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[spock]

If so,why ?

[spock]

At least,Her Majesty the Queen is harmless enough.

[mizliz]

This week the US has said no, it definitely doesn't need George W. Bush or his political leanings. Bush has screwed up with his warlike measures and Americans are tired of it and wish he was gone. I can only agree.

Come what may, and not for a minute do I believe the Dems will or can do much better, but at least a change of power will show the Republicans that Americans completely disagree with the way Bush is leading his country.

I think that Bush has caused more problems by far than he has solved. Even though the US is a warlike nation, and I believe that they are, they are smart enough to see that the invasion of Iraq and all the tragedy this has led up to, is far more than they bargained for. Even in Canada people here are more and more against having our troops in Afghanistan to help the US to defeat the Taliban terrorists.

Canada is in no way a warlike nation. We don't start wars but we do help our allies when they get into a situation where they need to defend themselves, i.e. WWII. In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, this is really not our battle to fight and today the majority of Canadians want our troops to come home again, and now, and feel it was a huge mistake to send our soldiers in in the first place to kill others. Canada does better at being peacekeepers and that we are glad to be. Some say that peacekeepers are no longer valid, but I say let others fight and kill if they must, although I disagree with that, and let our troops do what they do best--patrol and maintain the peace once it is a given.

[spock]

But,Bush STILL has TWO MORE YEARS !!!!

[Jessica_CDN]

mizliz, it's my impression that support for the war in Afghanistan is split in Canada...I think it's incorrect to state that the majority of Canadians don't support it. Certainly some do not, but there are still many who do.

Speaking of Afghanistan....it's an interesting question, and I find it unfortunate that it gets lumped in with Iraq. Afghanistan is a NATO mission, but it was sanctioned by the UN, which makes it a legitimate war. Do you think the people of Afghanistan were better off before NATO (led by the US) invaded? Was the Taliban a prefered regime?

Certainly, let's not forget that Osama WAS in fact running training camps and a veritable free-for-all in Afghanistan....which again makes the country a legitimate target.

Let's be very careful when we lump these two wars together. In my mind, one is legitimate and one is not.

[wakingdream]

Dubya is a lame duck president now that the democrats are in, but yes, who knows if they will do any better. I think anything is better then the republicans myself.

I agree that the mission in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq are two seperate issues. I do not agree with the what's going on Iraq, and neither do a majority of Canadians, hence us not being there, however, we do have our own interests to protect regarding Afghanistan, and that is why we are there. Some may agree, others may not. Sensitive subject.

[spock]

It's funny,almost all democrats (Dean excepted) voted for the Iraq war.
And now,Iraq is their salvation.

[Jessica_CDN]

haha that is funny!!

It'll be interesting to see if Bush can accomplish anything in his last two years...I'm hoping that the democrats will have a moderating influence but stuff still gets done.

Kinda like in Canada...I always hope that a minority government will work!

[mizliz]

Yes Jessica, you are quite right that Iraq and Afghanistan should be treated as two different issues. I lumped them together because they both have something to do with 9/11 and are both ongoing at the moment.

Your suggestion that Canadians are equally divided in their opinions of whether or not our troops should be fighting in Afghanistan were true very recently, but the last poll figures I read, just this past week, showed that the percentage of approval by Canadians has reduced considerably, to around 34% approval now I believe. Of course, the more body bags that return to Canada the more this disapproval will go down IMO.