How the rest of the world perceives us is rather more than a popularity contest; if you leave aside the moral/ethical issues(I don't, but...), consider it a matter of pragmatism. The US is unable to do the job they set out to do in either Afghanistan or Iraq, despite the accumulating carnage on both sides---and our few allies are bailing rapidly. The flouishing opium trade in Afghanistan is in large part going to
fund world terrorism. Given that we can't--or lack the political will to--successfully conclude even these two fronts, what are we going to do about North Korea and Iran, both of whom were always more serious threats, if/when they erupt, just to name the two likeliest candidates? Our current pre-emptive war, badly executed,which the rest of the world views with increasing abhorrence, is unlikley to win us world support, especially as we seem bent on further alienating the world on so many fronts. The US took what was nearly universal support after 9/11 and squandered it (like the budget surplus) by initiating a war that had little to do with that event. And losing the"popularity contest" in this way is undoubtedly the best recruiting tool Al-Quaeda could have devised....all of which is a somewhat lengthy assertion that our standing in the world, which is based on our actions rather than our rhetoric, and our security within it are inseparable.

Last I counted, I have about 8 people to respond to, and I'm trying to do this in order, but I thought I'd respond to this one first... I'm thinking I won't have a chance to keep up once Monday hits and people can post from work. I don't have internet at work, and my wife isn't too happy with me spending too much time on this instead of planning our next house, baby and various other stuff, but I'm trying!

Sure, Abu Gharaib is an example for the people that were involved in it. But it was an internal investigation that brought those horrors to light. The military itself, even it wasn't moving fast enough because it had a growing insurgency to deal with, condemned those actions and is punishing those involved. The argument has been made that policies set forth by the Pentagon and the administration "set an atmosphere" in which Abu Gharaib happened, but that is a far cry from it being policy, being accepted or being encouraged. I know the NYT would disagree with me, but that's another story. No one seems to mention that it was a fellow Army soldier who broke this story and reported it because he knew it was wrong.

I won't dare post some of the pictures I've seen, but perhaps you'd like me to email you some of the vicious crimes and mutilations that were carried out by Saddam. As bad as the actions were in those prisons, they are nowhere near the horrors suffered under the official policies of Saddam, so to compare them, and say they are equal is an insult to the people who were raped, maimed and brutalized by Saddam. I think they'd gladly stand on a box for hours at end in the nude if they could have their limbs back.

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Congratulations! I hear that planning a baby can be lots of fun. Or is that part already done?

Not to give too much information, but "Phase 1" took less than a week... I got kinda cheated there! And thank you.

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You mean the strongman the US put in power to avoid another Communist state?

Now we're back to South America right? I need to catch up on a few posts.. shouldn't have gotten ahead of myself like that.

No. Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The Ba'ath party was helped into power in Iraq by the CIA based on it's anti-Communist policies and it's opposition to a more unified Arabic political presence. The CIA believed that the Iraqi government at the time had or was trying to gain Soviet ties.

Of course, that doesn't mention the CIA's support of Osama bin Laden in his fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 80s.

I see grammar is often an underlying issue here, and "it's", unless it is the contraction for "it is", is common but egregious--just read any sentence with"it's" as "it is" to see how ridiculous it sounds. For those of us who've gotten fuzzy on our punctuation over the years, let me recommend "Eats Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss...whoever would have thought a punctuation guide would hit the bestseller list in at least two countries?! The reason for that is: Its a hoot! Ranges from merely funny to absolutely hilarious...

Oops. Sorry. I'm cross about something else and typing too fast.

Wow, Bitten by a new poster. That's got to hurt...

Yeah....

Yet, it's hard not to take personally criticisms of my government when I see it as acting to ensure the security of myself, my family, my community and my nation.

If you truly believe that perpetrating an unfounded war on Iraq that has now created at least two new generations of highly motivated terrorists is "...acting to ensure the security of myself, my family, my community and my nation..." I fear you are in for some very unpleasant surprises in the next few years.

I sincerely hope I am wrong about this, but...

tanstaafl.