wrote:
For those who have served in the military, I would encourage them to
read the words of a man who grew up in my home town. A two time
Congressional Medal Of Honor recipient. A Marine who should have been
Commandant - but was too honest:

http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm


Tom,
You represent yourself as someone who has given a great deal of
thought to world politics and the injustice of war!

As a young Marine I spent a year one month in-country in the late
60's. I was sent home to repair a small wound to my lower back. So
its with a very heavy troubled heart that I count the wounded and
dead.

I would like to ask you a simple question that has trouble me greatly.
It scares me. It scares me more then nukes did, it scares me more then
Nam did.

How in the world, does the world deal with the faction of Islam which
believes that the conversion of whole world to Islam is necessary and
is demanded of them. And that the end justifies the means, including
any type of terror against Jews, Christians, and even other Islamic
woman and children.

Thanks for taking the time to answer this OT post.

Ed

That's a good question. Unfortunately, no one I know has an answer. The
problem seemingly was smaller and less vicious before we invaded Iraq
2-1/2 years ago. While it may not be true, it seems to me that our
invasion and continued occupation of that country has increased both
the numbers and intensity of Islamic haters in the world. It may have
just brought them to the surface, as I infer from your post, but the
problem is real and very likely to get worse. We don't seem to be doing
anything whatsoever to determine the causes, nor to correct the
condition, and, in fact, too many of those we have elected seem to
ignoring the problem altogether.

There is a poll by another poster that shows just how effective we are
in winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. Does that phrase
seem familiar? Only 1% of the Iraqis feel more secure now than before
we toppled Saddam. Something like 82% feel we don't belong there, a
point on which I happen to agree with them.

Oddly enough, Iraq seems to be in far worse shape now than it was under
Saddam, and there is no indication of permanent improvement that I'm
able to see.