>>But I prefer to keep them hiding in caves than letting them broadcast openly and freely from pulpits or mosques where they an reach a broader audience on a personal level (rather than internet or DVD videos).<<
this is where our views diverge - i'm not convinced that this effort is worth $3 trillion and i'm not convinced that dropping bombs and killing millions of innocent people and many millions of grieving families will end up yielding fewer folks angry at the USA than letting them broadcast.
i'd like to see some kind of proof before bankrupting the nation. which is the second point i have - will i be 10000x more likely to be victimized by my american neighbor than if al qaeda were to be allowed to rome free in afghanistan (they already left to pakistan) once this nation's currency collapses due, in part, to fighting people are 1/10000th as likely to victimize me as my starving neighbor with a gun?
this is a lose / lose proposition, imho. if you fight the wars forever (and that's how long we'll fight given your argument), you bankrupt america. if you don't fight the wars, there will eventually be an attack on america. there may be an attack on america anyway, but you can't prove it.
lose / lose.
>>Look.. this is where my primary logic stands. These guys are preaching far and wide that Allah is with them and they cannot lose. Victory will ultimately be theirs and the "infidel west" will flee before the wrath of Allah's warriors.<<
at the cost of my neighbor becoming 10000x more likely to rob and/or shoot me for my food stores?
>>So long as we back down, or fail to forcefully confront such fanatics, they will be able to use our indecision, doubt, and pacifism as a sign that Allah is with them. Our isolationism and indifference will only serve them as a recruiting tool far more powerful that hunting them down like dogs with UAVs and kill/capture raids.<<
that's the military industrial complex party line and it leads to never ending war - *exactly* what enriches them and will bankrupt the jobless american citizen.
i don't buy it. if true, though, then we need to pay for these wars with a war tax. 0-20% of income with a line item on everyone's check named "war tax."
the protests would end the wars in short order. it is easy to support something that isn't a line item out of one's budget.
>>Cut the head off the snake and the body will wither. Kill ANY of these bastards who DARE to publicly pronounce that they seek to conquer us and impose their religious dogma.<<
the tighter we close our grip, the more they slip through our fingers. this is the historical reality.
>>They see us as an enemy to be destroyed and we see them as knats to be ignored or swatted away. They don't like that.. They will force us, and their followers, to pay attention to them by concocting even greater acts of violence against civilians, whether they be American, European, or even Moderate Muslims.<<
terrorism has increased around the world since we started fighting it, no?
>>Again, to keep this peripherally "on topic", the economic and social costs of doing nothing now to preempt this is to condemn our children to fighting their children in the future, and expending even more blood and treasure in the process.<<
our children have no future do to financial mismanagement and military industrial complex welfare. they will be *much* more worried about their neighbor robbing and killing them for limited food supplies once the dollar collapses, imho. why have gun sales sky rocketed? why have bullets *way* outperformed gold with nary a significant down tick?
>>Afghanistan's population is about 50% under the age of 18 (thereabouts). I kind of think we have a vested interest in making sure that their future can be brighter than strapping on an explosive vest and seeking martyrdom.<<
did you watch "obama's war?" the town folk won't help the americans until their presence is constant - 100% around the clock. otherwise, the taliban hurts them and their families.
>>That's the lesson I gained out of 2 years in Iraq. We're there for the sake of their children, and ours.
Again.. go back and watch that video of the Hamas leader. He's espousing the very same thing that every one of these other Muslim militants are declaring as their intent.
Hawk<<
i'll check out the video. i just think the risk of america itself collapsing is greater than, no, much greater than, al qaeda harming a given person inside america. i have no doubt these folks are crazy.
i have no doubt my neighbors will be crazy when TSHTF and they can't feed their families. |
