Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (16798)	1/19/2002 3:26:44 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I just saw "Black Hawk Down", and boy, did they nail this Movie! I had read the book, and they followed it, all the way through it. IMO, this is the most realistic war film I have ever seen. They did not hide the mistakes made. I could not figure out where they filmed it. It was so well done I thought for a while they must have gone back to Somalia to shoot it. I finally found a URL: cinemayhem.com The production crew and actors are currently in Morocco filming. Their precise location is Sidi Moussa, an area of Rabat, the capital of the country. It was felt that this location would be the most appropriate, since it is a poorer section of the city and its buildings were similar in characteristic to those in Somalia. This movie is especially tragic when you realize that, according to Bernard Lewis, one of the reasons for 9/11 was that our bug out of Somalia when this happened helped convince Ben Ladin that we would not retaliate.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (16798)	1/20/2002 4:12:53 PM
From: Bilow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi Nadine Carroll; What you wrote was: "You're really going to have to explain how we wound up in Saudi Arabia to protect Israel." #reply-16932892 I said I'd said no such thing. Now you're explaining it with this quote from me: "We're disengaging because it will increase the level of peace, prosperity and security in the United States...our foreign policy must take into account our domestic safety from terrorism. That means that we will be forced to disengage. Why should the American public take a bullet for Israel?" [As you quote in #reply-16933619 ] I don't see your point, and so can't reply to it. The US is getting out of the Middle East in order to enhance US safety. The US will do this regardless of what the consequences to Israel (or Saudi Arabia for that matter) are. All this has little to do with why the US got involved in the various countries in the Middle East, which is a long and tortured story that certainly can't be reduced to a pithy one-liner. Re: "I was pointing out that we have other reasons to stay very much engaged in the Middle East, such as our oil supply." This would be true, if it were the case that staying engaged in the Middle East was able to ensure our access to oil. But the fact is that it doesn't. Re: "Would it increase our security if Al Quaeda topples the House of Saud and takes the oil fields?" No it wouldn't. But having troops in Saudi Arabia, or being engaged in the Middle East at all, has very little to do with whether or not Al Qaeda topples the Saudi government. As it is now, Al Qaeada uses the presence of our troops as a tool to convince the populace to support it. Re: "How will we prevent this if we have disengaged?" Our troops in Saudi Arabia are not there to keep the Saudis in power. They are there to help defend the Kuwaitis and Saudis. From Iraq. Our troops are not even stationed in contact with the Saudi public, which is where Al Qaeda would operate. In short, we have no military contact with Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. In addition, since oil is a product that is very easily sabotaged, there is little we can do militarily to force Saudi Arabia (or anyone else for that matter) to provide us with the stuff. A very small urban guerilla force can reduce the oil production of a country substantially. It's kind of surprising that Al Qaeda hasn't decided to do this. I would think that they eventually will, assuming that they managed to survive the setback in Afghanistan. Re: "You may choose to ignore the Arab and and pretend the MEMRI is making it all up, but it doesn't alter what they have said, what they continue to say, and what they have taught the people to believe." What MEMRI is doing is distorting the Arab situation in order to reduce the chance that the US and the Arabs will get along. As an example, you've been quoting MEMRI about the "fact" that the Arabs believe that the Mossad caused the WTC crashes. Here's the truth: Call for dialogue at Jeddah Forum Khalil Hanware, K.S. Ramkumar, Arab News Staff, January 20, 2002 Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman ibn Hamid Al-Khalifa yesterday called on Arabs and Muslims to take "some responsibility" for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. He also called for a dialogue to resolve differences. He was giving the keynote address on the first day of the third Jeddah Economic Forum which continues till Monday. In his no-holds-barred speech to politicians, diplomats and many of the country’s business leaders, he also called on GCC countries to accept criticism and to combat dishonesty. "We have to fight corruption, particularly administrative corruption." He also criticized the speed at which GCC unity is proceeding and the lack of willingness to accept change. "Not enough economic sovereignty has been given up," he said. GCC countries wanted closer union, "but we are not willing to make the sacrifices." Referring to the serious damage the Sept. 11 attacks had done to the international Arab image, he said that governments had to do all in their power to fight "this sort of Islam which is not correct in its interpretation". He called it "self-destructive." Arabs need "to take responsibility for the actions of some of those individuals...We must be responsible," he told the forum, held at Jeddah’s Hilton Hotel. There are two keynote addresses today, one by former US President Bill Clinton, and the other by Prince Alwaleed ibn Talal. In the opening address to the forum, the Governor of Makkah, Prince Abdul Majeed, said that the event was a sign to the world that the Kingdom openly welcomed foreign investment. The theme — "Managing in complex global environment" — explores the world economic environment and how countries can come together through trade and investment and achieve greater understanding and cooperation. "We must study what happened, (on Sept. 11), why it happened and make sure it never happens again," the Bahraini Crown Prince said. "All Muslims and the West should analyze why the attacks on the US occurred. Just as surely as we want the US to take some degree of responsibility for the Israeli attacks on Palestinians, we should look to ourselves for Sept. 11. We must address what’s wrong in our societies that caused this misinterpretation of Islam," Salman said. "People need to see us acting so that it never happens again." On the development of the GCC, he said that it must break down internal trade barriers and diversify away from oil. "The Gulf’s economy must develop with the rest of the world. The Gulf market had to have transparency and clarity, fight administrative corruption and allow constructive criticism if it is to encourage outside investors," Salman said. "All of us have competitive advantages that we try to hold on to like low labor costs in some and low cost of energy in others. But if we want to unify then what we need to do is to bring our economic structures in line," he later told reporters. arabnews.com No mention of the Mossad. -- Carl