War...again

Well...after religion, what else is there to talk about war but politics?

What I'd like to know is what role do all you people feel their government has the right to take in a war? How far is too far? Do we have the right to involve ourselves in civil wars throughout the world?

Do we have the right? I don't know if we have the right, but I would say that as (speaking about my country here, the USA) the predominant superpower in the world, we feel an obligation (sometimes moral, sometimes financial, sometimes political) to involve ourselves in certain civil wars in other parts of the world. I think that sometimes we do it even though we'd rather not, because we feel we're "damned if we do and damned if we don't". It's a weird place to be in, because not only are we far more heavily scrutinized for every war decision we make as a result of our superpower status, but we are also in such a position of influence and power that we have to keep a close eye on ourselves as well...which is one thing I think we do pretty well, we have a lot of watchdog groups and many independent groups that criticize our actions and reactions to the 'nth degree, providing the common people of this country a large amount of information upon which to form their opinions of their own government. We have both biased and unbiased press, and we the people are able to choose what we see and hear, which can be both a blessing and a curse IMO. The intelligent people will seek out information from ALL sides of an issue, while the unthinking will live in ignorant bliss and pay attention to only one or two sources of media to get their information.

Just my thoughts.

Phoenix I hear you. The problem is, most people think they're hearing information from all sides of the story just by watching CNN or ABC. I do think we, being more finacially stable and having a higher standard of living than most countries, have the responsibility to help those who are in a less ideal situation. But I think we pick and choose what wars we fight too biasedly (if thats a word). For example, our war we're starting against Iraq would have more validation if there wasn't an oil ridden administration in power here (and one whose leader wasn't pointing at Iraq and saying "evil"). If we were really fighting Iraq because of their treatment of the Kurds and other civil rights abuses then I would be more supportive. Of course, this "go-in-and-get-them-because-we're-stronger" idea is most ours (the US) and when you think about it, many countries around the world have higher standards of living (although that's just a number) and other countries have great influence...so why are we the ones to always boss everyone around? I think this role of policeman of the world is too presumptuous and I think that's what most other countries don't like about us.

"What I'd like to know is what role do all you people feel their government has the right to take in a war? How far is too far? Do we have the right to involve ourselves in civil wars throughout the world?"

Governments have the right to protect their interests and national security. Too far is when those boundaries are overstepped. As for civil wars....no right whatsoever! But saying that, from a global human rights perspective, it would depend upon how equally (or not) the sides are matched. I don't have a problem with governments selling weapons to countires, groups, that reflect their own governments...but sending in man power is a no no.