Greetings Kossacks! I have been lurking furtively in the shadows these many months, and have only recently begun making tentative comments. I have many questions for you all, but I suppose I will start with the ones below. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am ex-miltary, openly gay and probably not as liberal as most of you, but I am drifting in that direction with every passing day of this "administration". I am not trying to start fights or antagonize anyone - i really want to know what you think about the morality of WAR.
This was not going to be my first diary, but the more I read on this site, the more curious I become. I am a Hillary Clinton supporter, and have no problem with her AUMF vote, given the caveats that she clearly articulated at the time. My question for Kossacks is this: what if it had been true? What if the dearly departed Sheik Hussein al Tikriti had been the nuke merchant he was advertised to be? Would we have been justified then? Or is it that ALL war is unjustified no matter what the circumstances? I am making no excuses for George Shrub: this was one of the most breathtaking abuses of power since the last days of the Roman Empire, but would Kossacks have been silent if it the threat had been real? Some of the things I read here tell me that the members of this community would never go to war for any reason, which is a perfectly acceptable mindset, but people should be upfront about it.
Also, there has been much trashing of American hegemony, for GOOD REASON. We have seriously abused our place as leader of the free world, but some here might say that we shouldn't have that title in the first place. Is America an exceptional country or not? Were the ideals upon which the United States was founded worthy goals or not? And if they were, and still are, worthy, why not try to spread them across the planet?
These are purely rhetorical questions. I know my own answers, but I have developed a burning curiousity about the fundamental position of Kossacks on these basic issues.