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While all three are definitely expensive, I'm not entirely sold that you can compare weed legalization/war on drugs with war on terror. Drug trade has a very t

While all three are definitely expensive, I'm not entirely sold that you can compare weed legalization/war on drugs with war on terror. Drug trade has a very tangible economic driver that can be modified with legalization. For terrorism, or other warfare methods, there isn't a simple economic driver you can attack. People are struggling for power and resources. You simply cannot make everyone happy. You of course have the choice of simply withdrawing from the struggle, but as soon as you start doing this there really isn't an end in sight. This is not a choice US can take without dire consequences. In wars between states, you can negotiate, but in wars of ideology/religion, that's not so easy.

vidarh 13y ago
> but as soon as you start doing this there really isn't an end in sight. That's based on the flawed assumption that people just are out to get you. People are out to get the US to a large extent because of how much the US has been meddling all over the place. Stop the one sided support for Israel, and stop supporting Middle Eastern dictators, and don't invade any more countries, and a large part of the recruiting-basis for islamic fundamentalists for actions against the US would start falling away pretty quickly. > In wars between states, you can negotiate, but in wars of ideology/religion, that's not so easy. It might not be so easy, but it is far more effective than military actions that breed new generations of people who hate you for ever person you kill - whether a legitimate target or "collateral damage".