So anyway back to the topic...
Originally posted by DVPGSR
Being a bully means you pick on people smaller and weaker than you for no apparent reason. Going into Afghanistan and Iraq were two clear cut reasons...even if WMD are not found 69% of the US says the war was justifiable.
And having a strike first policy is a very good thing...look how scared and squeemish the North Korean's are!
So I guess now we should just change the name of the country to "The United Empire of America," because the United States of America does not strike first.
Originally posted by fastball
When are people going to understand it all has to do with 9/11 in one way, shape, or form. So, no. The U.S. still has not struck first.
We invaded Iraq. Last time I checked, Iraq wasn't spelled 'al Qaeda.'
Besides, it's not as simple as you make it. This idea of "strike first" kind of goes out the window when the U.S. has had their eye on Saddam since about 1988. Even if 9/11 hadn't happened, our removal of his regime was inevitable.
We "have our eye" on plenty of countries. Iraq has been on the proverbial radar sceen since well before 1988, in fact we supplied Saddam in his war against Iran because at the time we considered him the lesser threat.
That still has nothing to do with our invasion of Iraq though, because Iraq didn't attack us before we attacked them.
He has lied under internationaly recognized treaties, broken international law, and when the pressure was too hot for him to handle, he kicked out weapons inspectors and refused to comply with repeated requests and even threats if he did not come clean. How many times to you ask someone who his flicking your ear to stop before you turn around and punch him?
Are any of these things a military strike? No.