It's always fun mixing it up with dissenting, anonymous commenters...

This person wasn't exactly a troll, but did their best to cover their tracks... So I thought I'd post their original comment as well as my repsonse. It's so much easier to read when you don't have to scroll through those tiny Haloscan comments windows... I stumbled across you blog. it's so fascinating to read a conservative perspective on war. The problem I have with Iraq war is the number of Iraqi deaths. The fucked up situation in Iraq wasn't created by Americans...it happened way before all of that with the division of the Ottoman empire...the formation of a multi-tribed nation state later living under a dictator... the problems are complex but why are American troops in there trying to liberate a country and killing so many people in the process? THere's this paternalistic attitude that only Americans can save these people because they are too uncivilised to govern themselves. They support unpopular governments that promote the American agenda. While the idea of saving a country from an evil dictator is noble (and Hollywood) the reality is the dictator is dead, there are more people dying. What is being gained from this war? Meanwhile North Korea has nukes, and after seeing what happened in Iraq I'm sure more countries will be nuking up to protect themselves. The only country that has ever dropped a nuke on a civillian population is us. More people will die for nothing. So many in Iraq already have. An American life is not worth more than an Iraqi life. All life is equal. You people amaze me with your over simplification of issues. I guess it makes the world an easier place to live in. Have a nice life. - Interest A fabulous comment, no? So here's my reply... Hey, thanks for stopping by. Other perspectives are always welcome here. I can appreciate your concern for the Iraqi civilian casualties, and I agree that the problem in Iraq (and the Middle East in general) is based on issues and hatreds centuries old. We are coming into this fight a bit late... And that's about where my agreement with you ends. 99% of civilians killed in Iraq were murdered by the insurgents in an effort to break the spirit of not just Americans, but Iraqis as well. They're certainly not being killed by US troops. All you have to do is read any newspaper or tune to any news program to see the latest car bomb at a market, mosque, or recruitment center. And since you appear to by confused by who's who over there, our guys are the ones wearing uniforms, in jeeps, holding guns. You know... normal soldiers. The bad guys are hiding among the innocent, using them as shields, blowing them up in an effort to blackmail us. What I love about the liberal perspective is how they make the terrorists moral equivalents to our troops. They kill civilians, we kill terrorists. Apparently that's a distinction only those not blinded by their liberal hate can recognize. As far as the popularity contest, you'd prefer be the main priority of the US government, the Iraqi government is only unpopular with the insurgents. The average Iraqi was thrilled at the chance to vote on their leadership. Just see the poll turnouts. And they're damn thankful we ignored the rest of the world and helped free them from the oppressive, genocidal, murderer that had been ruling their country. As far as North Korea and their nukes, you've got a great example of what happens when you ignore the rest of the world and rely 100% on diplomatic efforts. Kim Jong Il flat out lied to Clinton, signed the nuclear proliferation treaty, and then went ahead with his nuclear programs anyway. We didn't attack NK, or anywhere nearby that made him fear for the safety of his nation. Evil dictators don't need an excuse for their nuclear agendas, and saying they'd only pursue nukes because we are in the region is a gross, childish oversimplification. Sure we've got nukes and yes we've used them and we did so to force the hand of an adversary unwilling to surrender. How long should we have let that war drag on? That of course brings us to your million dollar question, why are we there? How's national security, global war on terror, and freeing an oppressed people strike you? And wouldn't you know it, that also shows that we value Iraqi life just as much as we value American life. We value it so much that we're sending our own sons and daughters there, risking their lives for the lives of Iraqis. Some might even argue we're valuing the lives of the Iraqis more than our own. Regardless, it certainly doesn't prove we don't value Iraqi lives. So when you're done oversimplifying things with your pacifist hopes and dreams that we ought to be trying to make a world were all problems are solved with hugs and puppy dogs, I'll be having a nice life. In reality. Anyone want to add something? Feel free to leave a comment! And hopefully, in the next couple days, I'll get a chance to repsond to a global warming email I got. This guy didn't like the little Al Gore image over on the left... So check back soon for that!

