RE: "Typically, leaders who do pre emptive strikes on other nations are usually not remembered in the best light"
Well, that certainly had nothing to do with the price of beans.
Re: "Do you think everyone thinks like we do and wants what we want?"
Nope. What do "we" want, anyway?
Re: "The Brits and French gave up after 100 years of ME terrorism. After ten years, the Russians gave up in Afghanistan and are just about to give up in Chechnya. Terrorists are usually well armed, well financed ideologues who don't have a sovereign state you can shock and awe or embargo. Its a lethal combination to have to fight."
So I take it your reply is "yes, we cannot defeat Islamic terrorists with an effort."
Re: "We need to find other ways to defeat them. They will not be as fun as shock and awe but they will be more effective."
Hey, shock and awe worked, and wasn't fun I'm sure, thank-you. Don't tell us what we know already about terrorist attacks in Iraq, just remember the vast #'s of great things that are coming to pass already, for the people of Iraq, thanks to the power of shock & awe. What methods did you say would be more effective? Oh, you didn't say.
Re: "We have to beat them economically. We have to wean ourselves of our oil dependency. We have to favor economically those nations that are moving in the right direction politically, socially and economically. Until the average person in the ME is in better shape financially, there will be an endless stream of terrorists and suicide bombers."
So we should wean ourselves from oil dependency, and you think our failure to need their oil will help the average ME person financially? You think the terrorists act badly because they are poor, and if we just fnancially favor those nations which move in the right direction, that'll end an otherwise endless stream of suicide bombers. What about the poor in nations like Iraq, where leaders simply don't give a hoot about our financial favor? Do you believe Bin Laden will quit wanting to kill us if his people are financially better off? Let me assure you, prior to shock and awe, our good ideas and financial favor weren't going to drag many iraqis out of poverty.
Re: "There are too many educated and uneducated people with too much time on their hands, surviving in abject poverty while their leaders drive ferraris and live in mansions. They are driven to terrorism."
All the more reason to ensure they get freedom, quickly.
Re: "I am afraid that if we want to survive in this world in our present form, we will have to take on the job of upgrading the entire world."
Well, we've a good start now, haven't we? I won't think too hard just what action or spending you imagine would suffice to "upgrade" the entire world, but I will tell you we've gotten off to a great start by getting rid of rotten and unsuccessful governments in Afghanistan & Iraq.
Dan B. |
