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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_biscuit who wrote (598656)	8/2/2004 4:13:12 PM
From: Enam Luf	Respond to of 769670

To be honest, I really don't know. I could see how such a strategy could backfire, but I could also see how it could be very effective. I think the best anyone here can do is guess. The truth is no one knows whether we have become more or less secure (and this must be considered in light of what the viable alternatives were post 9/11). Only time will tell. if you want to get into the pros and cons of taking the fight to them, we can do that,... it might make for an interesting discussion. off the cuff i see a couple of pros: -violence can be directed at our troops and at iraqis rather than innocent US civilians. -a full time presence in Iraq enables better intelligence gathering -it has alleviated the pressure to remove US troops from Saudi Arabia. -"Beating the grass to startle the snakes." The more disruption and movement we create in terrorist networks, the easier they are to detect and hunt down. -no one will miss saddam -it might actually make us safer if the arabic world believes Bush is a trigger happy nutcase. ("it is better to be feared than loved" - Machiavelli) -holding arab states responsible for "stateless" terrorists is probably the only way to get arab countries to crack down at home. and at least several cons: -Our continued presence in Iraq may piss off more muslims and create a bigger terrorist threat. -Potential for unstable power vacuum after we leave. -Potential for increasingly unified opposition to US by arab nations -Potential overthrow of Saud family. -Distraction and cost of overseas war may make us blind to threats at home or unable to adequately fund proper defense mechanisms. -Loss of cooperation from allies may hinder our ability to gather info and may cost us leverage in other arenas. any thoughts?