Originally Posted by Gibralter

Only problem with that is, they don't have to be Canadian citizens to join the army and the tests are extremely easy to pass.

Personaly i dont car hou smart yu is. ifn yu can see and shot a gun yu shud be abl tu hunt.

Only problem with that is, they don't have to be Canadian citizens to join the army and the tests are extremely easy to pass.

Originally Posted by soonerdude

lmao Abom I am american now but was Canadian. Tell the people the truth. Canada's military couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag that America had torn open for them.

Hey I'm just quoting what Jean Cretien said

Now that Steven Harper's the Prime Minister tho, he's infusing a few hundred million into the military, so maybe we'll be able to fight off those wild dogs that were biting us in Afghanistan when we first went there

lmao Abom I am american now but was Canadian. Tell the people the truth. Canada's military couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag that America had torn open for them.

Originally Posted by Gibralter

As for fact checking in the war, as I understand it, Bush did check with our allies (GB the only one that i can think of)....though you might have a point if you said on whether the sharing of information determined whether we go to war. Shoot...I lost my train of thought.

You guys asked us as well (Canada) to go in, but we have a limited army (in numbers) and were occupied in Afghanistan, so we declined to join in Iraq.

Originally Posted by joethetowman

I dont know if this is out of line if it is please let me know. But i just had to vent somewhere and i figured this was the best place. Ive been reading on multiple forums about how alot of people cant stand our government, our laws, and especially george dubya. The way i see it we must be doing something right or we wouldnt have the problems at the border everybody keeps complaing about. And everybody thats complaining about the U.S. mistreating the known terrorists. In MY OPINION if you dont like the good ole (united states of the offended) there are planes leaving it all the time and i will be happy to chip in on a plane ticket.
If this offends anyone i am very sorry but it is my opinion and as anerican over the age of 21 i have the right to one.

AMEN BROTHER "JOETHETOWMAN FOR PRESIDENT"

Does America consider itself the policemen of the world? I actually don't know if that is "America's" perception or an image placed on us.

As for fact checking in the war, as I understand it, Bush did check with our allies (GB the only one that i can think of)....though you might have a point if you said on whether the sharing of information determined whether we go to war. Shoot...I lost my train of thought.

We consider ourselves the policemen of the world. There aren't a lot of countries that share that opinion. In my opinion, the UN should be the police of the world. Obviously most of the funding/supplies/troops in the UN come from the United States...but at least then there would be a general consensus as to what should happen for the good of everybody. Not just the good of one.

I disagree. If there is good, solid evidence that a strike should happen, it should definitely be researched. You said that comparing intelligence and seeking advice is a good idea. I agree. George Bush did neither. He just refused to listen to the UN. If everyone is just going to ignore the UN anyway, why was it made? And why are countries still trying to join to this day?

Well....not wanting to get into a seperate debate about the reason for going into Iraq....if the evidence shows that a preemptive strike is needed then i believe that we should carry it out, instead of passing the inforamtion to the UN for them to debate and stuff for a few years. Now confereing with other nations such as GB, I am for. Comparing intelligence is a good idea, as well as seeking advice/opinions. Don't know if I explained that right.

And since many consider us the policeman of the world, sometimes you gotta be tough and no one's friend.

Well, if we're attacked, we have the right to defend ourselves...but I don't think the UN would say that we couldn't defend ourselves. However, taking a "preemptive strike" on someone when you don't have a good reason to is bad news. Then you're picking a fight. In elementary school, I learned that nobody likes a bully. If we continue to bully people around and force people to share our point of view, it will have negative impacts in the future.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear in my intent with my last post. I ment that the US shouldn't need to gain UN support in its actions. True, in the global arena it would help smooth ways with the other nations but in my mind the US should be worried about carring out agends that perserve our lives and ideals first and the other nations second.

You misunderstood me. I don't think the UN should control domestic politics. The UN was founded as a global peace keeper (more or less). If the UN tells us not to do something and we do it anyway...that just makes us look bad. That's exactly what we did. We told the majority of the world that we could care less about its opinion. You're also correct with the UN being mostly useless. On the other hand, it gives other countries the chance to voice their opinion about global politics. If we had approval from the UN to go into Iraq, we would have gained legitimacy...not lost it. Does that make more sense?

Unforutuantly, from the litle i have read or have heard about, the UN seems to be a little on the useless side. Not that it hasn't done good, but i voted for the President of the United States to lead the country the best he could, not the UN leader. It might be selfish but I am an American and I care about America zealously. If I was in Canada, then i would care about Canada first.

Originally Posted by paulcman

Amen Towman! While I certainly have my issues with how our government handles things, especially the current war efforts, I am getting really tired of the whiners out there dissing the US of A. I, too, am an American, over the age of 21 and I vote! If someone doesn't like the way the country is going, wait 4 years, then get out and vote. I am afraid that most of the whiners out there are people who don't actually make their opinions count in the voting booth.

Thanks for having the courage, and taking the time to say what needs to be said!

If we were in a true democracy, it would be a lot better. I like the way this country started out, and the basic rights that are applied to all of our citizens. I don't hate this country, but I DO hate the way we are treating everybody else right now. I vote too, but that doesn't really matter because of a little thing called the electoral college. Because of this, we have a president that did not win the popular vote...yet he's in office anyway. I understand why the electoral college was originally put into place, but it no longer has a purpose. People in general are educated enough to make their own decisions, and technology is capable of keeping track of the popular vote quickly and easily. The electoral college is outdated and needs to go away.

Originally Posted by joethetowman

I believe in complete and total annihilation of the enemy problem solved.

This is about the worst thing that could happen. Every time that a government has tried to take over the world in the past, it has failed. The Romans came the closest, but as you can see...no more Roman empire. No more Nazi empire for that matter. Killing our enemies won't get us very far...it will just make people more pissed off at us than they already are. We need to not let Bush set a precedent in ignoring the UN before we start invading other countries. If we have the support of most of the rest of the world, then we will be able to regain some of our world legitimacy. Bush saying, "**** you, UN, I'm going to do it anyway," is awful for future generations. If we get attacked sometime in the future (near or distant), countries will definitely think twice before helping us out because of the "**** off, I'll do what I want" reputation that we have now.

ats right you know how they are