The last thing we need is another invasion

[Templeton]

Enough is enough with a country invading another in the hopes of gaining an uperhand in a global conflict.

Hearing that Venezuala and Equador wanted to start their own war in South America made me a little uneasy seeing as the world can't go two or less years without one country taking the other.

Since September 11th there have been 4 invasions. Allies into Afghanistan, Americans into Iraq, Israil into South Lebenon, and Ethiopia into Somalia. There is also a famous Turkey into the already invaded country of Iraq.

Here's how the situations could of been resolved peacefully.

Afganistan: UN pressure for a peace treaty and Muslim blue helmet patrols.

Iraq: Lift embargo and allow the Iraqi people to sell oil freely again.

South Lebennon: Wait for the Security Council to resolve the issue peacfully.

Somalia: Peace and economic treaty with the Islamic Court Union.

Despite all these peace concepts we must face the fact that these countries have been invaded and must except foreign rule until the matter can be resolved peacefully. Because war is a dirty, costly concept and we need to never use it ever again, we can only live our lives with out regretting what has been done.

Thanks for your time.

Ryan

[Alucard]

I would merely like to point out that there are between 30 and 40 wars going on Templeton, only the 'important' ones see daylight of mordern Western minds though, but I just wanted to make clear that your discontent isn't at it's peak as you thought the warfare ended at a lower amount.

Kind regards
Mr. Alucard
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Only the dead will see the end of war...



Proud Blade of the Nameless Lands, Alucard, Blade of Shadows

[Jowy Atreides]

The South American issue has already been resolved.

Perhaps a UN-brokered peace treaty would've worked in Afghanistan, but I think it's only natural that it will take some time for Afghanistan to become a stable country, as they've essentially been in a civil war since the late 70's. Blue helmets are really only there to "watch" the peace, rather than "keep" the peace. If certain parties don't want peace, as multiple groups in Afghanistaion don't, then there's really nothing that can be done (if blue helmets were sent in, not with the current situation). Personally, the only group I support 100% is the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a group that wants equal rights for women, and secular democracy. I think progress would come much faster if the U.S. left Iraq and put those troops in Afghanistan.

I'm assuming that we are talking about Iraq when Saddam Hussein ruled. Personally, I think Iraq is doomed no matter what you do, as the various religious sects just can't seem to get along, unless they fear retribution (as they did when Saddam ran the place). But, Saddam's Iraq was a pretty crappy place too, so it's a double-edged sword. I've always thought that, once we leave, someone worse than Hussein will take power in the ensuing power vacuum.

It goes without saying that the Arab-Israeli conflict is a very complex situation, so I wouldn't bother unilaterally condemning Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other actor in that play. Israel really can't just sit around, as they would risk looking weak, and may invite other players to attack. If they waited long enough, Hezbollah alone could probably bomb the place to oblivion. Just the other day there was a bombing at a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem. If this sort of stuff were happening to any other country, nobody would condemn them for invading whichever country was responsible (or was harboring the people who perpetrated the attack), but for some reason Israel is held to some unrealistic standard. Has Israel made mistakes? Absolutely. But so has every other group involved in this conflict, so it's not something worth noticing.

Even if the ICU signed a peace treaty with its enemies, there are still areas like Somaliland that would have to be dealt with, and it probably wouldn't be pretty. That whole region is extremely unstable, and as most people don't like their situation, all of the various rebel groups always have plenty of troops, and I doubt we'll see a peaceful East Africa in our lifetimes.

I'm opposed to most of the ongoing wars, but I don't think the war in Afghanistan is immoral, at least on the American side. I generally support Turkey in the Turkey-PKK conflict, the League of Democracy in Myanmar, and Fatah in the Fatah-Hamas conflict.

While I do support Turkey in its conflict with the Working Party, I think they could solve the issue peacefully if they would just treat the Kurds a little better. The ban on religious garments in public-owned institutions is inappropriate, as was the policy of not allowing citizens to speak, read, or write in anything other than Turkish (Kurds speak Kurdish). Thankfully, Turkey is subject to the European Court of Human Rights, so they have been forced to treat minorites better.

Even looking at wars that have been over for quite some time, I don't bother condemning every last one of them, especially the ones that affect me directly. I don't know if you live in the United States, but I think it would be difficult for any American to unilaterally oppose all war, as this country was founded on war. No matter where you live, the story is probably the same.

In all situations, I would ultimately want conflicts to be resolved peacefully, without resorting to war, so I support the creation of a federal Department of Peace, and the Institute of Peace. Failing that, however, it's only realistic to support whatever will get the job done, including war.

[Shad]

Mr. Templeton,

Telling all of the bad guys "Hey we're tired of playing so let's just say we won ok?" is a fabulous solution if you want to be responsible for the future deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

Religious wars don't resolve themselves with a smile and a handshake.

[eXistence of Fly]

[kuwaizair]

[Shad]

[Sparhawk]

I think that if the issue could have been resolved so easily we would all be living fat and happy. Like someone said above, there are multiple conflicts around the world. Just because you see some on the evening news and don't really give a damn about others doesn't mean they are not taking place. Last year, an estimated 3 million people died in Africa due to open conflict.

That figure doesn't include Darfur.


Thinking things through and trying to talk people down are pretty obvious things. To say they were never attempted is a joke.
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[Vextor]

There's about 30 armed conflicts going on around the world right now. The number was close to 50 armed conflicts back in the year 2000, so we actually have less conflicts these days compared to back then. The difference is that the media gives a pretty biased report on these conflcits. Back in 2000, the USA wasn't involved in any large-scale conflict so nobody cared what went on outside the USA. Now that we have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, people are exposed to more news stories relating to international conflicts.

[Tullaryx]

To add to what Vex just said the conflicts mentioned in the first post pretty much highly reported on due to the fact that the United States is a factor in it either actively or passively. Iraq and Aghanistan the US is actively participating in while the South Lebanon and Colombia/Ecuador incident has the US supporting the former on. There's no mention of the on-going conflict in Chechnya between Chechens and the Russians. there's the one about Darfur already mentioned. Just last year we've had both Ethiopia and Eritrea pretty much warring with each other for a couple weeks.

If the US is involved in some way they'll be blamed for it one way or the other. While I agree wars should just go away I'm realistic and pragmatic enough that if man hasn't figured out a more peaceful way to resolve disgreements since we as a species were still just nomadic, fur-wearing tribes then who is to say we'll find the golden ticket to lasting peace just around the corner.

Man is a violent species and history seems to support this quite well. I would even put out there that it's due to man's war-like tendencies which has led to countless scientific, medical and technical progress throughout man's history.
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[Amyral]