Ted,
US screwed up badly, lied about its screw up and then went after S. Milosevic and done him wrong even though he is really a saint;
I have no illusions about Milosevic, as I posted here: Message 16361517
compared to any other leader in Europe, he was probably one of the worst, if not THE worst, it's just that in the conflict with KLA, you inevitably have to compare him to KLA, and he starts to look pretty good in comparison.
That his trial in front the Hague Tribunal is a setup and a farce? I think you could have the makings of a Balkan soap opera.
Obviously, some people got killed, so they will find him guilty of something. I am not saying he is innocent. If Iraqi, Japanese or German won the wars, Geroge Bush Sr., FDR, Churchil would be found guilty of something as well in, say "Osaka Tribunal".
One thing I wonder about is what his role was in supporting Bosnian Serbs, or if there was any direct contact, or if he was somehow giving orders. But in case of Kosovo, I don't think he did anything that far out of ordinary, considering the circumstances. I wonder what you would have done in his place if you honestly considered the situation.
What I understand is that these attacks were done by terrorists that could well be a Muslim faction. However, I don't think we have evidence that bin Laden's cell is the one that actually committed the attacks. While I understand that the cells are related not unlike one's cousin, I don't think you can arrest the cousin when he was not the actual perpetrator of the crime.
For this precise reason, there was some pressure to come up with some kind of declaration of war, so that you don't have to end up bogged down with technicalities such as "beyond reasonable doubt". This way, every terrorist, every associate, supporter, advisor, mastermind is a target. If this guy is guilty of any single one of major terrorist attacks (and I am aware of at least 5) he deserves to be killed. Even if he did nothing but paid for one set of box cutters, knowing what they are going to be used for, he deserves to be killed.
Just for the record, the only evidence we have to date is that 19 Muslims took part in the hijackings...that's it.
I have to take your word for it, since I did not received private briefing by the FBI director or the Attorney General.
Yes, I am very serious about this. There are a lot of Muslims in the world....Mani suggests the population is over a billion. If just 2 percent of those sympathize with bin Laden, the last thing we need to do is assassinate him without proof that he committed the attack on the WTC. We need to do this right. Look at the sh*t Israel gets everytime it kills a Palestinian, and its not the world's remaining super power. I think we need to do this by the book no matter how long it takes so that we come out smelling like sh*t washed in rose petals. ;~))
I am not sure I follow your logic. Suppose you are right, and 2% of Muslim sympathize with bin Laden. They sympathize with him because they believe he is guilty, they think that he killed Americans, that's why they are "sympathizers". If the goal was to discredit bin Laden in eyes of these 2% (rather than to eliminate the terrorist threat), we could just declare that he didn't do it.
I think if there is anyone who we should care about, it would be the opinion of the 98% sane Muslims, who think that the guy is a murderer. If there is anyone to present the proof, it would be the moderate Muslims.
In the meantime, you sound like you're getting ready to form a lynch mob. I just don't think that's the best way to handle this problem.
What is? The previous way of just locking up the immediate perpetrators, and their immediate commanders, while doing nothing about the terrorist threat in general? Is the right approach to do nothing, since the 19 hijackers are already dead? IMO, the right approach in one that will prevent future terrorist attacks. I am not sure what the most effective way to achieve this would be. If you have any ideas other than arresting and killing everyone in the chain of command, or even better, everyone in the organizational chart, let me know.
Joe |
