Quote:
Originally posted by Mazer
Here's my question: if defending ourselves from terrorists only causes more terrorism, should we try negotiating with them instead? I think we're already doing what needs to be done, but if everyone else thing's what we're doing is wrong then what should we be doing instead?
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defending ourselves from terrorists isn't the source of the problem and negotiating with terrorists is not an option. unfortunately, we're locked into the Iraq gig, which much of the world regards as a departure from the war on terrorism.
in retrospect, i thought the invasion of Afghanistan was absolutetly the correct thing to do...but i wish we had applied the resources we have in Iraq to Afghanistan to disarm the country, find the bad guys, and set that country right. instead, we left the job half-finished, completely squandered the good will and political capital we gained from 9/11 by invading Iraq, and managed to become regarded by the majority of the planet as the most threatening nation on earth.
as a result, we no longer have the moral authority to tell countries like Spain what they oughta be doing, we no longer have the political capital to influence the actions of other nations, and we have given the world ample reason to breed new terrorists.
we can't undo the mess we've created - we're gonna have to see it through and slog on. the job in Iraq has to be finished, no doubt about it...but it's been a costly diversion from the war on terrorism that's gonna take years to overcome.