I’ll have some thoughts tomorrow. From a reader:

Today I was in the company of a number if Indian programmers at one of those obligatory outings to celebrate the completion of a project milestone. They solicited my opinions on Bush and the Iraq engagement. Almost all were adamantly opposed to both. One of them said “You don’t know what problems your country is causing the rest of the world.” After listing many countries that are by our side and have no problems with our actions, I suggested to them that this is just a simple matter of bringing murderers to justice, so what is the problem with that? Another answered “We don’t have the ability to protect ourselves. We can’t just go into another country and root our terrorists.” This is the first time I have heard this line of reasoning. It sounded to me like they feel forced to be nice to murderers so the won’t be targeted by them. They are afraid we stirred up a hornets nest and are cowering in wait of the sting. Am I wrong?
Taken aback, I had trouble responding to them. In the final analysis, I’m thinking we pay a certain price for justice sometimes, and these folks I played laser tag and bowled with all afternoon have no heart to pay that toll. All were in agreement that the world needs to come together to fight terror, but they object to our invading Iraq. I have to admit, ours has been a lethal and powerful response to terror that other countries might have trouble manufacturing. But, where is their fortitude? Seems a little world-wide fortitude in lieu of advanced weaponry and surveillance techniques could go a long way. Your thoughts?