Quote Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

It's becoming a somewhat meaningless cliche, this habit of everyone saying,ā? I support the troops". Just for pointing that out, I feel that I must say it myself, so: I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!

It might be cliche but to the troops overseas it means a lot. I would think one of their biggest fears is to come home to a public portraying them as woman and child killers. The way that the U.S. public welcomed the Vietnam War Vets home was disgraceful.

I'm not sure that I support the regime(s) that will result from our intervention in Iraq, though.

Nobody knows what may result from this but it'll be THEIR version of a democracy. Whether or not it's rapped around the teachings of the Quran will be the majorities choice but at least they have Constitutional provisions that will respect the rights of the others.

If people do not fight for democracy themselves, do they really deserve it?

They are fighting for it. The insurgents are going after young Iraqi's enlisting into armed forces and police. But the people still sign up for duty because they realize what this means to them. I'll bet that a lot more Iraqi troops/police have died for this cause than our soldiers. Thats not to mention the innocent civilians on the street that die to these car bombers. The Iraqi people feel loses every day and it seems that it is making them more determined....70% voter turnout is a good example.

I don't know, given the religious climate in the Middle East, if anything remotely resembling a democracy is even possible over there.

It won't be a western style democracy but it will reflect thier philosophy. Hopefully it won't be radical, but with the diversity of the Iraq population I really can't picture a second Iran in our future.

Does that kid in the picture, or her parents, have even the slightest fucking idea of what freedom is about, and the personal responsibilities it entails? I doubt it, and don't see them becoming very "enlightened" anytime soon.

Freedom at what level? Freedom for us means we don't have wire taps, no spot searches, speach, travel, etc...
Their idea may be as simple as being able to trade other currency's or goods without having a hand cut off, or knowing when your daughter is done with school that she isn't taken away by a bathist loyalist for a raping. The Kurds and Shi-ites will consider freedom to be not living in fear of having everything taken and their families being executed; Being able to speak their mind without ending up in a torture chamber.
We take a lot of basic freedoms for granted. Freedom is kinda like Cocaine...the more you take the more you want. What level is the addiction and how far can it progress without corruption? There's a lot of oil and a lot of money there to be had, hopefully the diversity of the countries population will keep things in check.

I know that this was not the intention of the original posting of the thread, but these questions bother me. The fact that our armed forces are putting their lives in harm's way in Iraq, and many are dying or becoming injured, does not sit well with me. Money makes the world go ā??round, and thatā??s what it seems to boil down to. If the Iraqis think that that they will have more money, they will tell their kids to wave the American, or any other nationsā??, flag.

It's only my opinion.
Like I've said before, my kids in the service overseas right now. He's not in the sandbox...that I know...but he's still in a questionable area. If something were to happen to him I sure wouldn't be happy but I'd be very proud to know that at least he gave his life for a cause that was in the benifit of others. To me, that's a hell of a lot more honorable death than if it were to happen in a car accident or some stupid wastefull shit like that in the States. All we can do back here is SHOW OUR SUPPORT. :thumbsup: