Cost of "Presumed" Safety

Retired General Tommy Franks said in a speech before the National Rifle Association in May 2006 that the cost of the dead and wounded soldiers was worth our safety, even if the dead was 240,000 instead of 2,400. I wonder if he has any thought about all the innocent women and children in Iraq that have been killed and wounded?

I think the general is making a false assumption. I do not believe we are safer than before America invaded Iraq. I believe we are less safe. With all the new government laws since 9/11, we certainly are less free. How is it, the more people are killed for freedom, the less freedom we have? I believe we have made more enemies than before our invasion of other countries. We have become the arrogant bully of the world. People fear a bully, but they do not respect him. Everyone hates a bully and wants to see the bully destroyed.

If I invade my neighbor's house with force and aggression then I have made an enemy. I could much easier protect myself from my neighbor with a good fence, a gun, door locks and alarms. General Franks and other war lovers will say I would be justified invading my neighbor if my neighbor was trying to kill me. General Franks, with his warrior mentality, would never ask why my neighbor was trying to kill me. My neighbor would be trying to kill me because I was supporting his enemy. The United States has supported the enemies of Islam and the United States has meddled too much into the affairs of our middle eastern neighbors.

The United States should make sure it has good locks and good alarms to protect the citizens and leave the rest of the world to their own religious, political, and economic affairs.

Bilbo Baggins