SNIP>
>Many more are going to in the near future. See events in Gaza, Lebanon and India this week. This is not going away. Islamic fundamentalists have declared war on the free world and we can either choose to fight it now or let it fester for another generation and let our children deal with it with even nastier weapons.
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Hi Jake,

I agree that Islamic Fundamentalism has declared war, and I don't think that they've restricted it to the "free world".

My issue is with the concept of a declaration of war against "terrorism".
First, as said earlier, many other countries are in a big battle against terrorism but they haven't seen the need to declare war. They are fighting it aggressively through cooperation and enacting special laws and by restricting the 'battles' within the confines of their own borders.

The Islamic Fundamentalistshave decalred war, but their chances of winning are NIL. There is absolutely no way they can take over the U.S. or Canada or the U.K. or any other reasonably established country. Period.
Yes, they can inflict severe damage and steps MUST be taken to prevent that, but declaring war is way out over the line as I see it.

To me the U.S. being in a "state of war" has been done strictly for political advantage and particularly by/for those people who dream of a different U.S. than its evolution over the last 40-50 years. A small group who, in essence, feel a deep-seated need to impose their own brand of "fundamentalism" on the U.S. and the world.

You say you think it's a good thing that freedom should be spread as far and wide as possible and you support that wholeheartedly.
You don't really think that the vast majority of the U.N. thinks differently, do you? If you do, let me correct you - they do feel that freedom and liberty are great things for any/all people.
So, what was the rush to war with Iraq? A little more patience might well have exposed Saddam for the charlatan he's been proven to be and freedom could have been 'imposed' from within Iraq.
The rush, sadly, was the U.S. fundamentalists grabbing their big once-in-a-lifetime chance to take a shot at building their vision of the world.
What's saddest of all is that they've used words that can be interpreted in many ways and few 'regular folk' would even suspect the rigorous interpretations the perpetrators are using AMONGST THEMSELVES. If they end up with their heart's desire most of us will wake up one day and ask "what the hell happened?!?!".

cheers

SNIP