John McCain and cowboy diplomacy

I just read about John McCain pledging that if he is elected president, he will catch Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

My questions are at what cost, and are there already hundreds more people like him all ready to take his place - and may even be worse than he is.

We heard similar arguments when we decided to get Saddam Hussein.

Now after spending over $1 trillion, losing over 5,000 soldiers lives and reducing the value of our dollar by as much as 50-to-75 percent, we still have little to show for it.

Our leaders knew that the weapons of mass destruction did not exist so they should have tried diplomacy for quite a while longer before even considering war.

History shows that in most cases, wars result in all of the parties involved in the conflict coming out as losers, even the winners.

America was used to being the world leaders in power and diplomacy and respected like no one else in the world.

Now when I talk with people who do business all over the world, they come back saying how the respect for U.S.A. has gone down the drain.

This all started when the current president took office.

Diplomacy was immediately replaced by cowboy politics. Get the guns, saddle up the horses and head for the guys that we identify as the bad guys - and who cares about other nation or world opinion.

Another eight years like this and the U.S.A. will be viewed as a bunch of bullies and losers who had a great thing going for them but have been foolish enough to lose their way entirely.

On the positive side, America has always been able to reinvent itself in the past like no other nation in the world when things went bad in some way.

Let's see if we can do it again in the all important area of world diplomacy and common sense actions.

Robert Kellstrom

Schaumburg