"In order for people to change their minds, the following must be true:

-First and foremost, people must be open to the idea that their currently held beliefs may be wrong."

Unless you can see into the future, you cannot say whether the Iraq War was right or wrong.

IMO, it was a morally just war. Who would not be in the right in deposing a tyrant such as Hussein?

Politically, we will have to wait and see. Was it the best move to ensure the safety and security of the US? We cannot possibly know at this point.

Buchanan's long rant is dated march 2003. Maybe somebody knows what he thinks now?

Buchanan is part of the religous right, the Christian conservative wing of the GOP. Allegedly, he is someone who harbors no fondness for Jews. Even so, it is surprising that he sees Judaism as more of a threat to America than Islam. I don't see how either religion in itself could be a threat, but, judging by events, orthodox Jews are no threat while radical Muslims are.

Certainly, our aid to Israel has put us on poor terms with the Arab world. Why do we take sides? Because of the influence of American Jews on our foreign policy? Or because the state of Israel has a democratically elected gov't and the people of Israel hold values more closely aligned with our own?

Maybe establishing Israel was a mistake (as were many well-intentioned efforts in the past), but what do we do about it now? From what I have seen, heard and read, the Arabs want no Israeli state at all. Maybe the Jews could buy Baja from Mexico and start over. Or maybe they will just have to accept their annihilation. I dunno, any ideas? LOL

Other than briefly acknowledging the despotic nature of the Arab regimes (as if it were just a quirky little thing those Arabs do), Buchanan has nothing harsh to say about them. Every paragraph of his article is directed at a perceived Jewish conspiracy.

Questions we need to ask ourselves:
In the long run, how will it affect the US if the trend toward repressive, anti-American gov'ts in the Middle East continues? Short of war, how can that trend be stopped and reversed? If it cannot be stopped without bloodshed, does the region pose a threat to the US?

IMO, this is not Vietnam all over again. We're not talking about impoverished rice-farming peasants in a backwards, insignificant country. Oil revenues that fund nuclear aspirations - combined with institutionalized anti-American education and a culture that does not value human lives (especially those of infidels) - make our interests in the region very keen.