End of the day

[justinsb]

for me anyway, in a few minutes I'm off to pursue other things, but I wanted to say something first. Much of what I say here is greeted with disbelief, sometimes a little hostility and more frequently eery silence.

My perspective is different from yours. I'm happily outside the US now and like Plato's people in the cave things look vastly different from out here. For example, the cost to the US in dollars, and the loss of life suffered in the US military would barely make my top 10 list of 'what was wrong with invading Iraq'. Replacing the Bush administration, in and of itself, won't solve the problems the US is dealing with. So, even if there is no response I'll call it as I see it from out here, and won't pull my punches. No disrespect is intended, but the truth as I see it is the only truth I know and not saying what I think and what I see isn't doing anyone any favors.

Peace,
Justin

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. No hostility from me.

My problem with the financial cost is that there are so many more effective ways we could be using that money.

The deaths of US soldiers is always regrettable, but if they were dying in a just cause it would be worth the price -- as Jefferson said, the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

The true cost to America is that we are becoming a pariah nation, a rogue nation that believes our economic and military strength gives us free rein to conduct ourselves without accountability. As empires across time have learned, that just isn't so.