Decius wrote:
] w1ld wrote:
] ] ] The Skeptics contend that Bush's foreign policy in his
] ] ] second term will turn out to be more cautious and less
] ] ] belligerent than his first, if not by choice, then by
] ] ] compulsion.
]
] I strongly agree with this conclusion.

As do I, though for some other reasons than are mentioned. But yes, I too have heard some Kerry supporters that I know, who are wringing their hands, and saying that Bush's re-election means that we're going to attack Syria and Iran. But I think that the possibilities of that are extremely remote, and would require some extremely aggressive behavior from those countries towards us (like shooting at us), before that would even be a possibility.

With Iraq, there was a much more serious problem that had gone on for many years, with a wide variety of other types of solutions that had already been tried: U.N. resolutions, encouraging revolt, taking Saddam out via covert action, etc., and none of those had worked. Plus let's not forget that Iraqis were regularly *shooting at us* over the no fly zones.

Another thing that made me support the Iraq invasion, was the knowledge that Saddam's neighbors were unanimous in saying that he had to go.

With Iran and Syria though, the situations are *extremely* different. There are many other types of political and diplomatic solutions that remain, and there's not a clear "Remove this dictator" situation. Plus of course, they're not shooting at us.

Bush has also gone on record saying that Iran is trying to work out its own problems, and that he's willing to respect that and give them room.

As things stand, speaking for myself, there is no way that I would support an invasion of Iran or Syria. And I think that most of the rest of the American public would agree.

RE: Foreign Policy: Four More Years