I used to have siblings. They didn't survive. They got killed. No particular reason. They just got killed. Stabbed, corpses dumped, and no one would talk to the police. Me, I was a little more lucky and a lot more wary, and so I didn't get killed. As soon as I came of age, I got the hell out of there.

My condolences. I know from personal experience what it's like to lose family members.

But it's a small world, and I was too close to the destruction of the WTC for comfort. Some of my relatives - from the side of the family that didn't live among street gangs, and were thus still alive - were directly under that dust plume. People I knew were in those towers and never came out.

Once again, my condolences. I also know what it's like to lose friends and/or acquaintences.

It seems that getting the hell out only works up to a point. So much for conflict avoidance and isolationism. There's no way off this planet, so we have to make a stand here on Earth.

So now I'm all pacifist and depressed... not. Depression is a symptom of futility. Fuck futility. Especially pacifism. My anger doesn't turn inward.

I also happen to agree with you here. Except... Bush misled and/or lied to us. All of his pre-war stated reasons for attacking Iraq have been shown to be false. Would the American public accepted going to war, sacrificing our troops and money, because "Saddam was evil"? Was Saddam evil? I think so. Should the U.S. foreign policy be "If we think you're evil, we can attack at will"? I don't think so.

Pacifism and isolationism may not work. But destroying your homebase economy in an attempt to fix the evils of the world also will not work. It will only cause resentment, anger, frustration and retaliation amongst the multitude.

What's the answer? I don't know. I don't have all the necessary information. I do believe the the current administration is completely wrong in thier handling of world affairs. We have surrendered many freedoms for the illusion of security. We have squandered the goodwill of the other nations by the unprovoked attack on Iraq. And now we are told that it will cost another 87 BILLION dollars.

I'm not a Left-wing liberal. Nor am I a Right-wing conservative. I happen to fit somewhere in the middle. I grew up solidly in the lower class. My first paycheck out of HS (at $2.00/hr) netted me more than my father made when he was alive. And my dad was raising a family of 9. I did 21 years in the Army. Saw many things around the world. And I saw how American presidents were perceived by other countries. And how Americans were perceived my other nationalities. I've been to Africa to deliver funds for a village school and got to see first-hand an out pouring of gratitude.

I sense a deep anger in your post. I understand the rational for that anger. I appreciate your feelings of wanting to help the helpless, protect the weak, and right all wrongs. However, we are still governed by rules, regulations and laws. Vigilantism went out with the Wild Wild West. We have to abide by the laws of the nation, and live in the arena of world opinion. Do I wish we could solve all the worlds ills? Yes. Should we do it by force and against the wishes of the rest of the world? Nope.