"Are you suggesting that our presence in the UAE, Dubai, and the rest of the Gulf is in any way similar to our occupation of Iraq?"

Yes. Our presence in the ME is an attempt to keep the oil - from all these countries - out of the control of extremists, be they Shia, Sunni, Iranian, Chinese, Russian or stateless. That's why we're there, and that's why we'll stay, regardless of who wins the election scheduled for November.

Posted by: Bob | March 26, 2008 10:52 AM

A little aside. AnotherBeliever stated Not everyone can or chooses to foot the bill for college, and some people join up out of sheer patriotism.

But the fact is, even serving isn't going to pay for the full costs of college, and that is a disgrace, IMO. After WWII, the original GI bill paid for vets to go to college - all the way to PH.D, if they wished. Because of this, we as a country saw prosperity and amazing technological growth. The rational for it was to NOT let our vets become homeless and destitute (which happened after WWI and is happening now) - but to give back to our Vets a small portion of what they gave for us. It was the sensible and moral thing to do.

And it still is. IMO, if we can bail out corporations to rescue them from the consequences of their own greed, surely we can give our Vets (and I'm talking anyone who serves, whether it be national guard, reserves, of full time forces) the opportunity to get an education to what ever level they wish to receive it. And frankly, the will probably do more with that education than most others.

I know that there are many who don't believe the government should subsidize anything - education or health care or food - but don't you think that we owe our vets something?

Sen. James Webb of Virgina has authored some legislation that would revamp the GI bill to cover the full cost of the most expensive public institution in any given state. So here's a advertisement - contact your senator and let him or her know that you support this effort.

On a different note - AnotherBeliever, you are in my prayers.
Franklin Evans - I agree with a lot of what you say.

I now return you to your regularly schedule discussion.

Posted by: | March 26, 2008 3:57 PM

Oops! Sorry about that, I posted from a different computer and forgot to put my name in. :-)

For those interested, the senate bill is S.22 - "Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act." The bill before the house is H.R. 2702.

Charity

Posted by: Charity | March 26, 2008 5:40 PM