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#1 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Ásgarðr
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I should point out that I, increasingly, find myself not caring about Iraq, one way or another. Perhaps that is a rather unconventional, but when I read articles like below, I ask myself why I should?
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I would be interested in many of your opinions here. |
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#2 |
Blue Crack Addict
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I've said here (and I think joyfulgirl has as well) that a large segment of the population no longer cares about Iraq or the war there like they used to.
__________________Ultimately it's hard to sustain interest in nation building of this sort. |
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#3 | |
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#4 | |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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Why should we care though? Because it involves the liives of our fellow humans and the deceit and resources of our own nation. |
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#5 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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I think Iraq would go down as the forgotten war, just like Korea. In high school textbooks, there would be a few short paragraphs about it, and that would be all. Those paragraphs would mention the elections of 2004 and 2006, maybe the protests around the world, and that's it.
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#6 |
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I care about the soldiers.
I don't care about the war. I think a lot of people agree with this viewpoint, too. |
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#7 | |
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#8 | |
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Re: Why Should I Care About Iraq?
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than I can understand you "not caring" But I think you should care, as a tax paying American, about our involvement with a country that is making very little progress it costs way too much! Iraqis will or will work things out for themselves, they have different customs, and value systems than we have we can not export "democracy" with payola bribes to warlords |
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#9 | |
Refugee
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Quote:
John McCain has risen from the ashes on the Bhutto assasination and probably from perceived progress in Iraq, which he has been beating the drum on for months and months. It seems that folks see him as an experienced hand foreign policy-wise and it's driving him up in the polls. Maybe folks don't care so much about the war because the headlines haven't been quite so bloody lately (American casualties are down)? |
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#10 |
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I'm not sure quite what range of things you're getting at with the phrase "care about"--perhaps you could elaborate on that a bit.
Feeling at the point of throwing up one's hands in despair as to which forms of political/economic/military engagement from our end would most benefit Iraq's stability at this point, that I can certainly understand--I'd imagine most of us have had our bouts with that many times over by now. Moral ambivalence about whether the likelihood of said benefits materializing justifies the continued cost in American lives, that I can certainly understand too. And yes, more banally, there are also many who are "just plain sick of hearing about it." That said, I also agree with coemgen--much of the violence and instability Iraq is still experiencing (and likely to continue experiencing) developed in direct response to our own country's actions; therefore we collectively bear considerable moral responsibility for that situation and its effects on Iraqis' lives. Unfortunately, that conviction doesn't point to anything very definitive about what the best way to manage that responsibility is, but I do think it obligates us to make our best effort in good faith to arrive at some plan for doing so (one which also takes the sacrifices of our own soldiers, as well as the positions of our allies, into account). More broadly, I also couldn't sign on to any sort of general principle that it's acceptable to dismiss all moral responsibility for the widespread sufferings of a nation or people who in the main hold far more hostile sensibilites than ours towards gays, women, Jews, etc., and among whom a minority of the individuals belonging to said groups have paid with their lives as a result. Unfortunately, our government seldom acknowledges the persecution of gay people in many countries as the existential threat to them that it is, and I do recognize the awful contradictions involved in asserting broader moral responsibilities on the one hand, while on the other treating gay people's situation in particular as if it were purely an 'internal', 'cultural' matter. It's a sick kind of triage, and I don't know that I can think of any non-conditional ethical principle that would explain why you should be willing to accept effectively sanctioning it as a 'side effect' of continued engagement. All I can ask, at the risk of sounding stupidly bleeding-heartish, is that setting aside for a moment the question of what scope and duration of continued occupation of Iraq would be best for stability's sake, are you willing to shrug off the prospect of continued suffering of huge numbers of Iraqi men, women and children due to violent civil unrest on those grounds alone? I couldn't. But I do recognize that neither route will do much of anything for gay Iraqis' welfare in particular. |
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#11 | |
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not to worry. the groundwork has already been laid for a very effective Dolchstosslegende. the Republicans will milk this for decades. |
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#12 |
Rock n' Roll Doggie
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Why should you care about Iraq?
Well, I guess I would say this. I believe Iraq and the possible confrontation with Iran, and combating Al-Qaeda worldwide are the biggest issues facing this country. I don't see what is more important than that. Regardless of your politics, whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, or whether you think we should be there or not, you need to pay attention to what goes on. I'll give that Iraq isn't the most fun or interesting thing to discuss. But it must be discussed. I believe that if there is a war going on, or if there is any cause worldwide where people are constantly losing their lives, it is your responsibility to, at the very least, pay attention to what is going on and try to understand why. Though I support this war, I would much, much rather have someone be against the war than to be indifferent and not care what happens there. But I believe what happens in Iraq will have massive results on America. We can either win in Iraq, gradually leave with our heads held high knowing Iraq can sustain itself, and send a strong message to Al-Qaeda demonstrating that the U.S. cannot be beaten, or we can not do those things, and see what the consequences will be... |
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#13 | |
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#14 | |
ONE
love, blood, life Join Date: Oct 2000
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So who should I root for here? The Alien or the Predator? |
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#15 | |
Refugee
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#16 |
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one can't kill flies with flypaper if the flypaper generates an unlimited number of new flies.
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#17 | |
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#18 | |
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what a great argument against invasion. ![]() indeed, we have made ourselves, and others, less secure. |
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#19 |
ONE
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yeah but melon, don't you see? homosexuals ARE terrorists.
... or on par, anyway. evil, evil people they are. you should know! i mean... don't you KNOW inside that you're evil? auch... all kidding aside, i know what you mean. i don't care about iraq. i really don't. you do realize though, that this makes the american government happy, right? |
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#20 | |
Refugee
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Quote:
The evidence from Iraq based on attacks shows that Al Quada activity is down over the past 6 months. There is much less hard data on recruiting so actual activity is a better metric to use. In any event, anyone inspired to join Al Quada is just as likely to join because of the US occupation in Afghanistan, yet I don't here you calling for withdrawal there or that it was a mistake to invade there. |
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