What I don't get is the people saying "We're fighting for the rights of others." Yes, we are, but is it a worthwhile fight? We're fighting to [i]change an entire culture[/i]. No amount of bullets, assassinations, and bombings is going to do that. It's just not. If people hate something, or don't believe in something, they're not going to be changed by the US military coming in and saying "Stop that! You are now a democratic country that believes in equal rights for all, and free speech, and ideological freedom, despite the fact that you haven't been that way for decades, if not longer!" It just won't work, and the idea that it will is foolish. I'm not saying "leave everyone alone and they'll work out their own problems eventually," but at the same time, I kind of am. You have to wait for people to want change before you can fight to defend it. Look at the American south. Even after the Civil War (which I know, wasn't originally about ending slavery), the south only grudgingly gave up its slaves, and many people there often made conditions for the newly freed blacks so poor that they essentially still were slaves. Moving forward, the civil rights movement wasn't born in the US military; it was born in the oppressed, and they sought out their own means of freedom. The time for the US military came when it was time to enforce these newly established rights for blacks, when the idea was already set and defended by the people living there. Not to mention the fact that giving blacks/minorities equal rights took the United States decades. One could argue that equal rights is still not truly achieved even today. Why, then, do we look towards other countries with problems of discrimination and inequality and say "Our military needs to protect the rights of others?" like that's a job that's easily attainable within a decent time-span? It's wishful thinking, but more dangerous, because it's a factor of the support for these long, dragging, unbelievably expensive wars.