For all this nation's noble goals we seem to have forgotten something, and I believe it has very important implications for what we're trying to do.
Freedom cannot be given or bestowed. Freedom is so powerful and all-embracing that it has to be earned. "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." The problem with Iraq and Afghanistan is that we went in there under a pretext nobody in the Middle East believed anyways (WMD's) then about halfway through that changed to us "spreading democracy". But freedom can never be given. That's why there will never be true stability in Iraq or Afghanistan.

American freedom is a peculiar thing. We've lasted longer than any republic in World history and for that reason we will fall. The symptoms are already appearing. An apathetic people mixed with a power-hungry political oligarchy is a dangerous combination. Our freedom was meant to shine so bright the nations of the world would be jealous of our way of life and demand it for themselves. We were never meant to spread it by force of arms. The people in Iraq should have been so awe-struck by our freedom and greatness that they overthrew Saddam themselves and earned their own freedom. But the sad truth is that nobody is awe-struck by our freedom however much they profess to be. WE are not even impressed by it anymore. It's a pleasant indifference. Have we truly become so apathetic that we don't even care anymore?

I had an instructor who told me stories of how many hundreds of people he would walk into and have them tell him how much they supported the troops and how much they appreciated the sacrifice. When asked how many packages they had sent troops overseas the answer was invariably zero. People will profess anything as long as they don't have to back it up.

All that to say that I believe our nation is heading towards moral and political ruin. We've gone from President's who get away with lying to Presidents who get away with spying/torturing to Presidents who will "spread the wealth around". And the people? The people just don't care. Nobody wants to get off their lazy a$$'s and do anything about it! How foolish you are to think you'll live your life normally leaving later people to worry about it! Abortion is continuing to be an almighty stench in the nose of God. Gay "rights" plague our moral fabric. This nation is heading for absolute ruin.

But as Thomas Paine says "We have it in our power to begin the world over again." How are we to do this? Well I leave that to you... Remember Thomas Jefferson's quotes about how often governments should "change" and know that that is not beyond the scope of moral possibility...