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

To: paul_philp who wrote (56475)	11/10/2002 7:13:29 PM
From: SirWalterRalegh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

The only politician to impress me, in my lifetime, was Nelson Mandela. You say this after just saying that President Bush impressed you. It is sorry the Nelson Mandela is best you can come up with in your lifetime. Did you forget about Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? How about Chairman Arafat, a Nobel winner?

To: paul_philp who wrote (56475)	11/10/2002 7:28:20 PM
From: Ish	Respond to of 281500

<<The only politician to impress me, in my lifetime, was Nelson Mandela.>> Pro Castro and GKQadaffie. He's right up there on my picks just behind #722.

To: paul_philp who wrote (56475)	11/12/2002 3:00:25 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

None of these leaders [ref LBJ, Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher] were presented with the level of challenge that Bush faces. The last two presidents to face similar challenges were FDR and Lincoln. This is hyperbole. Certainly it is not wise to minimize the threat we face, but neither is it wise to exaggerate it. The threat that Islamic terrorism poses to the US is in no way comparable to those faced in the Civil War, World War 2, or the Cold War. Islamic fundamentalism is a force fighting a desperate holding action against history and human nature. Terrorism is its way of lashing out at an enemy that the fundamentalists know will ultimately overwhelm them. Ideologically, Islamic fundamentalism is not a threat. Islamic fundamentalism is never going to take root in America. Its appeal within the Islamic world is limited and waning. Unlike Fascism in the 1930’s or Communism in the 1950s and 60s, Islamic fundamentalism has, even in the worst-case scenario, an inherently limited capacity for ideological expansion. Neither Islamic Fundamentalism nor any of its national proponents wields a significant military force. They aren’t going to conquer us, or destroy us. In WW2 there was a very real possibility that the nation could be assailed by a superior military force, and face destruction. In the Cold War the same possibility existed, with the added potential for extinction of the entire race. Neither of these is a real possibility in the current confrontation. Islam is not going to overwhelm us from within, and Islamic armies are not going to overwhelm us from the outside. Terrorists can hurt us, even hurt us badly, but they do not have the capacity to destroy us. Let’s not behave as if our very existence is threatened. It isn’t, and the illusion that it is can produce the kind of hysterical thoughts and actions that create more problems than they solve.