Was there a better way to spend 144 billion dollars?

[Grizzly]

Here a list of things we could have done to make America safer instead of going to war with Iraq. It's enough to make you cry.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=171438

 

[ThePhoenix]

I feel like crying right now...

 

[armed2010]

Wow....thanks dubya

 

[elanor]

Well, fiddlesticks! I had this long post constructed and it somehow got dumped in the process of posting. Oh well, I'll be less wordy...

Thank you for posting this link, Grizzly! There really was a better way for us than the path we took. You're right. It's enough to make one cry.

These are the three points that caught my attention, though they were near the bottom of the list:

$8.6 billion to rebuild Afghanistan.

$10 billion to increase U.S. development assistance to the neediest countries.

$775 million to dramatically increase public diplomacy.

I remain convince that the best way for us to strip away the terrorists' ability to recruit followers to their cause of hatred is for us to turn our focus to helping people build up their lives and their countries, thus mitigating the kinds of desperate circumstances that help give rise to terrorism. I would rather see us try to help people build lives where simply feeding and caring for their families isn't a constant struggle; help countries build economies where they can ultimately provide their people something more than the hope of mere subsistence; and help nations build peace with each other through understanding, communication, compromise, and coexistence.

I understand that there's a place for defense and sometimes even a place for war. But we were ill-advised to rush to it, and now find ourselves with so many more problems to try to resolve and fewer resources to use in the process.

 

[rahma]

I've started listening to NPR again, and I heard something rather interesting.

What created the terrorists we are now fighting? The first gulf war, US troops in the Middle East, basically, US involvement in the Middle East. So what do we do to fight them? We send more troops in, killing lots and lots of civilians in the process, and creating our next generation of enemies.

The guest was saying how the ideal way to combat terror would be to do it surgically, ie, more like international police and spy work to take out individual operatives and cells. That way, we wouldn't have to flatten a country to get the bad guys.

How much money could that have saved? I'm not sure, but I bet it's cheaper to fund spy work then to fund a full on military engagement for 18 months.

 

[Blemonds]

I've started listening to NPR again, and I heard something rather interesting.

What created the terrorists we are now fighting? The first gulf war, US troops in the Middle East, basically, US involvement in the Middle East. So what do we do to fight them? We send more troops in, killing lots and lots of civilians in the process, and creating our next generation of enemies.

The guest was saying how the ideal way to combat terror would be to do it surgically, ie, more like international police and spy work to take out individual operatives and cells. That way, we wouldn't have to flatten a country to get the bad guys.

How much money could that have saved? I'm not sure, but I bet it's cheaper to fund spy work then to fund a full on military engagement for 18 months.

I have to admit they're a stubborn lot, but I'm convinced that if we hit them hard enough and often enough, they'll get the message sooner or later.

 

[Word of Peace]

I remain convince that the best way for us to strip away the terrorists' ability to recruit followers to their cause of hatred is for us to turn our focus to helping people build up their lives and their countries, thus mitigating the kinds of desperate circumstances that help give rise to terrorism. I would rather see us try to help people build lives where simply feeding and caring for their families isn't a constant struggle; help countries build economies where they can ultimately provide their people something more than the hope of mere subsistence; and help nations build peace with each other through understanding, communication, compromise, and coexistence.

Absolutely!

 

[drboyd]

Yeah. Hit 'em hard and often. Kill a whole bunch of 'em. With the big guns.


Like Jesus did.

I have to admit they're a stubborn lot, but I'm convinced that if we hit them hard enough and often enough, they'll get the message sooner or later.

 

[Grizzly]

I have to admit they're a stubborn lot, but I'm convinced that if we hit them hard enough and often enough, they'll get the message sooner or later.

I'm just afraid it will turn into another Israeli-Palestinian situation. That is, a never-ending nightmare.

 

[Voter]

I have to admit they're a stubborn lot, but I'm convinced that if we hit them hard enough and often enough, they'll get the message sooner or later.

Is that from the book of Armaments?

 

[Grizzly]

Is that from the book of Armaments?

LOL. We need to lobbeth the Holy Handgrenade of Antioch!

 

[Nitoah]

I have to admit they're a stubborn lot, but I'm convinced that if we hit them hard enough and often enough, they'll get the message sooner or later.

This would be likely to result in more desperation, hate, desire for revenge and terrorism. Among other things, in order for terrorism to stop, the would-be-terrorists have to put more value on their lives than they do on their death. When you have no hope and no pride left and someone makes you believe that dying for a cause will make everything better, chances are you may accept to blow yourself up or team up with others to crash a plane in a building. From what I know, that's basically how a cycle of violence is perpetrated and right now, the US is feeding this cycle.

 

[burrow_owl]

Think of the overseas schools we could've built. One of the key reasons for the current prevalance of crazies in the ME is the amount of money that the Wahhabists have pumped into the madras system. If there's a better time to look to the Jesuit model than now, I don't know about it.

 

[SirKenin]

Yeah. Hit 'em hard and often. Kill a whole bunch of 'em. With the big guns.


Like Jesus did.

Jesus didn't. God did.