I agree. I mean there was terror before the US right? There was terror before Bush right? All the US bashing gets old. It is counter productive. What would I do to stop terror? Stop teaching the world that the US is bad would be a good start. Stop teaching children that they should kill themselves to prevent the spread of freedom. Start by understanding it is the terrorists that are bad, not the US, not Bush. The difference between Bush or any president in the US is that they will be gone eventually. They are not here forever. Terror seems to stick with us for some reason. I'd really like to be involved in a thread that starts looking at the root cause of the problem as well as the perceived solution, and stops blaming the US and Bush. The US and Bush did NOTHING to deserve being attacked on 9/11. The US did nothing to deserve having our Embassy's bombed, or the Cole bombed. Once the world gets that through their heads, I think we can begin to make some head way finding a solution to ending terrorism.
That root cause would be the key. And the main problem I have with saying things like "let's only punish the terrorists" is the fact that there are new ones in training all over. The question is how many and what causes it. Those are the issues that are being avoided out of political correctness which provides no long term solution.
I could not agree more. We have a history of helping muslims, whether it's to prevent their own demise through genocide, direct aid support (which often goes unmentioned) or helping after disaster relief. Yet despite the good things we do to help others, the US is always treated as the bad guys. "Thank you" is few and far between.
Please justify that statement with some proof. How do you know that terrorism doesn't arise out of poverty and that on the other hand terrorism causes poverty. It sounds smart and snappy. A natural political headline.
I think that terrorism is a state of mind and not something people are forced into. We have given so much financial aide to the Palestinians. Where did the money go? Why didn't they build an infrastructure for their future generations instead of buying weapons. I don't believe that poverty causes terror, but hatred does. And when you have that much hatred, anything will serve as an excuse to blow stuff up.
Hard to believe you need proof. Many many countries around the world are destitute and do not resort to terrorism. Oh where to begin. Most of eastern europe is near destitute, but not resorting to terrorism. Much of asia as well. If you want to see the efects of terrorism (causing poverty) take a look at Israel. The economy is in practical shambles because no one will visit for fear of being blown up; simply going to work or school is a life or death choice on some days. Most people are poor. Do you see them wandering into Arab states blowing themselves up? Terrorism is brought on by people who cannot get into power through legitimate means, so they choose to simply blow enough things up or cause enough chaos as to create a situation where a extreme point of view seems like a rational alternative.
Okay, you (and we, Blair, Chirac, Tom Dick and Harry) have also given a lot of military aide to Israel. Where did that heavy water go? Come on ST, this thread is not about bashing the US or Israel (or at least it shouldn´t be). Many governments will be shown to have dirty hands when it comes to showing who gave money to which country to start up their nuclear resistance. I find so much to agree with in all that all of you say ( which is confusing because there are two distinct camps and I have sympathy with both), but for me it comes down to making your own flaming mind up. Joe Mohammad down the road, is not my enemy. Nor is Mrs. Patel who has worked her fingers to the bone trying to make a life for her children in the UK. I actually did know a Mrs Patel once upon a time. She was dignified and beautiful, generous to all us kids and patient beyond the call of duty ( of being a mother, in the place where I grew up). She was also raped. And the animals that did that to her called her a black pig and said she should go home to wherever she came from. Pig? The boys that did that to her were pigs. And it doesn´t matter if she was white, brown or green with yellow stripes, her life was ruined and those happy little white boys went on to get married, have kids and faithfully attend their church every Sunday. Hmmm. I used to have fantasies of turning up at their weddings and when the priest read the banns, standing up and saying, YES! I know why this couple should never get married. Because that guy is a b****** and a rapist and his wife deserves better. I wasn´t there to do it and I haven´t been to my hometown in twenty years. One of the reasons is the memory of Mrs Patel covered in cuts and bleeding from the mouth being rescued by my mother and brought home when I was about 14. This is not about bashing the US, ST. It is about treating every human being with dignity and about innocence until proven guilty. Where did that great sentiment go in all of your (plural) postulating about exterminating countries and the need to squash the horde of non-christian, non-American, non-god-fearing masses. Surprise, surprise. I am none of the above. And I bet my bottom dollar I have done more to heal the rift than you have simply by accepting each person I met in my life on face value.
That kind of stuff (Mrs Patel) makes my stomach turn. Racism and hatred like that is so evil. Just because someone has a diferent color skin or comes from a different part of the world people CHOOSE to hate them. The last I checked there is only one race - the human race. (Unless you believe that star trek is real of course;-) Movies that are about the 50's & 60's, when blacks were being integrated into the American society, and the hatred that is shown just blows me away. I am fascinated by the time period, but the movies are totally heart wrenching watching people being beat, killed, or just talked evil towards. I don't have a ounce of understanding of how people can hate because of the color of skin.
You guys should watch the film 'A Time to Kill' It's absolutely amazing, yet it makes me fxcking mad.
I don know why is everyone talking about Islam and against it , i guess there is no problem with any religion,but problem with the people. It's not written on the forhead of a terrorist that its islamic or christian. I know so many islamic people they all are not same as you guys think. I guess first you guys change your mentality regarding any religion then talk on Terror.
More people voted for Hitler and Nazi party too, in March 1933 election the Nazi party received 43.9% of votes and became the largest party in the Parliament. Do you like Hitler too? To come to think about it according to bible stories, when people were suppose to chose who is going to die between Jesus and Thief (Terrorist/Freedom fighter) the majority chose Jesus to die, was that a correct decision? The discussion should be about the principals and not who get the majority in latest election.
Why should anybody be bothered about Iran developing nuclear weapons. Every country has a right to defend itself. Iran should get the same. Did US ask anyone before making the atomic bomb. Did it take a UN sanction before dropping in on Japan. There can be no better example of double standards of the powerful nations than this . US has conducted more than 1000 nuclear tests till now. Then why should the president start jumping in his seat if India or Pakistan or NKorea or Iran or whoever does 1 or 2 of them too. It is this hunger for power that is the root of terrorism. I AM BY NO WAYS SUPPORTER OF TERRORISM , but terrorism will exist till one group of people use power to suppress the free will of others. I am an Indian and India also suffers from this problem. I am not of the thought that only Pakistan is to be blamed for it. I put equal blame on failures of Indian governments too. Terrorism cannot be stopped by an external force. What harm can you do to a person who is willing to scarifice his life for his cause - NOTHING. Terrorism will only stop when there will be a change in mindsets of the terrorists. No amounts of security measures, intelligence, checks blah blah blah will ever stop terrorism.