I've said before that the GOP may end up being the peace party in 2012

[LBJDemocrat]

And Obama's latest argument reinforces my belief that this will be the case. It seems that the Democratic candidates want America to get bogged down in wars, just so long as it isn't Iraq. We first saw Biden push for the idea of US troops in Darfur; now we're seeing Obama press for an invasion of Pakistan, which could push the nuclear power closer towards an Islamic revolution.

Flame me all you want, but I don't believe these wars are worth fighting. I can understand the rationale to stay in Iraq (i.e. we destabilized it; now it's our job to prevent genocide from occurring there) better than I can understand the tough-guy nonsense about Darfur and Pakistan.

What do you think?

Edit: For the record, I'm an Edwards supporter; and yes, I saw that he echoed what Obama said. At this point, I believe the best bet for the United States is Wesley Clark, a man who doesn't need to talk big to show the world that he's tough.

Another war in the Islamic world would do nothing but make Iran relatively more powerful.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. I wish the Dems would remind the people of their inherent, Constitutionally protected rights.

Listen to the people.

And, I know what you're saying, this crap about,"Hell, YEAH, I'd attack another country, in a heartbeat" is not fun to hear at the debates.

And, I'm not just talking the top two.

MKJ

[LBJDemocrat]

4. There's an obvious spirit of one-upmanship

in American politics today about the use of force.

[Forkboy]

2. I think this going to be a funny thread.

tough-guy nonsense about Darfur

We'll toss that one out there as example #1 of the humor potential this post contains.You're willing to stop one genocide but stopping the far greater genocide in Darfur,the one we actually have a chance to stop,is "tough-guy nonsense"?

That's a big ass disconnect.

[LBJDemocrat]

6. Who says we have a chance to stop the genocide in Darfur?

Who's telling you it would be easier to fight against the Sudanese than the Iraqi insurgents? What about the Islamist insurgents that might pour in from the Horn of Africa?

I'd prefer seeing the Iraqi genocide stopped because we are partly responsible for it.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

10. We could do it with a combination of diplomacy, international pressure and UN? NATO? "peacekeepers".

The US alone? :shrug: MKJ

[liberalpragmatist]

3. Have you read Obama's speech?

It does NOT call for an invasion of Pakistan.

Second, while I don't think ground troops are the answer, there is an ongoing GENOCIDE in Darfur, which the world is doing nothing to stop. For Biden to be entertaining the idea is radically different than an unprovoked invasion of a random Muslim country (which is what Bush did vis-a-vis Iraq).

[waiting for hope]

5. Do you think perhaps that

many Democrats in office are being "pushed" into this direction? How many times have we heard the meme that we are soft on terror, we are in a time of war so a vote for a Democrat is a vote for losing, we are unpatriotic and un American, we are pacifists and tree hugging liberals (I love being a tree hugging liberal BTW) and blah blah blah. This is a scary time we are in - I'll admit to that. But I would hate to think that they are caving in to combat a crappy image the GOP has painted over the last couple of years.

[LBJDemocrat]

7. Not necessarily

The Korean War and the Vietnam War were both started by Democratic administrations. I think that, sadly, political party is a lot weaker a determinant of foreign policy than is normally assumed. It seems like once someone's elected into office, the same forces that influenced the last guy are still in place.

[rhombus]

8. No one is advocating invasion of Pakistan

What Obama, Edwards, Biden and Clinton agree on is taking out legitimate terrorist threats like bin Laden and his gang. Look, these guys are sworn enemies of the United States. We need to kill them before they attempt to attack us again. If there is credible evidence to kill them, we should go for it.

[LBJDemocrat]

9. AQ is a highly decentralized organization

I don't believe that killing OBL would accomplish a damn thing. The ideal plan would be to imprison him, as Turkey did with Ocalan of the PKK and combine that with pressure towards democratization and aid specifically geared for economic growth in the Islamic world.