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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: George Papadopoulos who wrote (255)	9/18/2001 12:19:58 PM
From: SirRealist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I understand that US govt has ulterior motives, almost always. My point was, in practical application, we have not been consistently pro Judeo-Christian at the expense of the Muslims, and yet are reviled as if we have been Nazis. And under the enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend rule, we oughta get some credit for helping to stop the Russians in Afghan and Chechnya. Granted, Iraq has been mishandled and shamefully so, though purportedly, we've been dealing with a guy who keeps working on chemical and biological weaponry... and I doubt anyone will contest that Hussein is one brutal honcho towards his own. Further, the tens of millions the extremists pump into their destructive missions could have fed and treated scores of Iraqi children; the double standard is obscene. Iqbal seems to believe the ISI is on a par with MOSSAD in its intelligence about Afghanistan, and seems confident Musharraf can pull off the upset, while avoiding major bloodshed among the Afghanis who are actually US-friendly. All in all, I think the extremists use a narrow lens approach.... they take credit for every joint success and tout our every failing. My impression is that sells well with the dispossessed and the young, but not the majority. I also think there's plenty of evidence that the extremist factions are simply envious of our success and believe our nation achieved this success by the same thuggery they employ. They entirely neglect the hard won democratic freedoms and the elementary fact that had we not been strong, they, and much of the world would be enjoying the MUCH better fruits of Communist dictatorships. How convenient. I'm not negating US blunders, just stating that we've not been near as one-sided as they make out and in balance, deserve far better than the recent bombings. As I stated, I do not believe we target Muslims; we target criminals. If this gets the Islamic majorities inflamed enough to fight us too, I should think some anger management classes are in order. <g> Simply put, knowing well that we are under such scrutiny, I believe our government will be taking great pains to be on its best behavior. I think the mainstream Muslim world has sympathy for our recent losses and may be a little more generous than most ascribe. Our media and strategists like to portray Muslims as different; I say they exaggerate. I have sufficient confidence in Powell's leadership and in our military's discipline to predict we'll get through this without massive bungling, without so much 'collateral damage' and without repeating the mistakes the USSR made. Everything I've seen in my lifetime suggests our military exceeds what the Soviets could do. We may bungle, but the humane intentions of our citizenry, even in uniform, is the part of the package that should not be underestimated. The real test, I feel, is whether the American public still has the fortitude to stick it out when we accrue further losses and are subject to further acts of insanity. I've got my fingers crossed but believe we can.