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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Machaon who wrote (20129)	11/27/2002 9:26:52 PM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

And, how did Powell get his star status? Could it have been through education and achievement? Through political astuteness and competence or, if you like, by saying and doing the right things that his superiors loved to hear and see done. He won approval all around, so much so that, at one time, many folks wanted him to be a presidential running mate. But he declined saying that his wife was afraid that some kooks would kill him. So he decided to lie low. But he was not forgotten. When Bush Jr. became president, he no doubt picked Powell to be Secretary of State because of his dad's recommendation and he knew that Colin would be overwhelmingly approved and accepted. Well.... besides the signs of bureaucratic incompetence, it was well known to many in our government that God was shielding America from attack. Unfortunately God only help those who help themselves. Too much faith can be just as bad thing as too little faith. The Moslems placed full reliance on Allah but it didn't seem to help them much. Too bad! Excessive faith in God shielding America had resulted in complacency and a big kick in the butt, eh? As to what was Condoleeza Rice was doing with all the vital info, go and ask her. BTW, don't forget that CR was chosen by Bush because of her academic qualifications and alleged political acumen, and because she is black and Bush wants the black community to know that he does not discriminate against them. In actual fact, by choosing Powell and Rice, Bush wants to be in the good books of the blacks and count on their support. I will not be so cruel as to tell the victims' families that 9/11 was not a sneaky attack because it will hurt them no end. They have already suffered a lot. Why rub salt into their wounds? In any case, they won't believe me. Besides, if they do, they will have a grudge against the government. This is a no-no as the government needs the full support of the people. 98%. What shows the Arab's intention to destroy Israel is the six wars, in which Israel was attacked by Arab states, 60 years of terrorist attacks, and the fact that few Arab states recognize Israelis right to exist. BTW, here is something at once interesting and controversial about the six wars. 1. The Arabs apparently placed too much reliance on Allah to help them win (since they believe their cause is just) but, as it turned out, they had not learnt from their lessons. Apparently they believe that Allah was just testing their faith and so they got to believing that if they didn't succeed at first, they will have to try and try again. 2. The savvy and well-prepared Israelis (who always knew they could count on the support of Uncle Sam, the British and the French because of the latters' oil interests) enticed the Arabs into attacking them. They knew very well that their victories would entitle them to annex more and more territory thereby securing their presence and increasing their security as well as bargaining power in the Middle East. Indeed, the wars resulted in Israel gaining territory. However, in one instance when peace was signed between Egypt and Israel, Israel returned Sinai to the Egyptians. I believe that for as long as there is oil in the Middle East and the world continues to rely heavily on using oil, the problems in the Middle East will continue for goodness knows how much longer. Needless to say, there are no easy answers or so it seems. America is too concerned about going in alone for fear of world opinion. Maybe the best solution is that proposed by some fella not too long ago: Dehumanize that goddamned part of the world by means of one or more nuclear bombs!!! This will send them all to their Heaven and to Paradise!!! And the cancer that has been scourging us will be vaporized in a jiffy!

To: Machaon who wrote (20129)	11/27/2002 10:40:29 PM
From: Investor Clouseau	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27666

What shows the Arab's intention to destroy Israel is the six wars, in which Israel was attacked by Arab states, 60 years of terrorist attacks, and the fact that few Arab states recognize Israelis right to exist. Muslims are required to struggle for justice according to the will of God. IMO, the Arab League has seen the evidence of God's will, and they have proposed a peace plan. IC

