> > Don't get me wrong. I respect the men and women who risk their lives over there. I think that they are incredibly, incredibly brave. But I think it's stupid that they have to die in a war that we shouldn't have gotten into in the first place. You reference Vietnam. It's a good parallel to draw. Vietnam and Iraq are both pointless wars in which tens of thousands of people died (or are dying) for no good reason but from which we cannot now extract ourselves. Both of them were started, not for noble reasons, but because people were frightened of some nebulous threat -- Communism in Vietnam (right? -- I hope I'm remembering my history correctly here), terrorists in Iraq -- that couldn't really be effectively addressed by attacking the country because it is a phenomenon that is not centered in any one country.
> >
> > ~Chrysan"sorry -- blowing off steam"themum~
>
> So you think that a system which has killed tens of millions of people is a nebulous threat? I'd sure hate to find out what you consider to be a clear-cut threat. As far as terrorism goes, I doubt that the New Yorkers who used to be able to see the World Trade Center would agree with you.

I didn't mean that it wasn't a clear-cut threat. I acknowledge that terrorism is a serious problem that has killed a whole lot of people. What I was trying to say is that terrorists and terrorist organizations are not easy to pin down. Kill or capture one leader, another takes his place. It's hard to figure out who they are -- or even where they are, since they cross international boundaries. All this is compounded because they're (obviously) secretive organizations.

~Chrysan"should stop posting at 9 am"themum~