Apparently that littel session behind the wood shed went well.

If we had never invaded Iraq, would the fate of our country STILL be tied to the stability of Iraq?

This is EXACTLY what Colin Powel meant when he said, "If you break it, you own it."

Iraq wasn't a threat to our nation BEFORE we went inot the that country, but now the fate of our nation is dependent upon their success? As Tim said, I'm glad things are going so well then.

"Once Tonkin is lost, there is really no barrier before Suez" -- French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, commanding in French Indochina, 1951

"The French are holding Indochina, without which we would lose Japan and the Pacific" -- Thomas E. Dewey, 1952

"We must never forget that if the war in Vietnam is lost, the right of free speech will be extinguished throughout the world" -- Richard Nixon, 1965

To tell the truth, I actually AM more worried by terror groups, but we've just been fed this line of bull exhaust so many times.

I prefer the Anthony Robbins/Zig Zigler approach:

You are the master of your own destiny.

There was not this amount of terror in Iraq until we invaded Iraq. We have made things much worse. I agree with Powell, saying, "if we break it, we own it" to a certain extent. However, it wasn't as if "it" was a perfect little nation, either. Did we break it? No. We destroyed it. Was it broken before we destroyed it? Yes.

The way that this administration has attempted to deal with terrorism has been a fiasco from the beginning. No one in this administration has any experience in foreign policy - especially our Secretaries of State and Defense. Bush has attempted to gain respect through flexing our military muscle, which has proven to be comparable to an 80 year old woman's sagging tri-cep, in terms of Rumsfeld- NOT OUR TROOPS in dealing with this kind of enemy.

This administration has screwed up countless times, on record, in THIS country - a democratic, peace-loving (as long as gas is cheap), republic. If they can't get it right here at home, what chance do they really have in an unstable region like the Middle East?

To some extent, the world is watching the USA slowly begin to metaphorically "tuck it's tail between it's legs" as Iraq and the rest of the Middle East spiral out of control. However, they are responsible for their destiny as is the USA is responsible for it's destiny. Neither one is directly linked to the other.