Sand

If you do something for far too long you will eventually get sick of it. At least I do.

I think being immortal would kick major arse. Well, at least for the first few thousand years.

No, but in some cases they were not needed. In some cases they are. For the US it was needed, as it is needed in Iraq. For better or worse the US is a fairly strong and stable country with a good amount of freedoms that most other countries do not have. With all of its warts, yes, I do believe that following the US footsteps is the best thing for Iraq. Well, maybe not the exact footsteps. They really need to avoid Reagonomics.

Basing it on our own Civil War. Our civil war had a long lead up period, and then it had a spark. It was a necessary event that made the United States stronger in the long run.

I think I would go for the enhancements that will prolong the lifespan or even make one immortal. It would be a good mixture of self regeneration nanites, brain augmentation, and a memory storage system. No matter how damage or even if you are killed, the self regeneration nanites will rebuild your body, and the brain augmentation and memory storage system will download the last update of your memory and personality into the regenerated brain.

Because right now they are focused on their differences and that will always lead to violence. Only way to move past that is to remove the violence, to make them sick of fighting, sick of killing, and realize their similarities. A civil war is necessary in this. It is something the Iraqis have to realize on their own for it cannot be forced upon them, and in the end it will make them a stronger nation.

Joseph is hard to pronounce?

Yes. Favorable or not, that is for the people of Iraq to decide and not us. We are not responsible for Iraq. We are only responsible for ourselves. We are not the police of the world. The Bush Administration is responsible, but not the current US Congress. In two more years when Bush is out of office we will no longer have any responsibility in Iraq. Hopefully at that time no American soldier will be in that country. Violence is a inherit nature of humankind. Sucks doesn't it. I do believe it is a necessary growing pain. There are some things one cannot help another in, that is true in the case of individuals as well as nations. We need to step back and let Iraqi handle this themselves without our interference or the interference of its neighbors. Calling for a sacrifice is all well and good if the sacrifice is warranted. In this case it is not. Iraq needs one thing and that is self determination, and it will only achieve that on its own. What is beneficial is Iraq standing on its own two feet without the help of others. In order to do that they need this civil war. They are going to have this civil war with or without our interference. Only thing we can do is get in the way and get killed or stand out of the way and watch. I know which one I prefer.

The Bush Administration owes the Iraq government. The current US Congress does not.

What I would like to see in Iraq that all sides realize they are all Iraqis. That they need to work together if they want to move forward. However until they realize that and focus on their differences there will be violence. Until that violence and that need for bloodshed is excised from their system there will be civil war. We won't be able to stop that and those who try will get hit in the crossfire. We need to stand back, make sure other countries such as Iran, Turkey, Syria, and the such stay out of Iraq and let the Iraqis go through this difficult times themselves. When they are finally finished killing each other, once they are sick of the bloodshed, and the such we come in and help them get back on their feet if they wish us to aid them.

RED!

What? Taking a pragmatic view on the situation over in Iraq? Do I like the fact that we started a civil war? Of course not. However if two sides, may it be factions or individuals, want to mix it up in a full on fight nothing is going to stop them. You can either get out of the way or be a casualty in the middle.

They are going to try and kill each other anyway. Is it better for them do so with our soldiers getting caught up in the crossfire or not in the crossfire?

You do have a point there, Meta.

Well, we can speculate all day of what could happen, what should happen, what will or won't happen as well. The reality of which we find ourselves in is that Iraq is in a middle of civil war and bringing in more US soldiers in will not stop this. If 140,000 soldiers can't keep the peace, what use is 20,000 more. The most prudent thing to do is this. Have our troops maintain border control so that no one can get in or out. Let the Iraqis have their civil war and when they are done killing each other and sick of all the violence, then go in and help rebuild. Trying to play referee in a war will only get more of our soldiers killed.

A preemptive strike based off false information.

Only thing Iraqis can do now is kill each other.

If he dealt what was before him we would not have invaded Iraq in the first place. The Taliban was the threat. Osama Bin Ladin was the one who attacked us. Iraq had no means to harm the US.

Like the Iraqi invasion being a catalyst for a Iraqi civil war. Bush planned ahead real well on that one.

I said I question if winning the cold war a good thing or not, not that I think that it was a bad thing.

There is right and wrong. I question America's success in the cold war was a good thing or not.

Oh, I remember reading about US interference in South America. Didn't we support a coup in Chile that resulted a dictator taking power and causing mass murder? Oh yes, US foreign policy really worked down there.

I just think that we should focus more on the here and now than on what might or might not be.

I don't deal with "what ifs," Alanschu. What if an asteroid strikes the Earth and destroys civilization as we know it? What if aliens come to conquer us all? I rather deal with "What Is."

I am not saying we should isolate ourselves but if we remove our dependence on foreign oil we wouldn't get caught up in situations like this in the first place. If those who do seek to do us harm and attack we return such actions with equal force but once the job is done our troops come home. We have no place in another country's civil war.