Originally posted by another user
Now, war in some instances is a necessity to preserve the national defense of a nation. At this point in time, if the Unites States withdrew from the middle east, do you think that would make us safer? Do you think if we just leave Iran alone they won't get to a nuclear weapon? Do you honestly think that they will ever cooperate with the United States? Do you honestly ever think that their government will get rid of terrorists?
No. It's never in a million years would this happen. There are bad people who want to harm the US and will stop at nothing to do so. The US has serious sanctions imposed on Iran and they are still pushing forward with a nuclear program. Iran also wants to wipe Israel off the map with a nuclear weapon as well. Some of these people are extremists. They will not stop if you tell them to. They will not stop from attacking Israel and the United States simply because we tell them to. We can try negotiating all they want, but they act like bratty schoolchildren and will ask for ridiculous things.
I certainly don't think that the US should withdraw from the middle east, but I also think that there shouldn't be a problem in the first place. I'm probably sounding really perfectionist/unrealistic when I say this, but all of these problems are due to those extremists you mentioned and the people that are inherently evil. If EVERYONE on Earth was completely logical and, well, moral (I can't really think of another word), then there would be no reason for any threats to be made towards other countries, and no reason for any countries to have the need to place themselves in other countries for their own safety.
Originally posted by another user
For the most part, I don't feel that war is a proper solution to anything. I am still in favor of a non interventionist military, but enough is enough. The world wouldn't have ended up like this if everyone just got along and didn't get in each other's hair. But then you move on to, are humans inherently good or evil? What if there is a nation that is weak and a nation wants to take it over? Do you think that we can ALL always get along?
I agree with what you're saying here. Do I think that we can ALL get along? Not any time soon, I don't think. However, I think that if we were able to all get along, it would be a LOT easier to get other things done.
I also understand what you're saying with how we wouldn't be where we are today without wars of the past. The US originally sent men to the moon purely because of the competition that the Soviet Union created in the cold war with Sputnik. As soon as the "space race" ended, when the cold war ended (I'm pretty sure), the general public lost interest in space and NASA, and NASA itself went into a slump. But anyway, what I'm trying to say is that competition definitely acts as a catalyst for new discoveries/change, but I think that the question is whether or not competition is the "right" way to make change. Maybe we shouldn't have made it as far as we've made it (don't think I'm referring to some sort of destiny here). I'm now starting to sort of simulate how humanity would function, so for now I'll end my post here, but there is a lot to think about now....