Reply #27: DU is not the Democratic Party. [View All]

[Liberty Belle]

The Party is more broad-based, with room for more divergent views.

Many of us support the military in the sense that we support our troops and want to see the military personnel taken care of and treated with respect.

A fair amount of Democrats may still support the Iraq War based on intelligence that was available at the time, perhaps. Though in hindsight the lack of WMD and the lies told by the President to justify the war have justifiably eroded such support.

I think you'd have a tough time, though, finding many who would support future invasions to spread democracy through the mideast.

First, it violates international law to invade a country that poses no direct threat to the U.S.

Second, it results in tremendous loss of life amoung U.S. soldiers, could lead to a draft as the military's resources are drained, and causes devastating losses among the civilian populations.

Third, invading and killing innocent civilians turns the population against the U.S., creating even more terrorists than are destroyed. This method creates a seemingly endless cycle of violence.

Fourth, it is quite dubious whether the Iraq invasion will really result in a democratic government that is better for its citizens. It now appears likely that fundamentalist Islamists will be running the country--and women fear that their rights will be taken away under Islamic Law. Iraq women have long enjoyed freedoms of Western nations--now they may be forced to don burkas and have their lives severely restricted.

Are those results really worth sacrificing thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis--or citizens of other nations?