Howard,
I think I'm trying to say that we are up against an intractible enemy and also remind what Churchill said decades ago. Anyone who is not a liberal when young doesn't have a heart. But anyone who has not become conservative once fully grown up doesn't have a brain. It's taken me a long time to realize that we are not the problem - we are the solution. The world needs more Thomas Jeffersons, not Michael Moores or Noam Chomskys.
All the silly songs from this past year (Green Day, Steve Earle, etc.) don't make a valid point about anything and offer no solutions or insight whatsoever. Just the same old stale thought package that they think makes themselves sound cool. And that's the real shame - we've devolved to a point where being "cool" is the main desire and drive of our culture. |
"First we kill all the Jews, then we come and kill you!" - Omar, student at Western Mich. Univ. when asked why he was going back to the Mideast during mid-session - 1972
"He has gone back home to kill Jews." - Answer from Nabil when asked where his brother was who hadn't been to our kickboxing club for a couple of weeks - 1983
"Saddam is on the march! Mike has gone back home to help drive Israel into the sea!" - Abdu at the video store when asked where his brother was who usually works the counter - 1990
"Mr. Hitler, you are doing some very good things here. But you must become more efficient and forceful in your dealings with the Jews." - High ranking Palestinian imam while visiting Germany during WWII.
Anyone see a pattern here? And you think us Americans have bad attitudes!! |
A Republican created space satellite is beeming rays into my brain making me want to shop at Wal-Mart. |
(Sorry about the misspelling.)
I read about two guys who were locked up partially based on warrantless evesdropping (which as yet we don't know whether legal or not but then these are times the likes of which we've not seen before). Both are Muslims from the Mideast, one who is cooling his heels in prison because of confessing to a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge during rush hour. The other also in an 8x8 having been convicted of supporting, working with, and financing terrorists groups in the Mideast. I hate to sound jaded but I'm glad someone was following these dopes.
By the way, Bill Clinton's administration (who never addressed the worldwide Islamic terrorist threat, but then neither did the Republican congress. I'm pretty sure Bush never mentioned it during any speeches in 2000.) also "illegally" wiretapped and broke into an American's house. This guy is in prison now convicted of spying for Israel.
I think the Bush admin. had this plan (not very well executed): Take Afganistan and turn it into a civilized state. Next take Iraq and do the same thing. Now we've got the big prize, Iran, in a squeeze hold and hopefully the people of Iran would rebel and throw out the savagely dangerous terrorist regime. Then decency and goodness would spread throughout the rest of the Muslim world!! Yay!!!
By the way, Saddam paid for dozens of terrorists attacks against Israel and allowed terrorists safe haven and training in his country. I also think Iraq was the weakest of the countries that needed "adjustment". And if Iraq was not part of the worldwide terrorist network, why do the terrorists think it's so important to keep it that way? |
"It's the best of all worlds!" - Liebnitz
Dreadhead,
Contextual thinking is not your forte, eh? We were the solution to Nazism, Japanese Imperialism, and Communisim (90 million dead! Get on board!!). Germmany and Japan were both victims of American "imperialism" and thank God, at least from their own points of view. This was Franklin Roosevelt's philosophy - change the damn regimes once and for all.
It's not working real well in Iraq for two reasons:
1) They've never had anything like a constitutionally limited Republic based on Jeffersonian principles and cannot yet comprehend the logic and benefits.
2) We did not inflict enough military punishment to convince the enemy of the futility of resistance. Remember that the Nazis mounted an insurgance after their formal surrender. We smashed it with such certitude that they gave up.
How long are we going to have a military presence in Iraq? Just remember that we've had troops on the ground in Germany and Japan for more than 60 years. By the way, things are going pretty well in both those countries, thanks to our imperialism. Even though our government and Germany's have many differences, there is absolutely no consideration of war or any military action considered btw the two. Germans are not coming to the USA to mass murder our citizens and no Americans are doing that to them. Why?
Imagine Iraq, Afganistan, and finally Iran becoming like Germany and Japan. "What a wonderful world" indeed!
