This one looks like fun...
dham: Your emotions are understandable, but the emotions as a whole in this crisis are what will break us or make us stand tall as a nation.
I don't think taking out the base in Afghanistan is going to necessarily relieve the problem. al-Qaeda is set up in what? 65 countries? It's going to take more than going into Afghanistan to stop al-Qaeda. We're seeing progress in the arrests made, particularly Germany. But when you have others beyond bin Laden that are funneling money into this organization, then you have a whole other issue. The easiest solutions seem to be pulling out of Saudi Arabia and withdrawing support for Israel. The former is possible, but the latter will NEVER happen. And even if we did that, I'm sure there would still be someone out there with a beef against the United States. This is just one organization...there are so many more out there. Hell, for all we know, the British could renew emotions about losing us 225 years ago...
Jag: You HAVE been slagging on the States an awful lot lately. Granted, the US DOES f**k up. But at the same, we DO help other nations. I don't know if it's measurable, but I'd say in the end, there's been more good than harm. Jesus Christ, we're not necessarily the world's punching bag. The blood is not just on one person's hands. Germany probably could have taken all of Europe during WW1 if not for the US. Besides, our head of state is not a Queen here (ceremonial or not).
Let up a bit, will ya?
The estimated number of Japanese civilians killed in the atomic bombs is about 250,000. They were absolutely horrible...but I don't blame the US for using them one bit. It was wartime.
I worry about one of my reps at work. His father works for an American company at their Jakarta offices. His father and mother have not been able to leave their apartment in the past few weeks. In the event that things go absolutely nuts, they have plans to flee. I can't imagine a society where I would have to live in true fear such as that.