Biggest reason not to go to war

[epicstruggle]

What is the biggest, most important reason you believe that we should not go to war for. Please only vote if you are against the war against Iraq. Please explain why you voted that way. If i forgot some important reason please reply to thread.

Thanks,

[Simon F]

What is the biggest, most important reason you believe that we should not go to war for. Please only vote if you are against the war against Iraq. Please explain why you voted that way. If i forgot some important reason please reply to thread.

Thanks,
You didn't define who "We" are.

[epicstruggle]

We would be the US and the Coalition of the willing. I like that phrase. Basically its most of Europe with the exception of France, Germany, and I think Belgium now. Also a few countries in the Middle East are in the Coalition. Lets not forget Australia (pretty dam cool of them too). I might be missing some countries but Im sure that covers most of them.

later,

[covermye]

The oil argument is so old and tired it's not even funny. I can't believe on a message board with the collective intellect of this one, the "it's all about oil" argument is winning.

Now for everyone's favorite HTML face: :roll:

[epicstruggle]

The oil argument is so old and tired it's not even funny. I can't believe on a message board with the collective intellect of this one, the "it's all about oil" argument is winning.

Now for everyone's favorite HTML face: :roll:

Im kinda suprised too, by the oil option being so high. I wish people would take a minute to explain their vote.

later,

[Gubbi]

The only reason to not go to war is that it will kill a whole bunch of people.

The primary reason to go to war is to oust Saddam and his regime.

IMO. the latter weighs heavier than the first; Considering the amount of suffering Saddam has inflicted on the Iraqis already, also I have alot of confidence in the capabilities of the western military forces (USA in particular) to get this over with quickly.

Cheers
Gubbi

[Crusher]

Innocent people will die if we don't attack Iraq, and innocent people will die if we do attack Iraq. The difference is, by taking one path, we're allowing a murderous dictator to kill innocent people without just cause. By taking the other path, innocent people will die accidentally for a short time through our attempt to prevent that from happening indefinetly.

Some countries will hate us if we don't attack Iraq, and other countries will hate us if we do attack Iraq. The difference is, the countries that hate us for attacking them are spineless hypocrites, while the countries that would hate us for not attacking them are our allies who are interested in fundamental humanitarian rights of all citizens of the world.

Oil will be expensive if we don't attack Iraq, but oil will still be expensive if we do attack Iraq. The U.S. isn't going to gain control of Iraqi oil fields as a result of ousting Sadam, and OPEC is still going to determine the price and rate at which it sells oil.

The militant Muslim fundamentalists will hate us if we don't attack Iraq, and the militant Muslim fundamentalists will hate us if we do attack Iraq. The number of people hating us isn't going to increase, because the people who hate us don't hate us for our actions, they hate us for our beliefs. The people who dislike our actions but don't hate us, might dislike this action, but if they agree with our beliefs, they won't hate us when we try to protect those beliefs.

[Joe DeFuria]

I don't care what you say...3DMark is relevant!

Oh...wait... :oops:

:D

[Crusher]

:lol:

[Natoma]

The biggest reason is that we shouldn't go it alone. Yes we can win this war handily by ourselves. No one questions the military might of the United States. It's in the aftermath that we need our allies.

With budget estimates that the war will cost roughly $100 - $200 Billion (not to mention the $20 - $40 Billion that has already been spent by deploying troops and moving equipment half way around the world), as well as cost estimates for reconstruction of Iraq (which includes bringing their oil field production to modernity) nearing $1 - $2 Trillion after a decade, do we really want to do this by ourselves?

I think not.

The financial aspect of this doesn't even begin to cover the tremendous swell of animosity that will be directed solely at our country from the muslim world if we go it alone. If we have UN support, we can rightfully say that this wasn't just us. It was the whole world condemning Saddam. That will make it far far easier for our "allies" in the muslim world (the saudi royal family for example) to back us and still appear "legitimate" to their constituencies.

[amk]

There's no option for instability in Iraq, i.e. a Kurd/Sunni Arab/ Shi-ite Arab problem, or fanatical Islam filling the power vacuum (I've heard the possibility of this scared off the Coalition in the Gulf War), which could potentially spread across the Middle East. Result: big, bloody mess.

Or for that matter a few kilos of anthrax mysteriously going missing in the confusion.

[epicstruggle]

Two points:
-I think the cost of war and rebuild iraq might be high but I think the cost well pay out in the end. This might spark a revolution in the middle east, freedom for all. Take Afghanastan, people there can eat ice cream, listen to music, women can get jobs instead of begging for money, health care for women has improved, etc. I think the people there are alot happier without the taliban. Im not naive, there are still problems there but at least they can get vanilla ice cream (only flavor right now :) (source cnn)) but hey its a start.
-The arguement about what kinda govermnent would be set up in afgha. is similar to the one for iraq. but i think a coalition could work out very well. these people have to learn to live with each other. And by showing them a representative goverment they might find it better than having one group rule everyone.

my 2 cents
later,

[Gubbi]

The resulting lower oil price will more than pay for any war (and subsequent rebuild of Iraq) from a global economic point of view, just like the last Gulf War.

Cheers
Gubbi