DIYbanter - View Single Post - VERY OT

Wes[_2_]

wrote:

"The superpowers image has been battered during the George Bush years.
The shambolic election in 2000 injected poison into the boastful
democracy. A proud military tradition was diminished by a disastrous
invasion of Iraq, squandering the great outpourings of global sympathy
after the September 11 attacks. America's legal heritage was debased
by prison horrors in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, while Washington's
dismal response to hurricane Katrina only served to compound opinion
polls showing global respect for Americans at near record lows."

This is the face you present to the world, this is what you are judged
on. I am sad that it is so, you are capable of so much more than this.

Andrew, some of us really don't care too much about how we are viewed. We have a history
of stepping up when times need our help. Not sure how much longer we can afford it
though. Iraq may be our last hurrah. We do what we think is right.

Family reunion last Saturday. Aunt Peg was there, Uncle Glen was there. He met her in
your country during WWII when he flew bombers. War bride. Our gain, your loss. I have
lots of cousins one generation removed from England.

We do what we think is right. Some disagree but it is our treasure and lives we spill.

We are not the superpower of yesterday. We can barely handle Iraq and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile people die in Darfur because we don't have the resources to protect them and it
looks like Europe hasn't stepped up to fill the void.

Give us a few more years and we will be stuck at home, not meddling in the worlds affairs
as the rest of the world deals with China and Putins's Russia. Not to mention the Muslim
issues.

Personally, I think the US should go isolationist on military policy. Stay at home and
train and let the rest of the world take up being the arsenal of democracy. We, the US
are chumps for picking up the cost of Western Defense.

Best regards,

Wes

USMC 1975-79