exactly how far is too far in foreign armed conflicts? how far can we go until we are considered to involved? how many men and women have to sacrifice their lives for this country, to realize its not worth it?...

what I am trying to ask is this:

How can we value human life so much or so little that whats happening half way across the globe is more important????

War i assume you are talking about, has been happening since before 1200... I know we cant measure but their is no way to avoid it. America dosent start every war... might i remind you of Dec 7 1941

A human life is irreplaceable and therefore cost has no relevence.

However.......

To Governments they are a faceless commodity to be used as seen fit.
To employers they are a profit or loss.
To a good friend, cost is not a consideration.


Regards.....Alan

Fubar: It seems the examples you cited have less to do with monetary value and more to do with philosophical values. It is when dealing with the latter that sacrificing human life becomes reasonable. Somethings are indeed more important than life. Just because an event is happening around the world doesn't mean we have no buisiness getting involved. If an US ally is attacked, the US should come to its defense no matter where the fight is. That's an example of where sacrificing life is acceptable.

What about when our allies are attacked because they're wrong?

Speaking specifically in the case of Iraq... well, we're talking about a war that will probably last all of 3 weeks and be fought mostly from the air.
I'd be surprised if we lost more than a couple hundred American lives.

The question, in that case, is what's the value of what THE WORLD would gain? We can't "weigh" the value of human life without knowing what it is we get for the loss.

If we we're to defeat a billion "man" army that swore to destory anyone that opposed it on March 1, 2003, I think the death 2 billion free world soldiers is worth it.

If we were to lose 1 American because we want more oil? That's sickening and I like to think we're better than that. I just don't know if our leaders are.