Quote:
Originally Posted by Comrade Joe
Defense, yes. However, the ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are an example of national stupidity. They have made the countries involved less safe. More Americans and Brits have certainly died as a result of their short sighted stupidity than of any previous terrorist attack.
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Every nation defeated in war will be temporarily less safe as governments change hands. But on the contrary both nations are FAR more safe than they were before. The deaths and terror at the hands of BOTH the Taliban and Saddam created safety through terror. Thats what citizens of both nations attest to. There was no violence, because we were under martial law, because anyone who speaks up will get their throat slit at night. Thats not security and its definately not stability.
I would argue there is more stability in both Iraq and Afghanistan than has been seen in decades, even with all the bombings. I say this because for all of the lacks in stability, what stability is being put into place is
real stability and
real freedom. Its just the begining and its the first taste of it for most of the people who lived in the region. But its forming slowly, despite the efforts of extremists.
We all know that the violence in both nations is terrible (noted that 95% is caused by terrrorist bombings, death squads, and extremist gangs), and that the spark for it was coalition intervention, but it wasnt caused because of us. The anarchy that followed the ends of the repressive regimes left a gap for sides who had never had a say in politics or freedom and wanted to take it all and get all they could, it was a cultural timebomb much like the balkans before WWI. The fact that Saddam kept "order" via terror does not mean Iraq was secure and it does not mean the people lived happier lives. To any just and better end, there are costs associated. The fewer there are the better, and if our enemies are determined to
slaughter their own people, then all we can do is try to protect those people as if they were our own, until governments who truly care about their people and represent their people are elected.