Some Lives Are More Equal Than Others

I am not a U.S. citizen. Most of my immediate family is not in this country, and are not affected by the Iraq war at all. I have a few friends in the Army that are in Iraq, and that is really the biggest way I am affected by the war. As for what news I watch, I watch shows with a more democratic lean, such as the Daily Show and Real Time with Bill Maher. I also pay attention to Russian news, which doesn't exactly love President Bush.

The majority of the people reading this already believe the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. The best thing you can do about mistakes is not to make them. But if you did, should you fix the mistake? Kind of seems obvious when you put it that way doesn't it? And there lies the rub, how do you fix something as big of a mistake as Iraq? You can't just pay to replace it, the problem is such that throwing money at it won't make it go away. So, does the U.S. pull completely out of Iraq? Does this turn the U.S. into runaway arsonists? Does the U.S. stay there and spend more time, resources, international reputation, and lives? Should the U.S. let more of it's own soldiers die? What do we prioritize? Are some lives more equal than others? The lives of this country's members or the lives of other country's members? If you pull out of Iraq, there is a chance (I can not honestly speculate how good of a chance, you can do your own guessing) that innocent people will die in Iraq. Without the armed U.S. soldiers there, there is a chance that those without the means to protect themselves will be hurt. Is it right to care more about the safety of those we might know personally, or those of our same country, over others? Is that the question? And if so, who answers?