1killercls said:I think we both forget we are dealing with POLITICIANS ...not really a trustworthy crew. Any of them.
There might be one or two trustworthy ones.
1killercls said:I think we both forget we are dealing with POLITICIANS ...not really a trustworthy crew. Any of them.
Donas64 said:Now I've heard it all
Hugo Chavez = Gods Gift to humanity
George Bush = The Devil
And Venezuela = A perfect utopia where all is well, there is no suffering, no corruption and national pride to spare (cuz if you question dear old Hugo publicly you'll suddenly come up missing)
Look I can understand you dislike for Bush. Thats your perogative, but to hold up a character like Hugo Chavez as some kind of paradigm of morality and democracy, well that just shows me exactly where you stand.
1st Gen said:Maybe I should clerify, this is a quote from Wikipedia. I didn't write this.
The central points of Bolivarianism, as extolled by Chvez, are:
2. Grassroots political participation of the population via
popular votes and referenda (participatory democracy).
6. Eliminating corruption.
MinivanHunter said:LOL
political participation? only if it is pro-Chavez, otherwise you end up in prison like Carlos Ortega
his new plan of taking land from people who legally own it and giving it away to others that he knows sort of goes in opposition to #6
Pat Robertson was right in what he said.
MinivanHunter said:Pat Robertson was right in what he said.
Doodsmack said:maybe empire building isn't the right phrase. but its not the war on terrorism. it's overzealous, overconfident americanization. its something beyond saddam's tyranny and potential WMD, this much you have to admit. cold war policies expired in 1989. the war in iraq is poor statecraft, no matter what else it is.
vietnam and iraq have a fundamental similiarity which justifies comparing them. they both involve overzealous american foreign policy. you, 65racecoupe, do not know what the purpose to history is. nor do the cold warriors who impose our way on life on foreign nations. war is a hell of a thing - you should have a clear, necessary reason for entering into it. not somethig vague or flimsy, like ensuring american superiority. american superiority is well-entrenched and unprecedented; you have not established the necessity of expanding it.
Doodsmack said:if saddam was still around, we would still be number one (by far). iran poses no threat of becoming a world superpower.
you're right, there is an enemy out there. an enemy we were victimized by on 9/11. and you know what? it's al qaeda, and other subnational islamic extremists. bush didn't keep his head in the sand - he got too confident and went after them without any caution or prudence. saddam didnt attack us. all middle easterners are not terrorists. if you want to call saddam a terrorist, you are broadening the definition of terrorism as an excuse to justify the war. there is indeed an enemy out there, and he's roaming free because we wasted our resources on another enemy. there are so many more pressing threats than saddam it's ridiculous. all your excuses for the iraq war are tangential to the war on terror, and/or speculative and flimsy.
and you say we aren't expanding our might? are we not establishing a dependant client state in the middle east? conservatives like you and the cold warriors in office are overconfident and unwise.
Doodsmack said:if saddam was still around, we would still be number one (by far). iran poses no threat of becoming a world superpower.
you're right, there is an enemy out there. an enemy we were victimized by on 9/11. and you know what? it's al qaeda, and other subnational islamic extremists. bush didn't keep his head in the sand - he got too confident and went after them without any caution or prudence. saddam didnt attack us. all middle easterners are not terrorists. if you want to call saddam a terrorist, you are broadening the definition of terrorism as an excuse to justify the war. there is indeed an enemy out there, and he's roaming free because we wasted our resources on another enemy. there are so many more pressing threats than saddam it's ridiculous. all your excuses for the iraq war are tangential to the war on terror, and/or speculative and flimsy.
and you say we aren't expanding our might? are we not establishing a dependant client state in the middle east? conservatives like you and the cold warriors in office are overconfident and unwise.
Donas64 said:I don't think that anyone claimed that all middle easterners are terrorists. At least I know that I don't make that claim. There are many decent people in that part of the world just trygin to live their lives and practice their religions in peace only to have it hijacked by a bunch of radicals who are trying to bring them all down.
As for Sadaam Hussein, even though he did have terrorist ties and did fund terrorism, I don't believe he was directly responsible for 9/11 either. Was he the one I would have gone after if I was in charge? Probably not. But am I glad that he is out of power? Most certainly so. Do I think that Iraq will be a beacon for Middleeast stability in the future? Its not guaranteed but I pray and hope so.
My problem with most of the Anti-war movement is that a lot of those in the movement seem invested in Americas defeat. There is a self-loathing, guilt ridden, blame America for EVERYTHING attitude that pervades their opinions that just bothers me. It's all well and good to play monday morning QB but non us us have ever been a president and I don't think we can comprehend the pressure and politiking that goes on in that office. LET ME BE CLEAR: There are some who truly oppose the war for legitimate reasons and I respect them. And then there are some who simply think that America is responsible for all the worlds evils and those people, I have no time for.
My stance on the war is: Iraq was not the best target thats true. But we are there now. Should we examine how we got there? You betcha! It's essential so that we don't make the same mistakes again. But we HAVE done good in that country, there have been free elections, there is a young govt. in place and I think that in the future the country has the possiblity to be better of and an ally in the war against islamic radicals.
But I see that there are Americans who are seeking and hoping for Americas defeat. Who hate that their country is a super power, who refuse to decline that America has been a HUGE force for good in this world and even today continues to do things to help and aid people all over the world. I say that we are there and we should be in it to win it, or the lives of all the men and women who died fighting would have been in vain.
War is hell, good people die, young people die, but even if the target was slightly off the mark, I'm glad America decided not to bury its head in the sand any longer as it has in the past and realized that something has to be done. These people have to be fought. They can't be allowed to spread their terror unopposed.
Sadaam may not have been directly involved in 9/11, but he funded and aided terrorists and he ignored the U.N which made him a valid (if questionable) target.
And I'd like to point out that though overconfidence and a lack of wisdom are not good traits, neither are cowardice or defeatism.
1st Gen said:. New leadership is what I want and I want it 6 years ago.