re: #8 palmerskiss

Ah well I certainly have no disagreement there. But you depart from the article at that point.

For the argument towards stability, I ask simply: we have endured a war in Iraq, we still have thousands of troops in Afghanistan, we have waged secret wars in Pakistan and Yemen.

What is the problem with us being in Afghanistan for nation building? Yes we wage Not Secret wars on Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I don’t have a problen with that.

Let’s read the critics-
Invasions are bad, even when it’s a locale for a dangerous enemy.

Drone attacks are bad because they are not 100% accurate, or can kill nearby innocents.

Using local forces are bad because we arm people we don’t know well enough to trust.

In the end we are to do nothing, untuil such time as the critics want us back in the game because some tyrant is killing innocents en masse again.

we simply can not have it both ways. The globe is better off with a strong America and good policy. A less strong America would not really be any better in the absence of good policy.

So the answer is to have better policy. Well GWB has been gone quite some time now and unless you buy into the Obama is a war criminal thing, I really don’t see what there is to complain about at this time.