tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772956003233436897.post4187160289407295175..comments2008-09-06T19:23:24.295-04:00DebbieDanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10481602485863972546noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772956003233436897.post-58179325700085488392008-09-06T19:23:00.000-04:002008-09-06T19:23:00.000-04:00Thanks Anonymous and orient-lodge.com for your great comments! We appreciate them!DanaDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10481602485863972546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772956003233436897.post-69700643817692886562008-09-06T09:52:00.000-04:002008-09-06T09:52:00.000-04:00I disagree with anonymous about this. It is true that it is at best an artificial and perhaps disingenuous comparison. On the other hand, people are dying needlessly both in Iraq and in Chicago and we do need policies to address both.<BR/><BR/>The reasons are different. In Iraq, we are are trying to bring peace through military force. While the surge has decreased the fatalities, it has failed in the greater purpose of getting the Iraqi's to work together towards self-governance.<BR/><BR/>If anything, the threat of pulling out troops may be more effective in forcing the Iraqi's to address their internal issues than us continuing to stay there as a peacekeeper.<BR/><BR/>Chicago is different from Iraq, but has some interesting similarities. In Chicago, many of the shootings were gang related, just as much of the fighting in Iraq is related to different factions.<BR/><BR/>So, why do people get involved with gangs, or with the different factions in Iraq, and how do we address it? <BR/><BR/>Much of it comes from a lack of hope. If you are a poor young black man in our countries inner cities, you don't have a lot to hope for, especially as our economy gets worse and worse.<BR/><BR/>Sen. Obama understands this. He has worked in the inner city. I runs on a platform of hope and of fixing the economy that has been so badly damaged by the current administration.<BR/><BR/>Sen. Obama is the best candidate for addressing not only the war in Iraq, but also the continued violence in all of our American cities, including Chicagoorient-lodge.comhttp://orient-lodge.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3772956003233436897.post-51524527517731355582008-09-06T04:11:00.000-04:002008-09-06T04:11:00.000-04:00Do you actually believe that only US soldiers live in Iraq, or are you being deliberately disingenuous with the comparison?<BR/><BR/>In either case it doesn't say an awful lot about your powers of reasoning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com