Rick,
I'm game... Is the Mossad “them”?
You are right that it was 15 years ago... I know, as I was there. And Saddam would not have stopped with Kuwait. Oh and let's not forget (as revealed today) that according to the Russsians, Saddam was planning attacks on American soil. Should we have waited?
As one who "served" and defended peoples right to ride lawn tractors and live in houses that could hold two families comfortably, I must ask... would we be living the life we do if some of us didn't defend our nation? I don't think so. While it is cliche, there is some truth in the saying that "freedom isn't free".
Do we as a nation always do right? No... I don't believe we do. But... We get it right, more often than we get it wrong.
Do we need mideast oil and let that "color" some of our choices? Yes... I think we do... If we didn't folks would probably not be able to afford their lawn tractors...
Point is, I see a lot of hypocrisy from Democrats and from Republicans. Some are not willing to drill for oil in our own country, don't want to use nuclear power, don't want to defend friendly mideast nations (or defend against hostile ones) and don't want to give up the "comforts" that fossil fuels allow for.
So I ask, if you were President for a day, what would you do? What ideas do you have? I don't have the answers but I KNOW I don't have all of the inteligence information that our leaders do, when they make (right or wrong) decisions.
My personal opinion (and it is just an opinion) is that we will not be successful in trying to bring peace to the middle east. They have been fighting for thousands of years and will continue to do so. The best we can hope for is to limit it when we can, help were we can, and defend our national interests. And yes, I believe the majority of the worlds oil supply IS a national interest. Unless of course, we are willing to give up our current way of life or switch to alternative forms or energy...
Cheers