We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
DEMOCRACY! God grants liberty, not mortals. The ballot represents a peaceful transition into the future, nothing more - nothing less. The evolution of our intellect demands all mankind will eventually turn to the ballot or some version of it. Think about the social dynamics happening in front of us. Those of us with the right to bear arms will use them to protect and propagate methods that allow us and our children to peacefully transition into the future. We are duty bound to use them against persons who would strip us of our rights; freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and yes, including our right to bear arms.
While life has gotten easier for many in the West and arms have a different meaning to us than they did to the founders of our great nation, there is no guarantee that life will stay easy. In fact, withdrawal, disengagement, separatism, and isolationism are all behaviors that guarantee life will become untenable. There are those among us, and with family members, who have invented arms so powerful that these arms could erase the works of our preceding generations. We cannot let these tools slip into the hands of tyrants and therefore tyrant must go the way of the dinosaur. The Iranian government with its medieval intellect cannot come to possess the tools that could render them capable of destroying Washington. Iraq cannot slip into another brand of dictatorship! There will be no sequel to Saddam!
Accomplishing these goals will not be easy but they must be accomplished. I'm glad you posted this because it is a view, although terribly wrong, worth critical analysis.
The tenets of Islam do not state that all men are created equal. It does state that male Muslim believers are above all others, including their wives. All others are considered infidels or apostates.
Mr. Fitzgerald has it right when he says in this and other writings that the problem in the Middle East and elsewhere were mostly Muslims live is the religion of Islam itself. There are no states in the ME, including Iraq, with the exception of Israel and perhaps Turkey in some areas, where pluralism as we experience here in the USA is likely ever to take hold. The stigma and punishment experienced by non-Muslims, women and other minority sects in the ME can not be denied. Just ask the Kurds, Coptic Christians, Armenians, Maronites, African Christians and animists who have been shunned and slaughtered by the thousands by both secular and theocratic regimes in the ME. The best that can happened when we do withdraw from Iraq, after establishing a modicum of stability and security, is for the major sects to divide the country naturally into automonous regions. This will upset many Sunni Arabs in Iraq but they will not be able to do much about it without a viable army and oil resources in their sphere of influence. They will be overwhelmed by the power of the Kurds and Shiites. Whether a civil war will occur between Shiites and Sunnis is open to speculation, but if it does happen the Sunnis are in an untenable situation. The Sunnis only hope is if the "great satan," the USA, can prevent them from being slaughtered by revengeful Kurds and Shiites.
"We cannot let these tools slip into the hands of tyrants and therefore tyrant must go the way of the dinosaur."
But tyrants aren't the problem. Unless they're suicidal.
It's small groups getting their hands on unsecured nuclear material for terrorist weapons that is the problem. States can be deterred, non-state actors cannot.