Cuban Missile Crisis: Threat of Force To Back Up Diplomacy

[DrFunkenstein]

Does anyone here fail to see how someone could authorize the use of force after diplomacy has been exhausted and STILL be a little upset if that authority was abused and war was declared at the earliest stages of diplomacy?

The threat of force is a legitimate tool of negotiation in a dangerous world. The use of force, whether it be for personal self-defense or national defense, should only be used as a last resort for so many reasons.

Every police officer on the street is authorized to use force. The disciplined and controlled use of that force is essential in stopping violence. What would become of our country if the police began using their weapons casually? Criminals know that they will not get shot unless they act in such a way as to give the officer no other choice. This makes the criminal much less likely to act wrongly at the time of arrest. If they were unsure of the police barometer for violent action, they would be more likely to try and shoot their way out.

Having a clear principle for the use of force - like the Geneva Conventions - not only increases the good name of the United States, it works in our own self-interest and national defense.

George W. Bush violated the principle of last resort, and devastated our good name, not for the sake of popularity, but as an essential part of our safety and security.

At the end of WWII, German soldiers would lay down their weapons and surrender to us because they knew of our high standards. At the same time, they would fight the Russians to their dying breath because they were unsure of how the Russians would act upon them.

John Kerry has learned that valuable lesson from the Greatest Generation. George Bush has betrayed the good name of America that those people fought and died to ensure.