Quote Originally Posted by se7en
regardless of anyones feelings about whos religion is correct or "they're people too!..." there will be a conflict over all of this eventually - and quite honestly, I'd like our nation to win it. And we will do that not by talking to them and perhaps getting them to change their minds, but by force.

True peace cannot be had unless one ideology wins - i'd like to be on the winning team.

-jonathan
So basically, you're saying that the American, Christian-based society, and the Islamic societies of the world cannot possibly coexist on the same planet, and there will eventually be a war between the two?

If this is your belief, I don't know how you sleep at night. This is the kind of thinking that CAUSES wars, which is exactly what you're suggesting. Look at the last preemptive war we started. Do you think it was really worth the 4,000 American casualties and practically $1Trillion that it has cost to take Saddam out of power? Iraq and Iran fought each other for 10 years, and neither side won...meaning Iran is just as formidable as Iraq was....but Iran hasn't been under intense sanctions like Iraq was in the 12 years before we invaded it. Plus, it will be all too easy for Iran to convince it's people that America is on a giant crusade to rid the world of Islam.

If you think the last 5 yeas of war in Iraq, or the last 6 years of war in Afghanistan have sucked, just wait until we try to invade Iran preemptively. It would most definitely send the message to the entire Muslim world that we are out to get them. Then there will not be thousands, but millions of Jihadists dying to fight Americans...and they will do whatever they can to make that happen. There's no doubt that our military is the best on the planet...I should know because I was in it for 8 years. But once the official Iranian military is dismantled, just as we learned in Iraq, the REAL war will begin.

So think about how many more Americans will have to die. Think about how much deeper into the crapper our economy will go. Think about how bad our image is to the rest of the world now, and multiply that times 10 (contrary to popular belief, we actually do need to interact with the rest of the world). Think about all of these things when you tell yourself that it's OK to arbitrarily invade countries without giving diplomacy a chance.


Alright, my feet hurt from standing on this soapbox for so long. Oh, and BTW, I'm not just talking out of my ass. Besides the fact that I worked intel for 8 years in the AF, I'm now a Senior, political science (international studies) major at Augusta State University. I've done some homework.