Walter,
I also respect your point of view. By the way, I'm not a conservative. I believe people have the right to live for their own sakes and should not be coerced into servitude. However, this applies only to citizens of the USA because of the natural structure of reality. We simply cannot apply the same principles to others in the world, and this is why we have police work against our own citizens and war against other countries. |
Paul,
Thanks for the support but you, too, have stated quite succinctly (Jeez, my spelling is bad!) where we are. I also think most of these responses are based on an emotional state caused by a thought package into which one is heavily invested.
I want to do everything possible to avoid being incinerated in a fireball (or beheaded or shot between the eyes) so I am willing to give the current administration some wiggle room when dealing with suspected Muslim terrorists in this country who are contacting other thugs who are in the Mideast. Remember what Osama said:
"We will not rest until we kill 4 million Americans on American soil, and half of those must be children." Only way to do that is with nuclear weapons. Anyone else thinking something immediately has be done about Iran?
And, Jeez Louise, is anyone still upset that some Army soldiers made terror suspect prisoners wear panties on their heads? You can watch any Madonna video and see worse than that! Or, pick any one of a dozen MTV shows like Jackass, Bad Boys, and that one where the adults kids assault their parents while we are supposed to be laughing. Raise a generation on this crap and how do you expect them to act in a degraded situation like an Iraqi prison? I remember in the days after 09-11-01 that people such as Thomas Friedman, Jeff Greenfield, and even Al Franken all advocated some form of torture of terror suspects. Even some Democrat congressmen (whose names I can't remember now) preached the same thing. We wisely realized in those brightly lit days that things had changed. We were now fighting for our very existance. |
"...in comparison to the enemy we face now."
This was not calling Nazis noble. This is saying the people we are facing are worse than the Nazis, as hard as it is to imagine. Remember it was Muslim mullas who asked the Nazis to work harder to exterminate the Jews. That was 65 years ago. Also don't forget that 1-2 years ago a Saudi prince was visiting a Czech. Rebulic holocaust memorial and signed the guest book as follows (I'm paraphrasing as I heard the quote on TV and the radio maybe 3-4 times back then):
"Mr Hitler was a good man and did good things but he and the Germans failed in efficiency to complete their work. This is their failure and it is sad they were not more competent."
Let's see...we (including Jimmy Carter) helped keep a dictator in power in Iran 30 years ago. He was overthrown and now Iran is, and has been, much worse with far more repression and brutality. Actually, I was only talking about world domination attempts which we have stopped and replaced with decent forms of governments. We have, to our shame, been involved in supporting repressive regimes in order to gain material benefit, and this in various places throughout the world. Please, however, understand the different world we now admit living in and come out of the outdated, "old world" think-space of the 60s and 70s. If it'll make us all feel better we can stick out our right hand, smack it with the left, and say out loud, "Bad American! Bad American!"
By the way, I don't see us doing anything about Iran now either. Not after how much the admin. botched the Iraq thing. And all the hanky panky you talked about sure has made it hard to fight a good and well needed war.
Also by the way, anyone else hear that good 'ol infidel hating Osama is asking for a truce? I didn't get the whole story, may be someone else did. |
Here is a partial list of people who also thought and insisted publicly that Saddam had WMDs and also engaged in or recommended military action:
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Al Gore
Madelyn Albright
John Kerry
Again, if Iraq is not a part of the terrorist network, why are they fighting so hard to take control of it? And nobody on this thread said the Nazis were noble. Come on, people, these things can't be that complex that even slightly subtle and contexual discussions confuse you?
Oh yeah, good old Fallujah. We sat on our asses for 6 months while the enemy took over the city, fortified, armed, resupplied with weapons and even fake uniforms, before we did anything. And we didn't do anything until giving the civilians 4 weeks to leave. The Taliban had taken over and were turning it into little Afganistan. And when we did go in we fought so softly that if we'd done it that way in WWII we'd still be fighting in North Africa.
And Rosstaman? Jessica Lynch was raped & assulted and on crutches 2 months after resuce. There, that make ya feel better? |
