Well this in one heckuva a post....

First when it comes to our political process until we get all of the money out of it there will only be 2 viable parties... To think that combined the top 6 political candidates have raised close to $100 million in the first quarter of this year alone is sickening. The fact that the common man has no chance to run for office is what is wrong... Big money and undue influence by special interest groups is what needs to be addressed.

As for the "War on Terror" I will add my 2 cents.... the best defense is a strong offense... and you always want to fight on your terms at the time of your choosing at the location you want to... You must always dictate as many of the variables in a battle you can... never let the enemy dictate anything you can control.

With that said I think we made a mistake in going into Iraq, but I only say that as an after the fact event. The bigger mistake was grossly under-estimating the nation building required after the cessation of military operations. That I think we can blame at the highest level and what is slowly turning into what I call the 3 ring circus that is taking place at the White House. We made some brutal mistakes in Iraq not realizing the instability of the entire region and not having enough forces in place to deal with the fallout of the decline of the Hussein debacle.

Our forces are doing the best they can, but the simple fact is that it is next to impossible to train for this environment. It is extremely similar to Vietnam in that it is next to impossible to tell the difference between friend and foe. We need to be there to stabilize the region... and yes oil is a big consideration (but let's not get started on that... we could write a book on that one). Somehow we need to get the Iraqi's more interested in self government than killing each other (which they have done for centuries by the way).

Finally having soldiers here will accomplish nothing... and if you need a study on isolationism and appeasement go read the early history of WWII... and remember, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have faltered and unfortunately we may fail... yet it will be for the right causes. This is a war on terror but also a religious war of principles and ideals... what we really need to have happen is for the silent Muslim majority who preach the true ideal of Islam that is peace, not the radical extremist fundamentals of violence... until that happens we will always have this struggle... until then we need to address the issue AWAY from and NOT ON OUR SOIL... that is losing fight that you do not want to have happen!

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