And now we hear from the Iran wacko who wants nukes

Iran is North Korea from 10 years ago and Ahmadinejad is learning that he can get nuclear weapons if he plays the diplomtic game just like Ping Pong Kim Jong. And if wackypants Ahmadinejad gets nukes, Iran will destroy Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Israel no longer has any reason to exist and will soon disappear. The latest threats are adding to Israel's already deep concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Israeli officials say the saber-rattling from Iran is another warning to the international community that the Islamic regime must not be allowed to get a nuclear bomb. At a pro-Palestinian rally in Tehran, Iran's president said Israeli leaders are a "group of terrorists," and he threatened any country that supports the Jewish state. He also said Israel is a fake regime that would soon disappear. It was a similar statement to one a year ago, when he threatened "to wipe Israel off the map." Iran will keep playing us until he gets exactly what he wants, and I'm afraid Israel will be the only nation with enough backbone to stand in Iran's way. Since we won't be directly affected immediately after Iran announces it has finally made a nuclear weapon, I'm afraid the US will stand by and watch (especially if we elect Democrats) as Israel has to act alone, again. Just like Osirak back in 1981. The US will play dumb while Israel saves the world. Ahmadinejad is telling us what he will do. Flat out. He will destroy Israel. Wipe them off the map. Make them disappear. When will we believe him and will we do anything about it? UPDATE @ 4:17pm: Cox & Forkum's latest on the supreme leader of Iran...

North Korea sorry about nuclear test?

Ping Pong regrets the nuclear test. Sure he does... Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - A South Korean newspaper has reported on Friday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il regrets the nation' s nuclear test and that he is willing to return to six-party talks, conditional to Washington's withdrawal of isolationist campaigns against North Korea. Chosun Ilbo reported Kim as telling a Chinese envoy, "If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks." It's total BS and the world should know better. But some diplomatic weenie will label it a progress, restart the talks, and sign more treaties and pass more resolutions. Until he tests his next missile delivery system or another nuclear weapon, of course...

Tests confirm North Korean test was nuclear

***Updated and bumped*** Maybe North Koreans Ping Pong Kim Jong just has really small... bombs? Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Radioactivity found in air samples has verified North Korea's claims that it conducted an underground nuclear test on Oct. 9, according to the top U.S. intelligence agency. "Analysis of air samples collected Oct. 11, 2006, detected radioactive debris which confirms North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion," said a statement from the office of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. Still it was under a kiloton. But that's the least of our worries at this point. What do we do with a madman with a nuclear bomb? Invade? No, not yet anyway... I linked to In from the Cold's post shortly after the test was conducted, and the former spook had 8 ideas other than war: pressure China to halt illicit DPRK maritime traffic, step-up enforcement against illegal financial activities, crack down on the chosen soren, provide the latest ATBM technology to our regional partners, make it easier for North Korean refugees to enter South Korea and the west, suspend western humanitarian aid, place tough restrictions on air traffic, and naval quarantine. Those are all much better ideas than the crap that the UN approved, ban luxury item sales and encouraging cargo inspections of North Korean shipments. Still, China is unfortunately the key, and while they're talking the talk, they've yet to back that talk up with actions against NoKo. Japan’s U.N. ambassador, Kenzo Oshima, this month’s council president, said China was willing to impose some punitive measures, "but in our view we would have to ask them to make further efforts." Beijing has huge influence on Pyongyang as its most important political and economic ally. In the past it has opposed sanctions but agreed to some punitive measures if they were narrowly focussed on dangerous weapons. One controversial provision in the U.S.-drafted resolution, was authorization for international inspections of cargo moving in and out of North Korea to detect weapons-related material. Diplomats said China had rejected that. Beijing also wants the resolution to be carefully worded to avoid any risk it would open the way to military action. Gee... anyone else wonder what's up with China here? Cox & Forkum's take certainly isn't hard to believe... Meanwhile, liberal idiots all over the US continue to blame all this on Bush. Yet they seem to forget about this... In 1994, the United States and North Korea had entered into the "Agreed Framework" to defuse the issue of the North Korean nuclear program. Neither party held to this agreement during the Clinton Administration, and most experts believe North Korea had acquired one or two nuclear weapons before Bush took office. The year after Bush's speech, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Or you can check out the video adaptation of the 1994 concessions the Clinton administration made to Ping Pong Kim Jong. And that he's got nuclear weapons is somehow Bush's fault? That's Madeleine Albright, Clinton's Secretary of State toasting with Kim Jong in 2000 before Bush took office and about the time that most experts agree Kim Jong had already developed nuclear weapons, right? I just wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things... I didn't think that looked like Colin Powell giving nuclear technology to Ping Pong Kim Jong, not even on a really bad hair day. Still we've got Harry "real estate tycoon" Reid calling for an investigation into Bush's NoKo policies? For a better insight into a communist's psyche try this piece by Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former Romanian Intelligence officer under the USSR. I think he might know more about this than Harry Reid who appears to be doing some grandstanding to get the media off his shady real estate dealings and his use of campaign contributions to pay Christmas bonuses. So let's all get on board here... DPRK with nukes is bad. The international community and the UN should come up with harsh retribution for the North Koreans, more than saying don't buy their "luxury items". Can we at least agree on that? UPDATED & BUMPED @ 3:38pm: North Korea appears to be preparing a 2nd nuclear test. I guess Kim Jong Ping Pong doesn't want the world to think he's got small... bombs.

