*Some* truth? I would say more then just some. Of course natural resources are scarce (”like duh” as my daughter would say), but my concern is that we’re thinking too short term and spending our limited *financial* resources in ways that are postponing and forestalling the day when we can finally relieve ourselves of dependence on some of those natural resources and the idiots (sorry Eugenia, some of them *are* idiots) that control them.

Of course we should defend ourselves against attackers, but I don’t believe we had to nor would have spent over $200,000,000,000 to do that if there wasn’t more to it.

We’re trashing our financial resources to jockey ourselves into a slightly better position over a resource that’s going to be *gone* soon anyway. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the most liberal estimate of 10 years or the most conservative estimate of 70 years, it’s going to be gone soon and *nobody* denies that ultimate outcome.

I think we should be spending *some* money to get the oil reserves to last as long as possible (and ensure we have some access to them), but the lion’s share should be being spend on how to deal with the ultimate depletion before it hits us blindsided. Maybe that’s thinking like a child - so be it.

And please don’t give me that “resources are scarce, and we need to fight to get them”. I mean, US has spent SO much money in the recent wars, that they could have put into researching FUSION. According to many, we will have fusion by 2050. IF all that money was put into research 15 years ago, we would have had fusion MUCH earlier, and NO LIVES would be lost in the process (well, except the ones who die in the lab testing stuff ).

You called me a liberal. But in reality, I am just a woman. And women, just don’t like battles. Don’t like wars. Don’t like resource-extracting from the poor. Not that men like that, but women are more sensitive to these matters. Most women simply can’t HANDLE these situations.

And no, it’s not jealousy that makes other people not like USA these days. It is the fact that US doesn’t play fair, not even with its own people (AT&T scandal anyone?). Back in the Clinton and Reagan times people didn’t think of US the same way as they think in the Bush era. I truly hope that Obama will be able to restore the faith of the international community back to the US, because most of the Americans are good people. See, if you think that’s all because of jealousy, then you really need to travel more and discuss the matter with non-Americans and see what US does to these countries.

Still friends,
Eugenia

The reason that governments are put in place is to further the economic and political interests of the governed. The primary means for pursuing these interests are diplomatic and military. It is the constitutionally designated responsibility of the United States government to provide a strong defense. We have been extraordinarily successful due to the sacrifice of millions upon millions over the last two hundred years.

Now, the essence of yours and every other liberal’s argument since 9/11 has been that the USA is basically just using that attack as an excuse to further its empire. Yes, we are the American empire. Yes, there is probably some truth to our government furthering its control of scarce natural resources (oil being the most visible, but not the only one). While I wish we lived in the kind of world where people all got along and solved all their problems diplomatically. Its just not the way things are.

The GWOT is about seeking out and destroying a loose confederation of people that have not only vowed to attack us at every turn, but have demonstrated repeatedly that they are both capable and determined to do it. The reason they hate us may be philosophical or it may be even simpler, they’re pissed off that we are in control and they are not, i.e. jealousy. It really doesn’t matter. The result is the same. We need to hunt them down and kill them. That’s what war is and that’s what we are doing. Just because you and a thousand other liberals things we “shouldn’t” be doing that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t.

With all due respect, I see yours and all the other liberal opinions as essentially the way children think. I see our government and the defense and intelligence communities as the adults. They provide the safety and security that allows you and others to play.

I don’t mean this as disrespectful; you and all the others are and should be entitled to your opinions. That’s the reason why this country is great after all. It’s just that my opinion is that you are basing your opinions on other than the reality of the situation.

With respect,
FM

Same thing with my own country, Greece. It does some things right, and it does other things WRONG.

So I am really surprised about this reply of yours.

Do you think it’s HEALTHY to pet a country for doing things wrong, just because it does some things right? This is the very definition of APATHY, and I am not apathetic in things that I should not be apathetic as an international citizen. This is a matter that involves EVERYONE, not just US citizens.

You might be a patriot, and so when reading my blog post, or the article of that UK minister, you become bitter about it. But I don’t have such allegiance to your country, and in fact, I don’t have such allegiance to my OWN country either (did you READ my latest Macedonia-Greece blog post & comments and see how much I criticize my OWN country?).

The reason why I do that is because I am not a chauvinistic person. I am not a “nationalist”. I do not believe in governments of countries, I do not believe in ethnicities. I believe in ONE world order, an idea that the US supports I believe. Maybe I watch too much sci-fi. But it has to be democratic, peaceful, and it has to be global. That’s the catch. No?

Conclusion: I am all for the Democrats social agendas, but I’m also not selfish and don’t think I’m the center of the world. I think middle eastern people are more spoiled than us.

If we took the $100-200 billion or so we have spent in Iraq and put it into research, by now we could all be using alternative fuels, be driving our cars for pennies per mile without polluting the air, be independent of foreign oil (all oil for that matter), and be carbon neutral. Well, maybe not all of that, but certainly a lot of it.