As every nation in the world except the US knows, the way we have acted in the last 15 or so years has engendered much hate and many enemies. Even from people who where initially on our side. They will visit violence upon America and American interests and it will be understandable.

I see it the same way but want to add the hatred goes back farther than 15 years- before the wars. The resentment then didn’t stem from playing “Wackamole” with them now.

You’ll never acknowledge this, but to fight an enemy without a uniform in house to house engagements and not on a battlefield is going to require the killing of the people they’re hiding behind.

Look at the B-52 carpet bombing. That’s precise? Cluster bombs in cities. Napalm. A proud history of terrorism, from Dresden, Hamburg, Agent Orange, “Shock and Awe”. Attacking innocent families at night, even the rape and killing of that little girl. All forgotten and forgiven.

There you go again. Quit trying to tell me there is a moral way to fight a war and moral ways to kill people. I don’t buy it.

Robert Bales served 3 tours in Iraq and was sent to Afghanistan under protest. He acted alone, not in the service of the US government. It’s been described as a rampage. In this case,America did not “target” civilians.

And we whine and howl when someone hits us a little. True, it’s a tragedy on a personal level, absolutely nothing compared to what the US has and is perpetrating.

When it comes to war, you either have a desire to see our country somehow perform morally in your eyes, or you belong with those that danced in the streets on 911. I’ll assume the former.

And lets face it, other Europeans were doing the same thing all over the Americas, as well as Africa and Asia. This is history.

Still, there has been great moral progress, things are getting better, and our record has been better than most.

You’re starting to sound absolutist and rigid, one-way, my-way-or-the-highway. Careful, that’s how the other side thinks.

Fight for what’s right, but no conspiracies, please. We’ve all had enough of that.

Once someone crosses the line that prevents them from seeing the US objectively they can never cross back, and the US can commit any crime without blame.

There is no sense even discussing it. The US has pure intentions and is forced by the evil of the badguys into acting in ways it finds unacceptable in other.

Sometimes the national interest is served by moral actions, even a noble self-sacrifice, after all, being a good neighbor usually pays off in the long run, even from a strictly self-centered point of view. Likewise, unnecessary brutality and cruelty may have exactly the opposite effect one hopes it will, it may embolden your enemy, not intimidate him. But that is always a judgement call, and there is always a cost-benefit analysis.

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.

War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.

William Tecumseh Sherman

And the “Yes, but – - -” is unseemly. Both acts are morally reprehensible and invite retribution. Both acts abandon the moral high ground. America does not have a right to be both immoral and blameless.

If you need any proof of this, consider the epidemic of rape that is now sweeping through our armed forces, as our own troops are sexually assaulted by their comrades, and the command structure does everything it can to sweep it under the rug. These are not ideological or political rapes.

For that matter, consider the epidemic of suicide that is now sweeping through our military, where self-inflicted deaths now exceed combat deaths. These are stresses brought on by prolonged and repeated combat tours and an uncertain economy back home when they return. Its the price we pay for not having a draft.

Google “rape in the armed forces” and settle down for some troubling reading. I didn’t even bother to try “suicide in the armed forces”.

“Residents of three villages in the Panjwai District of Kandahar Province described a terrifying string of attacks in which the soldier, who had walked more than a mile from his base, tried door after door, eventually breaking in to kill within three separate houses. At the first, the man gathered 11 bodies, including those of four girls younger than 6, and set fire to them, villagers said.”

First, were these civilians? Were they deliberately targeted? Was it an American who did it? Was that American using weaponry supplied by the American government? Did those children deserve to die?

Do you think the people of that country and religion would resent that action? Do you think they would be tempted to strike back at America?

What would you do?

Now, please, no more “America does not target civilians.” That guy was as much “America” as the Statue of Liberty, as you or I, to those people. Trying the “Yes, but – - – ” excuse is what children do. Countries, just as adults, should accept the consequences of their actions and not try to claim a right to be irresponsible and immune. That’s sociopathic.

And puts me in the position of advocating that Americans realize it’s actions have consequences just as any mature adult should realize.

“A US Army soldier has pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and helping murder her and her family.
“James Barker agreed to the plea deal at the start of his court-martial in the US to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer said.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6152118.stm

Was that girl a civilian? Yes. Was her family civilians? Almost certainly. Did the American soldier deliberately target them? Yes. If that happened to your family would you resent the country whose troops perpetrated that crime? Of course. All of the “Yes, but – - -” BS in the world will not excuse the US of responsibility.

They are all heinous crimes, the Boston bombings and the one described here. However, there can be no more nonsense about Americas moral superiority and the unfairness of bombing American civilians, please. It’s an insult to your intelligence. And places you as far right as anyone can be.

The obvious conclusion is that being squarely in the middle of the road, I must therefore be the moderate and reasonable one.