@lizwitch,
Liz -
The first thing you said - "before we invaded Iraq there were no terrorists in Iraq." - Really. And just how is it that you know that? I think you need to be careful when you present something as fact that cannot possibly be known. I mean, before the war began, out of every single person in Iraq at that time - not 1 terrorist? Wow!
The second thing that you said, "When you take a man - and destroy his towns, torture his innocent friends and neighbors, kill his family, bomb his place of worship - leave him unemployed and homeless - and take everything that he has ever known and love...." - Sounds a lot like what Saddam and his buddies did to the Iraqi people for decades, don't you think? But in saying this, are you trying to tell me that the U.S. military is doing this to the Iraqi people? Do you think our military is over there to destroy innocent people's towns, torture them, etc.... just because? Is that what you think? I feel sorry for you that the liberal media has indoctrinated and brainwashed you to such a point that you actaully think WE are the ones causing the pain and suffering of these innocent people.
You seem to think, like so many Bush haters out there that we went to Iraq to start a war just beacuse. No real reason. Just because Bush is a warmonger, a Saddam hater, etc...etc...etc.... - Let me try to make this clear, because the plain and simple facts about what happened leading up to the war in Iraq get so overshadowed by so much Bush hating rhetoric that it just blows me away. The U.S. was attacked, not unlike what happened at Pearl Harbour years ago. US intelligence kicked into overdrive to try to find out all who were behind it, supported it, funded it, etc.... Shortly thereafter, you have a known US hating regime with Saddam Hussein at it's head who is thumbing his nose at the U.N., the U.S., and the world, saying you cannot come into my country to see if we are plotting terror. You cannot come into our country to see if we have weapons of mass destruction. Saddam violated 17 U.N. resolutions. 17! At the same time, you have the head of the CIA saying - "without a doubt, Saddam has weapons of mass destruction." The challenge that our country faced at this time, having recently been attacked, The Iraqi leader not comlying with the U.N., intelligence indicating they had weapons that could potentially be used against us - we attacked. We had no choice.
It is so easy to say now, 5 years removed from that time that it was so wrong to invade Iraq, to be a Bush hater and jump on the "the U.S. is creating more terrorists by fighting them" bandwagon.
You say, "A war on terror can not be fought with force - and shouldn't be fought with force." That is so completely wrong. All terrorists know is force. All they know is killing. That must to be met with force. If not, they will not stop killing until the people or nation they hate is "wiped off the map". - Sound familiar? Our buddy in Iran likes to say that a lot.
Listen, I understand the war in Iraq is hard. It's hard to see innocent people caught in the middle of a conflict like this. But if we back down, you will be seeing the same thing on your street someday. The Islamic fascist terrorist movement has 1 goal - Kill Americans and Israelis until there are no more to kill. If we don't fight them there, we will be fighting them here. Which would you prefer? We didn't start this fight. We were attacked on an unprecedented level on 9-11. The terrorists upped the game, and thankfully we responded. The battle ground for this war right now is in Iraq. The terrorists know this. I feel bad for the innocent Iraqi people. I do. War is hard. Hard to watch. Hard to conduct. Hard to be a part of, and hard to be caught in the middle of - but when freedom is attacked, when democracy is attempted to be torn down, and when cowards hide in jet planes filled with innocent people and slammed into buildings just to kill as many people as possible - innocent people - war is justified and necessary, and that is the ONLY way to defeat this horrible problem that we call terrorism. You may not like it. I may not like it. But it must be done. And all Americans should look past the stupid partisan hatred that is so out of control right now and unite together as one nation, and stand up to those whow want to kill us and do us harm. Do you not want to defend your freedom? Do you not want to defend your family, your friends, your loved ones from harm? Because these terrorists would not hesitate to take you or your loved ones out of this world in an instant. I don't know about you, but that fact alone gives me the strength and steadfast determination that I am willing to do whatever it takes to defend my freedom, my home, my country, my family and those that I love from the despicable terrorists that want to strike me and my family down, just because of who I am and the freedom that I stand for. If we would all just stand together, we could defeat this threat to our freedom. I wish we could. I really wish we could.
