Another rant about the War in Iraq. Read at your own peril.

CNN said on the news that last week that US forces had attacked a convoi heading for the Syrian border, and that it was possible Saddam Hussein and his two sons might have been in said convoi. Well, the DNA tests will prove or disprove that; that's not the thing that grabbed my attention.

CNN further said that, when one person or one vehicle attempted to escape and cross the border, they'd been pursued by US soldiers who in turn had been fired upon by Syrian soldiers stationed at the border. The US forces immediately had returned fire.

That last sentence is my bone of contention. I guess it's due to the fact that most history we learned at school, it was European history. In Europe, all countries ever have had about the same standard in arms, armies, tactics. So when one country waged war against another one, they tried to do their best to keep the conflict localized; trespassing into a third country's territory or attacking its forces automatically tipped the balance of power to the disadvantage of the careless trespasser, and back then, no-one wanted to wage a war on two fronts. So, if an enemy had retreated onto the territory of a third country, the opponent wouldn't have attempted to pursue them for fear of inducing said third country to enter the war on their enemy's side.

The USA has never had a true equal, therefore their history has developped differently. What, in Europe, has more or less, even if by necessity, become a question of 'honor' -- "Do not attack you enemy on a not-participating country's soil", is a totally alien concept to the US. They don't have to fear an equal opponent (not after the end of the Soviet Union), so why bother with this pesky 'honor' thing? Even killing several Syrian soldiers will not induce Syria to wage war against the US, and even if it did, it wouldn't be more than a laughing matter for Rumsfeld & Co.

Hence, Bush's parole of "If you are not for us, you are against us." His country simply never grew up with the same virtues as the 'old Europe'.

And that is the reason why Germans and US nationals will never agree on the topic of the Iraq war. For the majority of the populace here, it's an abomination, and many of its actions, although the Belgians tucked tail and watered down their new law, war crimes. For many US citizens, it's simply in their right.

Which is why the US can rearm like in the 'good old times' whereas the Iran is supposed to waive its right to develop nuclear weapons. Which is quite ironic, considering that the Iran is far less dangerous to world peace; should it ever launch a nuclear weapon, it it be obliterated to a heap of charred, barren ruins in the blink of an eye. While, should the US one day decide to drop an A bomb on the Iran, the rest of the world would first protest like mad diplomatically, but finally give up due to its utter insignificance on the international stage as well as the lack of reprisals at its disposal.