Yeah, about that war... here are the thoughts of an average american.

Okay... it's been almost a year since I have had the time to write on the board so I will be making up for it here.

I have had about four months of isolation for pondering this war. I know liberals that are against and conservatives that are for.
One thing that seems to be common among the US view is that they are willing to see things in only one light, right/wrong, good/evil, hot/cold, cereal/oatmeal, gay/straight... nobody likes to think that every element of life is not that easy to explain, that there may be a gray area, but that's okay because that is the way Americans are programmed to think since birth. Most people in the US think that this war is about either claiming the Iraqi oil fields, or liberating the people of Iraq.

I believe that a closer truth is that this war isn't about claiming the oil fields of Iraq, liberation of the people of Iraq, punishing the leader of Iraq, neutralizing the Weapons of Mass Destruction of Iraq, or any other selfless purpose that someone can come up with of Iraq. Its about protecting the freedoms and the way of life of the American people. If ,of course, you mean by freedoms and way of life, capitalism. When speculating purpose in this war it is necessary to consider facts. The American economy has been falling dramatically since the election of our current President. The sole purpose of the president is to look out for the American economy, so he failed at his job horribly. To right this wrong we have to consider the only thing that he knows anything about. The selling of oil. Now Iraq has a better quality product at cheaper prices than it's American equivalent, so naturally it has more customers. Unfortunately for them, the Iraqi oil industry is controlled by their government, if the government is in disarray then exports and sales cannot continue. This would mean all of the customers who bought from Iraq now have to turn to another source, the United States.

So now, to raise the economy of the United States, the oil industries of the US, which are controlled by private companies and are not affected by the war, sell more bulk oil at their inflated prices for a poorer quality product. This will allow investors to invest and open up a minimal amount of jobs so that those in power can make a maximum profit. Germany and France probably bought the cleaner burning, higher output oil of Iraq and the purchase of US oil would ruin that so their government is against the war.

Without this war the American Empire may well have collapsed from its superpower status. On the other hand how many lives is it worth for an undetermined future? None, or thousands, or millions for that matter.

Lets consider for a moment that many peoples lives have and will be quashed, while others ruined. That female POW will be haunted for the rest of her life by what happened, and the American public will never let her live it down. People will want to write books and make movies based on what happened to her. Not a day goes by where I don't read about anywhere between 20-30 recent deaths of American Military Personnel. How do their families feel about the war? Do they feel robbed of a loved one or are they proud of their newly lost son, brother, father, mother, daughter, or sister. About 1 in 50 have claimed to be proud of their relative that died on public television. We never hear from the other 49.

So the real question and debate to this war is the same age old question as always. How many lives is it worth? Not a single one, or does it not really matter how many we lose as long as we get the job done?

I'll leave that for you to decide, I'm not a man wise enough to decide who gets to live or die. However I do wish that the American industry believed more in altruism than it currently does.

sounds like "blowing in the wind" by good ol' Dylan.

I agree, it is not only about a flagging economy and how oil can bring it a new lease of life, but more explicitly it is also about the popular choice and re-election. I think another big one is confirming and re-proving the unique status the US holds as a super-power (which was feeling challenged by the recent increase in nuclear powers and countries with WMDs). I guess you did encompass most of that in the "american way of life bit" but I thought I'd say it anyway, tell me if I'm wrong. I think it is also about the re-focusing and venting of the anger left in the american people after S11 and the need for hope and proof tat something terrible like that will never be allowed to happen again. In a way I also think the US is using this demonstration of power to bring other countries such as N.Korea & Saudi Arabia into line by sending out a clear message of "don't mess..."

check this one out...
someone got a major boost from the war despite the flagging economy...

First, thanks for reading my blitherings.

You are right about the feeling against terrorism. The funny part is that most people blame Sadam Husein for the attacks on 9/11, when it was actually Al-Queda. Even more comical, and more important as well, is that most of the members of the Al-Queda attack group where trained to be terrorists by the United States Military when Afghanistan was still controlled by USSR and Sadam Husein was a good guy, to cause disarray that cost the USSR the loss of Afghanistan after millions died in a civil revolt against their former government ("encouraged" by our "terrorists"). Ironically we left Mr. Bin-Ladin in charge of the country. Funny to think that he might grow to despise the country that put him in power.