>>>
>>Make that Russia + 1 more in Hamilton, NJ.
>>No problem that I'm in the minority. I voted for McGovern in 1972.
>>Now, that was really being in a minority- he won one state and it wasn't even mine, but look how things turned out.
>>
>>I was around when Truman was severely criticized for firing MacArthur, who advocated a more aggressive stance toward China.
>>Ike was also criticized for ending the Korean war the way he did.
>>
>>Both were vindicated.
>>
>>It's comfortable to advocate for wars that we can't possibly fight in.
>>
>>I find that a good way to evaluate a combat situation is to ask:
>>If we had to draft people to fight in it, what kind of response do you think we'd get?
>
>I think last sentence carries a lot of truth - I think eliminating draft is/was a big mistake

Agreed. Nixon did it, in spite of the caution from his mentor, Eisenhower.
We are still paying for that mistake.

>I do think it is better to stop bad guys early - even if they are thousands of miles away and not on your border.
19 people with box cutters caused the US to spend more than 1 $trillion and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the hunt for a diabetic Arab on dialysis.
Innocent people are still being slaughtered.
The depth of the error of that reaction and the magnitude of that atrocity are unfathomable.
Except for its countenance of slavery this country has never committed a more egregious act.

Stop bad guys early?
Who are the bad guys?