Another "I told you so!"
Nov. 20th, 2006 04:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nowalmartOn 20 July 2004, I was IM'ing some thoughts about the war in Iraq. I had these thoughts for several months prior to this, but this is the first time I wrote it down. My thoughts covered not only iRaq, but also Afghanistan, although here I was just mentioned Iraq.
19:36:08 NoWalmart:
Are we safer than we were five years ago? Probably not, and I wish G.W. would admit it. I do not hold that against him, exactly. Terrorism is difficult to stop, just ask the Israelis. They have their entire country behind their actions and they cannot stop terrorism. My question, though, is "Are our actions making us any safer and, if not, is there something better we could be doing to make ourselves safer?"
19:36:47 NoWalmart:
I believe that instead of spending $4 bil a month pissing people off in the Middle East, we could be spending $3 bil a month making friends over there.
...
19:38:54 Peter:
Well, I guess there are two philosophies. You can buy your enemies, or you can obliterate them. Neither strategy will be perfect. If you try to buy them, that will invariably piss some of them off, too.
19:39:32 NoWalmart:
Suppose we had gone into Iraq and spent $4 bil a month building factories and hospitals...
...
19:42:24 NoWalmart:
Instead we go in with tanks and planes, blow the crap out of people (knowing we are bound to kill some innocent people in the process), piss a ton of people off, *and then* we start building hospitals and so on.
In the news today, on 20 November 2006?
"Tony Blair has been urged by the West’s closest Muslim ally in the war on terrorism to change course in Afghanistan and back a “Marshall Plan” to prise the country from the grip of the Taleban."
19:36:08 NoWalmart:
Are we safer than we were five years ago? Probably not, and I wish G.W. would admit it. I do not hold that against him, exactly. Terrorism is difficult to stop, just ask the Israelis. They have their entire country behind their actions and they cannot stop terrorism. My question, though, is "Are our actions making us any safer and, if not, is there something better we could be doing to make ourselves safer?"
19:36:47 NoWalmart:
I believe that instead of spending $4 bil a month pissing people off in the Middle East, we could be spending $3 bil a month making friends over there.
...
19:38:54 Peter:
Well, I guess there are two philosophies. You can buy your enemies, or you can obliterate them. Neither strategy will be perfect. If you try to buy them, that will invariably piss some of them off, too.
19:39:32 NoWalmart:
Suppose we had gone into Iraq and spent $4 bil a month building factories and hospitals...
...
19:42:24 NoWalmart:
Instead we go in with tanks and planes, blow the crap out of people (knowing we are bound to kill some innocent people in the process), piss a ton of people off, *and then* we start building hospitals and so on.
In the news today, on 20 November 2006?
"Tony Blair has been urged by the West’s closest Muslim ally in the war on terrorism to change course in Afghanistan and back a “Marshall Plan” to prise the country from the grip of the Taleban."
