[Professor S]

Jeez Jonbo, have a little fun. If you notice, there were two emoticons making a subtle hint that I was kidding around.

But taking Dyflon's comments seriously for a moment...

I can see where he's coming from. He is upset that anyone is dying because the US is involved in their country, whether or not the US presence is actually sparing tens of thousands of lives in just this year alone. Its an idealist view to be certain, but I would rather have someone care too much than not care at all.

I do care that there are innocent people that are being killed in Iraq, where many here doubt it or not. I just look at it differently than many of you and while the prisoners beaten to death and civilians that have been killed in crossfire make me cringe, I also find solace in the numbers that I posted earlier.

On average over 35,000 Iraqi civilians and innocents did not die this year because Saddam Hussein is gone.

Think about that. 35,000 Iraqi civilians are still alive today because of the United States involvement in Iraq. Take away the singular examples of abuse, the terrorism and day to day fight and just think about those numbers. Thirty Five Thousand...

Now is the US perfect in what they have done? Hell no. The abuse has to stop not only because it is morally and legally reprehensible, but because we are the most powerful nation in the the world, and even if other nations don't want to admit it, they look up to us. If we cannot hold it together and set an example, who will they look to? Especially when we are trying to install a democracy in a land that is very hesitant of democracy to begin with. There aren't enough troops to police the area considering the amount of insurgents crossing the borders everyday and we haven't been able to organize enough of the neighboring countries to help in policing their own borders. Finally, even though I loathe to admit it due to their massive corruption and greed, we need to get the UN involved and involved heavily to lend international credibility but more importantly to help gain the trust of the people we are trying to help.

And yes, all of these areas the US is struggling with and need to improve ASAP, but in the end:

35,000 Iraqi's who would have been dead are now still alive because of US involvement in Iraq. 35,000 families still have husbands, wives and/or children because of the US involvement in Iraq. 35,000 people now still have hope due to US involvement in Iraq.

To me, this trumps any negative you could possibly present.