The Iraq War

It keeps creeping into a lot of topics. That's fine. But I thought we might want to have a place to talk about it specifically.

Things I am interested in knowing... Anyone change their mind about it being a good idea? How do people think it is going? What do you think we need to do to win? What do you think the final outcome will be? Have we reached a tipping point where a religious war is unavoidable? In other words is the only way out of this fighting our way out.

I'll come back with my thoughts. The last question weighs heavily on my mind lately.

I am not a pacifist. I do think sometimes violence is the only viable solution. I don't think we were at that point with the muslim world before the Iraq war. I think this misguided war may have moved us to that point.

I do believe that there is a segment of the muslim population that does hate the Western world. I think the reasons are complex and varied. Whatever the reasons they do mean us and our way of life harm. (I'm thinking of womens rights, not Starbucks)

They think about us in the way we think about pedophiles. It's not just hate it's disgust. (I know that not everybody feels that way. I know I am painting with a broad brush.) But at what point do enough people feel that way to make a peaceful resolution possible.

The bottom line is where do we go from here? How do we solve this problem? What the hell are the answers? It really starts to concern me.

I don't think pulling out of Iraq will solve this issue. It may however put us in a better postion to come up with another solution. I think renewable energy has to be a top priority. It removes a lot of our need to be engaged. I still believe in gaurding our borders. I still believe in leaning on despotic/ misogynistic rulers to do much, much better. I think there are things to be done.

But what if we have reached the point where those on the other side will allow no peace? Where do we go from here?
(Of course this assumes we would be willing to allow peace. That's a mighty big if.)