North Korean nuke test a dud?

As more and more people analyze the effects of the explosion, the evidence seems to be piling up that this might not have been the show that was advertised... so to speak. The North Koreans ought to ask for their money back. The Age - Shock waves emanating from North Korea probably came from the explosion of a nuclear device, but one that did not achieve its full potential. US intelligence officials and weapons experts believe the explosion produced about 3 per cent of the power of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki more than 60 years ago, raising questions about whether a larger device failed, or if Pyongyang was testing a component of a larger weapon. The first article I cited yesterday mentioned this as well... The strength of the bomb that was measured from yesterday's North Korean test was one kiloton, maybe even less, and that's making for interesting spculation around the blogosphere. The above cited article specualtes that it could be a component of a larger weapon, but not only offers no evidence to support that theory, it just threw that out there and forgets to even come back to it later in the article. What is an obvious conclusion is that NoKo's scientists can still learn from a failed test, perhaps more than they would from a successful one. But the silver lining there could be that along with the failed missile launch back in July, NoKo could still be a ways away from having a nuclear warhead and the means to deliver it via ICBM. But what is the window before they're ICBM warhead ready? Hot Air speculates about 18 months andd also mentions that this test, even if it failed, is a harsh reality check for China, Japan, and South Korea. We've seen China talk about jumping on board with sanctions, and Allah-pundit is sure Japan will re-arm itself. Immediately. In from the Cold tries to tackle the trickier issue of potential military conflict with DPRK, and it's not a pretty picture. So the former spook gives 8 other alternatives to war, and it's more than simple saying, "sanctions." Check it out. Maybe it's the optimist in me, but I've got to think this was a swift kick in the butt to the world to get in gear as far as dealing with NoKo, and a worldwide public shaming of Ping Pong Kim Jong. That's two big deal tests of his that failed. I just hope we can stop him before he gets one to work... UPDATE @ 4:03pm: Winds of Change (via BlackFive) has an excellent post that makes the case that China's behind the curtain of DPRK's nuclear test and that the best and only deterrent is going to being nuclear proliferation in the region. Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea all get nukes to protect themselves from NoKo and hold the ever growing China in check. UPDATE @ 4:46pm: Captain's Quarters has a guest post from Sen. McCain who has some strong words for the Democrats, thanking none other than Clinton for the mess that we're in now with NoKo. I originally stuck the ABC article on the Headlines sidebar, but when I saw he guest posted something similar at CQ, I thought an update was in order. Andd when you get the chance read the ABC article too. John really ought to try thinking before he opens his mouth otherwise we get these dumb comments on DPRK and a late show appearance calling for the death of George Bush. Politics as usual, huh Johnny boy? UPDATE @ 4:58pm: Found this at GOP and the City and couldn't resist...