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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (155222)	11/25/2002 6:01:25 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1579940

RE:"Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today." Where did you see that? link? If it is, is it from the birth rate, converts? Maybe hating western ways is causing many to join Islam? Personally, I think "America first" should be a priority. If that means protecting borders, enforcing immigration laws and pi$$ing off some middle eastern countries...tough. Enough of this crap where foreigners are just using our own system against us or to enrich themselves. Jim

To: Alighieri who wrote (155222)	11/25/2002 6:30:26 PM
From: hmaly	Respond to of 1579940

Alighieri Re..I agree. We probably should get better support from SA, Pakistan, Iran etc..in cracking down on inciteful clergy or wherever this vitriol comes from....I am just not clear on what path the crack down takes in these countries where Islam seems extremely entwined in the culture and what backlash is likely to ensue...<< Maybe so...he tried and came very close. Had he succeeded, this would be a very different world. << How so? While we wouldn't have the terrorism in Israel, we would still have had 9/11, Iraq, and the clerics still supporting violence. Historians have postulated that his stance was strongly motivated by the knowledge that Britain was not ready to fight a war with Germany. Neville had a history of appeasement in all dealings with other goverments, not just Germany. Problem is that those most ready to fight are least likely to do so The innocent people that are caught in the middle are more likely to die in the name of the causes we espouse. I am not sure what you mean here. We have a very professional army, with sophisticated weapons, which can minimize civilian casualties. If you rebuild properly after the war and make life better for the people who lost, we have seen most nations behave in a pacifist manner, namely Japan and Germany. Most likely outcome in Iraq will be the unleashing of another Islamic nation, much like Afghanistan or even worse. Even Kuwait today is a parliamentary structure dominated by Islamic fervor. We are not popular in that country after 10 years of "democracy". I don't think so. Iraq currently doesn't have a particularly strong Islamic culture. I would bet that the people of Iraq will be happy to get rid of Saddam, and will embrace a different sort of gov. Look at Japan. It only took 20 yrs for Japan to rebuild itself into an economic powerhouse. And the emperor and the Sanurai tradition was easily as strong there, as Islam is in Iraq. Kuwait was returned back to its kings and princes. We didn't tamper with the gov., or try to instal a provisinal gov. In Iraq it would be likely that we will do so. Maybe the people won't like it at first, but once the people of Iraq get used to the change, democracy should do fine. The real curse of democracy has been getting enough money to rebuild enough so everyone has a job. Iraq with its oil won't have that problem. He has to be isolated, fought, hunted down, captured, killed, and his organization diamantled. Now you are talking. The remainder of the Arab world must be dealt with through diplomatic means. Humiliating Iraq once more and installing a pro-Western regime there will marginalize Arabs further and drive the west closer to a clash of civilizations. OBL's final dream will have come through. I think it will happen the other way around. With a strong democracy improving the peoples lives in Iraq, the arab people will turn to democracies, not militaristic dictatorships, or Islam to improve their lives. Then and only then will we have the support of the people to defeat OSB. Both SA and Iran have weak gov. The monarchy in SA is fearful of the clerics and the clerics run Iran. However Iraq is dominated by Saddam. If you set up a strong central gov. in Iraq, with the right to chose ones religion, such as we see in the west, I don't see Islam becoming a potent weapon. Personally, I think the Saudis need a little backbone, but with Iraq around to stir up trouble, the Saudis didn't want to chance it. Iran currently is revolting against the hardline clerics, so the fall of Saddam could tip the scales in favor of a strong central gov. with Islam receeding into the background. wish it were so...but it is not i fear. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. Stupid species we are. Hate and even kill each other in the name of the very faiths we use to establish our moralities. Fundamentalism has been able to flourish because of imtimidation and lack of better viable alternatives. Who could believe that a religion which treats its women so poorly could flourish otherwise. However democracy has been very successful in most countries to some extent, is a far sight better than the current dictatorships and monarchies.