I agree with much of your post, particularly with respect to change. I'm really undecided at this point and hoping that one side or the other will go from just attack mode to real solutions with specifics.
As for the causes of terror, I think you are over-simplifying. OBL and Al Queda really are a result of our policies with Saudi Arabia. Much of this is hidden by our own government, e.g., the redacted 9/11 Congressional hearing report, deletions all dealt with Saudi Arabia.
OBL pissed off because the oil is controlled by the House of Saud and the close connection with America and perhaps the Bush family.
Israel IMO was a throw-in to get the other Arabs to go along with the religious fervor. I believe OBL is not a religious person but has manipulated others. Israel has very little natural wealth. It is a tiny strip of land that would be barren, but for hard work. It's not worth fighting over when compared to the wealth that the Saudis control, wealth that, in the right hands, could control the world.
Israel and Jews make an attractive "enemy" for the haters of this world, often irrespective of their particular religion. They can unite in their hatred. It's not a new tactic. I guarantee you that if tiny Israel were to disappear, OBL would be fighting for that oil under guise of protecting the holy cities of SA.
As for Kosovo, again I think it's a bit of a simplification. The Jihadists seem to have a way to twist everything. They seem to be masters of disinformation. We see a lot of that on SI.
An obvious fact is turned 180 degrees to prove a whacky point.
The Jihaddists no doubt ascribe some awful motive for our saving Moslems in Kosovo and Bosnia. No doubt there must be some nutty reason to blame the typical enemies, Jews, the US, Mossad, CIA, etc., etc.
I hate violence and war also. But, I am getting to the point that I start to realize that no matter how much you try to make peace and help these Jihaddists, they want ultimate domination. The only language they will understand is superior force and that ultimate force will defeat them. Then they will go into hibernation for a century or so, until the next nut motivates them.
The US has spent weeks boasting that we will retake cities and kill or capture renegade clerics. Yet, we sit with a few troops outside looking very indecisive, very impotent to carry through on our threats. We hate civilian deaths. However, we have given enough time for civilians to leave and the message we send is that we are a paper tiger. This will not bring peace. I believe it sends a message, not that we are afraid of harming civilians, but that we just can't do anything when the going gets tough. This is not my opinion, but it is the opinion that is being viewed in the field. THEY ONLY UNDERSTAND FORCE AND STRENGTH. THEY ARE TERRORISTS, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES. Look at the indiscriminate bombings of their own people. I can't understand how they could kill their own people. Bomb their own school buses. This is not a logic that can be debated on a message board. It is pure and unadulterated evil. Nothing justifies bombing your own school bus with children inside.
The Israelis have been dealing with this in close quarters for their entire existence. Despite what nuts on SI say, most Israelis just want to be left alone, live in peace, and would trade land for peace. They have found that the only thing that the terrorists understand is brute force of reprisals and targeted killings.
The leader of Hamass is hiding cowardly, trying not to reveal himself, yet happily sending other people's children or other lost souls as suicide murderers, targeting civlians, with minimal chance of hitting military targets.
How do you deal with that? Subpoenas? Summons? Depositions? International tribunals? commissions? Peace Talks? You can't negotiate with yourself. Arafat fired a PM who even suggested he would negotiate. The guy had to flee for his life. |
