Bush's reckless use of preemption as a doctrine is certain to make

[KlatooBNikto]

countries seek nuclear and missile technologies from rogue nations like Pakistan and North Korea.The mad scramble this is going to unleash would, in the end, make our lives less secure than even during the cold war. With more miniaturization of nuclear weapons possible with supercomputers, a day is not far off when anyone can walk into any city and set off a nuclear weapon.What then?

[number6]

1. I agree ...

..

[KlatooBNikto]

3. I compare this to the reckless subversion of democratic governments

by the CIA during the 50's ( as in Iran when Mossadegh was elected PM and also in Chile in the 70's when Allende was elected President).The blowback from those days are now coming home to roost with Iran seeking nuclear technology and missiles to deliver the weapons.In Latin America, the U.S. has now become a laughing stock from Venezuela to Chile to Brazil to Argentina.If we continue on our Imperial Adventures in the Middle East, we will hand over that part of the world to China, Russia and India, our rivals for energy sources in the years ahead.

[peacetalksforall]

2. Yes, we have neadethal thinkers running the show. They thought they

could plop down on the Middle East and take it over like in a Hollywood movie. This is serious stuff, except to a world ender evangelical.

[whathappened]

4. happy place to live

when is the last time you could set down with anybody and have a good talk about america , you are either yelling at someone or talking about how bad this idiot for a commander we have should be tared and feathered , how i dream of the old america when she shined bright

[KlatooBNikto]

5. I see this more and more in my overseas travels.It is as though we

want to repress our true feelings about what we have become and are ashamed to articulate them. On the other hand, when I travel to Europe, India, China or Japan, the talk is of wonderment about new technolgies in medicine, software, education and the like.These countries have energized populations that want to participate in their own political processes and improve the lot of their fellow countrymen and those beyond. I was absolutely amzed to discover that some of the biggest investments in Idia are now being done by the British.You would think after the days of the Empire that would be the last thing the Indian people would want. The old order is falling away giving way to the new. Even the enmity between China and India or between India and Pakistan seem to have lost their edge.It is time for us to take part in this renaissance instead of letting our swagger take us into lost opportunities.

[journalist3072]

6. Definitely agree with you.

Now, I don't necessarily have a problem with the doctrine of pre-emption, because I believe there are times when you may need to take pre-emptive action. HOWEVER, if you are going to take pre-emptive action against another country, then you damn sure better be certain that the threat is real.

And there inlies the problem with Iraq: they didn't really pose a threat to us.

Whenever I talk with my Repug friends about the concept of pre-emption, I always bring up the Cuban missile crisis. And I remind them that during the Cuban missle crisis, we actually had the proof that the Soviet Union was stockpiling misslies in Cuba, for a possible attack against us. We had the arial photographs to prove it.

And President Kennedy sent people like Dean Acheson to France, with the photographs in hand, so that he would have international support for whatever action he decided to take against the Soviet Union.

[KlatooBNikto]

7. My problem with preemption is that it provides justification for every

Tom, Dick and Harry to launch an invasion with the same kind of pretexts we have used. If that involves nuclear weapons, there are not enough places on earth to hide.

[journalist3072]

8. I see your point.....

You're definitely right about that. However, I just don't think we should ever totally rule out preemptive action, IF there is truly a threat. The problem with what Bush has done in Iraq, is that he has totally ruined the reputation of the United States. There may come a time when the United States legitimately needs to take preemptive action, and we will have a hard time getting other countries to believe us, thanks to Bush's lies.

I think that President Kennedy really showed the importance of presidential leadership when the United States is truly under threat. He did not rush through the Cuban Missle Crisis, because he knew that if we became engaged in a nuclear war with Russian, the implications would be so grave for mankind. He responded to the threat, but he did so in a deliberate and thoughtful way.

Bush should have learned from that.