your total government expenditures for military purposes.
The problem is that Venezuela doesn't threaten the US support of Israel. Oil would be a good to buy like coffee from Colombia, but oil producing nations are upset that a few million people can have an apartheid state. Why do you think the US has any animosity with the whole Arab-Muslim world?? Israel. A few million people in Israel are creating a problem for the whole world.
I am not Jewish, nor do I have a clear opinion of right and wrong in the conflict. But, I think you probably need to clarify this statement.
The conflict in Israel is creating waves throughout the entire world. It is a root cause of the Iraq War, the Libyan Conflict, our tension with Iran as well as Al-Queda. I believe that Israel does exist and that whether its creation was just or not is in the past. What I do not agree with is its occupation of Palestinian territories and the treatment of these people. Nelson Mandela called it apartheid, and I am inclined to agree with him seeing how he would know. I have been consistently vocal of my disgust with the dictatorial regimes in the Middle East and the muslim world, but feel the US's unwavering support of Israel is something that must be questioned by Americans just as I question their support of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Today, in South Korea! Not North Korea, they are burning US flags and resenting the 37,000 troops we have there to hold off the North Korean army. Why are we involved in this, I don't know. The British Empire, Roman Empire and the Ottoman empire all crumbled because they lacked focus on their economies and became too involved with international wars and defense budgets.
But Israel is not a dictatorial regime, it's a democracy. The people there actually have rights, unlike the people under the Palestinian Authrority or any other Arab government. Morally, I can't understand why people compare Israel to apartheid. The last Israeli Prime Minister made a hard push for peace. Before that there were the Oslo agreements which transferred more authority to Arafat. (What a disaster that was). The people there have voted for peace, they have peace movements like in any other democracy. (How many peace protests are there in the Palestinian areas?) So you may disagree with what Israel does, but to equate them with dictatorships or apartheid is simply wring.
Who new that huge oil reserves were actually "weapons of mass destruction"? Just like the war in 1990, this one is about oil, only this time it's coupled with the fact that Bush can't find Osama Bin Laden and wants Americans to forget that fact. This pResident is a disgrace.
Oh My God!! You mean this is all about OIL??? well, well, you could knock me over with a feather(or a scud)...
Looks like the French, Russians and even the Germans got a hold of this news... http://www.iht.com/articles/82311.html In summary, the article says that France and Russia were indeed greedy sons of b****es who now agree Saddam is going to be taken down (gasp!! he is a bad guy!!) and that they also want a part of the oil that people around the world thought that "Bush and his energy pals" were eying. The Germans who were tucking the legs behind their tail after a brief period in the American doghouse also want a cut in the oil... I mean "peacekeeping" too.
Not the most unbiased post there, FD, unless you are including the Palestinians in the occupied territories as part of your 'few million people in Israel'. It should have been 'A few million people in the Middle East'. Just like there is a group of Israeli's that always thought that ALL of the occupied lands and Jerusalem belong to Jews, there are a lot of Arabs who have always been determined to destroy Israel.
They are burning flags out of protest for the soldiers who were not charged (or found innocent) in the accidental death of 2 girls hit by their vehicle, although I think they have some other gripes too. From what I read, the S. Koreans may have gripes but still want our troops there, although I feel like you do and maybe it's time to let the S. Koreans deal with the situation themselves. I don't see any reason to keep the troops there if the locals aren't too excited about us being there, and I couldn't give a damn about the ol' Cold War 'sphere's of influence' anymore, and that would be the only reason to stay under the circumstances. I'm sure Japan would be willing to finance the S. Korean army if they are worried about any instability if we left.
Or the Japanese can build some nukes of their own... Remember those Marines in Japan that raped a little girl? There were anti-American protests too. These waves of anti-Americanism always seem cyclical and erupt when some moron soldier(s) does something horrific. The S. Koreans are divided on this issue, and it's held in the generation gap. The younger generation is 100% optimistic for peace through diplomacy. The older generation knows better. The optimism dies when nukes in N. Korea are confirmed and launched.
I imagine the concept would be horrifically repugnant to them. In addition, I wonder if they signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and if it would also violate their constitution.
As repugnant as it sounds to them, their government muses about editing that part out of their constitution (with a loophole) or even throwing it out and millitarizing if worse comes to worse... The Non-Proliferation Treaty is set up so that you can walk out if you give some notice beforehand. Japan is said to be able to make a working nuke in 3 months. S. Korea in 6. 50 years is a long time to some. They will remember the numbers more than the faces, and having a nuke pointed at you with no cover from the US is something else.
The problem is that when a state is a Theocracy ( a religious based state ) it is impossible to be a democracy. If you are Israeli you have many rights by birth, versus if you are Palestinian, you do not. This is a dire contradiction to democracy or free will of ALL people. It is a just comparison to South Africa in which if you were born white (Israeli) you had all the rights versus if you were born black (palestinian) you had very few. A state that only wants the Jewish faith. How different is that from any country that wants only "Their" race in their country. The KKK only wants white anglo-saxon protestants in the US, Milosevic only wanted ethic Serbian eastern orthodox christians in his country. To give lesser rights to an individual based on what womb they came from is wrong. Until the situation is resolved, this will continue. The last man that truly strived for Peace, Ex Prime Minister Rabin was gunned down by a jewish extremist. Now there is a war-monger in Sharon and a dictator and powerless pawn in his own sense in Arafat.
so iraq is more of a threat than north korea??!! especilly now they are trying to make nuclear weapoons , and china have weapoons of mass destrution n running by a evil communism goventment in amercan' s eye why not attack them n help them build a new democratic governemt ???!!!! no other reason but oil, bush I&II hate saddam and iraq is weak now!!!
the problem is democracy is not solution to all places in china need a stable environment now rather than politcal reform sames goes to other countries in middle east , and most importantly it is the american belief that democracy is the best form of govenment doesnt mean others like the arab believe the same system as u do , so american shouldnt force them or saying their governmet is wrong becuz they are not democratic , it is different cultures with different beliefs , some of those countries were rule by their kings for thosuands of years n they are happy n loyal about it. others people have different beliefs of value so not all peoples have the same standard !! the situation in isreal worry me the most , killing each others is not an solution , isreal after a suicde attack they retaliate than the palasetine terrorist do more suicde bombing . that is the biggest real problem of the world!!!
