July 27, 2007

  • A SERIOUS QUESTION

    We're all agreed, then, that if we don't remember our history we're doomed to repeat it. Yes? Yes.

    Ok, here's my question. How many people (make that, how many millions of people) died in Cambodia and South Vietnam when (because) we pulled out of Vietnam back in 1973? Stay with me now, it's time to learn from history: How many people will die when we pull out of Iraq?

    This is not about whether we should have gone to Iraq in the first place. You can't always undo an earlier mistake by just reversing your course (and I"m not arguing that it was a mistake to go, either). This is about what we should do now that we find ourselves there.

Comments (5)

  • I completely agree with you. This is one of those issues that just makes me hopping mad. The fact that Americans have degraded to the point where they expect all the advantages of liberty and none of the consequences or costs leaves me quite disappointed. It's not that I'm unpatriotic. I love America, I just hate Americans (en masse, anyway).

  • Oh, and as far as your question... I think that many would be killed in Iraq if we were to leave, but more than that, the international consequences for the harboring of terrorists that would occur is practically inconceivable. I don't even want to think about it!

  • ooo... good point, Mr. Callihan.  Excellent point in fact.  You should tell the democrats...

  • The trouble is that America in general has a short attention span. We go in to rectify a situation expecting it to be over quickly, but as the reality strikes that we are not in total control like we thought and most people want to pull out even though the commitment has already been made. Very few commitments can be broken without cost and consequences and the cost in the scenario that the troops do pull out will be many thousands of lives. It is the downfall of many great men and nations: hubris (or pride). A problem cannot be solved by a prideful problem-solver (take Oedipus for example), but rather through a humble one (say, Jesus Christ). So instead of costing lives through pride, we may be able to save lives through humility. So, to see the Iraq conflict through to the end would be the honorable thing, but pride is the stumbling block for America; it cannot get us out without dire consequences, namely thousands of deaths.

  • Um, yes. :) Seriously, here's another question that we would do well to think on, and hopefully arrive at an answer we could implement and live with the implementation:

    How much security will we have by giving up certain liberties, and what liberties really should be? For instance, the liberty of anyone being able to walk right into our country is one that should not be, IMO.

    I have been reading the wikipedia quotes page on Ben Franklin, and the quote that says, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety," may not have been Franklin.

    I think the heart of the problem, though, is that Americans are no longer self-governed, and since we rely now on the laws to tell us what we can and cannot do, we are hardly independent anymore, in actions or thoughts. As a people who are not self-governed, so many people want more liberty than they should, and don't look out for the security of their neighbors.

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