[goodnesswins]

You know, I heard someone yesterday somewhere give this analogy (paraphrased)....Say there's a guy in your neighborhood who says he has a gun, and he wants to kill your family....YOU do NOT really KNOW if he has a gun, and he hasn't attempted to kill your family lately, but, he sure talks a lot about it, and he has family members saying the same thing....WHAT would YOU DO?

[AlbionGirl]

Respectfully, a problem I see w/your analogy is that in place of a one on one confrontation w/said murderer, we demanded that young men and women do our bidding in Iraq.

We -the average Joe or Jane looking to the Government for protection- defended and continue to defend ourselves by proxy. I'm not saying that I don't understand or think it necessary to do so, only that it carries a moral weight much heavier than the illustration you referenced.

I think that this story has the power to hurt President Bush in that it will make it very, very difficult in the future to pursue potential threats based on the same rationale.

[billbears]

Say there's a guy in your neighborhood who says he has a gun, and he wants to kill your family....YOU do NOT really KNOW if he has a gun, and he hasn't attempted to kill your family lately, but, he sure talks a lot about it, and he has family members saying the same thing....WHAT would YOU DO?

Except the fact that the 'guy' isn't in your neighborhood, he's three cities away, he has no transportation to get to your neighborhood, and after a few minutes of observation you realize he was just talking trash to appear to be the big guy in his neighborhood.

[Tribune7]

And he had made attempts to kill your family in the past. The war was right.