Originally posted by Conquistadork
When it comes to the youth of a nation wanting a regime change, I think it's safe to say that can be applied to any nation at this particular moment
in history. Especially in the US.
Does that mean Venezuela is going to start bombing military facilities and launch amphibious assaults on Florida?
Doubt it.
The people of a nation wanting a change in government is hardly justification for another war, especially when that same thought process could be
applied to almost any major nation. If we started liberating people based on their feelings towards their government we should start with ourselves
and then worry about others.
well, it is true that the will of the people wanting change is not justification for another country to declare war, it IS justification for a
change
However, I disagree when you say that the thought could be applied to any other nation. Here and in other democratic country, change can come about
through elections, and public opinion will (ideally) rule. In closed societies like iran, that is not possible. The ruling party, in this case
conservative muslims, censor the society and do not allow dissent to affect them. This is ecspecially true in theocraticly ruled countries like Iran,
where almost all aspects of people's lives are under government control.
It is in these despotic governments that the hatred and the sort of frantic patriotism exists that spawns those who commit terrorism. That is not to
say that all terrorists come from these sorts of governments, but it is very true that these sorts of governments do create a sort of breeding ground
for the extremism required of terrorism. That is why we as a free people must foster change in such countries, to not only protect ourselves, but open
closed societies and allow the personal freedom that is necessary for peace.
Of course, fostering change does not mean you have to invade, there are many other ways to cause change in a closed society from the outside. The best
way, in my opinion, to end Iran's theocracy is to let the youth keep watching mtv on thier satillite televisions, or in other words expose them to
our culture. While our culture is far from perfect, young Iranians see our society and they envy it. They grow tired of thier closed, constrictive
society, and grow to desire a more open country. However, this sort of method takes time, and those in power in Iran see these changes coming and
become even more adament in thier control over thier people and hatred of the example we set. So if Iran becomes a threat before these changes can
take place, an military invasion would be necessary to protect our own country, and to liberate the iranian people. The negatives of this of course
are the loss in American lives, and the chance that other neighboring countries will use a war in Iran as an excuse to radicalize themselves, which is
a little of what is happening in Iraq. So, its a tough decision and all consequences must be considered before war should be declared.