To: Machaon who wrote (20129)	11/28/2002 6:55:37 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Kissinger to head Sept 11 probe Robert, Folks who insist that Sept. 11th 2001 was a sneaky and cowardly attack may soon find out facts not known earlier. Kissinger, a former Harvard professor and Secretary of State and consultant to presidents has been commissioned by Bush to find out everything possible why the authorities failed to prevent 9/11. You asked me to tell the victims' relatives. No way! A guy of the stature of Kissinger is going to do it. Richnorth ========================================================= WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush appointed former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to lead an investigation into why the government failed to foil the Sept 11 attacks, telling the veteran diplomat to 'follow all the facts wherever they lead'. Signing a Bill he once opposed, Mr Bush told survivors and victims' family members on Wednesday that 'we must uncover every detail and learn every lesson' from the terrorist strikes. The Bill creates a 10-member independent panel for an 18-month inquiry into the attacks on Washington and New York that killed more than 3,000. It will have a broad mandate to examine issues such as aviation security and border problems, along with intelligence. Mr Kissinger, 79, echoed Mr Bush in pledging to 'go where the facts lead us'. He said he would accept no restrictions. Later, Democratic congressional leaders named former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell to be vice-chairman of the panel. After leaving the Senate in 1995, Mr Mitchell led the negotiations that produced the landmark Good Friday peace pact of 1998 for Northern Ireland. The commission will build upon the work of congressional investigators who reported this year that clues to the hijackers' plot were ignored or misunderstood. Lawmakers have criticised the Central Intelligence Agency for not tracking two Al-Qaeda operatives it learnt of in early 2000. Those operatives were two of the five hijackers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. Congressional investigators also noted poor communication between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and CIA on terrorism matters, and questioned the State Department on visa programmes that allowed all 19 hijackers to enter the country unchallenged. -- AP ========================================================== About Henry Kissinger Taught government at Harvard University before serving as consultant to National Security Council and State Department under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. President Nixon's assistant for national security affairs from 1969-1975 and secretary of state from 1973-1977. Also served under President Gerald Ford. Played key roles in numerous other major US policy decisions, including the bombing of Cambodia, the signing of arms control agreements and Mr Nixon's historic visit to China to meet Mr Mao Zedong in 1972. Was intimately involved in Vietnam War, but he negotiated an end to the conflict. He and North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. -- AFP

To: Machaon who wrote (20129)	11/28/2002 7:35:48 AM
From: Richnorth	Respond to of 27666

"The Saudis supply about one-sixth of US oil imports. But what gives Saudi Arabia its considerable political strength is its role as the only producer with the spare capacity to replace millions of barrels a day of lost oil. That amount could be drained from the market temporarily by an attack on Iraq, according to the administration's internal assessments as well as outside experts." ------------------- Read the whole report:- Saudi Arabia still holds all the oil aces WASHINGTON - Nearly a dozen years after the Persian Gulf war, when reliance on Saudi supplies prompted calls for the United States to diversify its sources of oil, the US remains as dependent as ever on the Saudis, according to government and industry officials. The Saudis supply about one-sixth of US oil imports. But what gives Saudi Arabia its considerable political strength is its role as the only producer with the spare capacity to replace millions of barrels a day of lost oil. That amount could be drained from the market temporarily by an attack on Iraq, according to the administration's internal assessments as well as outside experts. 'The Saudis have by far the largest amount of unused capacity,' said Mr Guy Caruso, the head of the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. Relations between Saudi Arabia and the US have been strained since the participation of Saudis in the Sept 11 attacks last year prompted close scrutiny of the country's role in financing and otherwise supporting Islamic radicalism. But the Bush administration's strategic options are clearly limited by American dependence on Saudi oil. ( bolding done by "lil ritchie") Last month Mr Caruso's office helped prepare an 'oil market contingency planning' book, based entirely on public data. The Energy Department has restricted the book's distribution to keep it from Congress and the public, according to government officials. In an interview last month, Mr Caruso cited a small portion of the book's contents to illustrate the unique role of Saudi Arabia. Because there are no reporting requirements in the international oil industry, capacity figures vary widely. Mr Caruso's agency estimates that Saudi Arabia has slightly more than half the spare production capacity of about five million barrels a day that exists in Opec member nations. But a group of experts led by Mr Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, estimates that total spare capacity is only three million barrels, and that the Saudis control two-thirds of that. --New York Times

To: Machaon who wrote (20129)	11/28/2002 8:13:20 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Beauty pageants can be murder Ann Coulter November 27, 2002 Inasmuch as liberals are demanding that Americans ritualistically proclaim, "Islam is a religion of peace," Muslims might do their part by not killing people all the time. Recently, the Religion of Peace suffered a PR setback when Muslims in Nigeria welcomed the Miss World beauty pageant by slaughtering Christians in the street and burning churches to the ground. At last count, more than 200 people were dead, hundreds more were injured and thousands were left without homes. Also, the Nigerian contestant's chances of winning "Miss Congeniality" were dashed. Leaping at the one chance they had to attract positive press to their country and perhaps begin the process of dragging themselves out of the 13th century, Nigerian Muslims instead chose to hack innocent people to death with machetes in the name of Allah. Pageant officials pulled up stakes and took the show to London. At least the Christian-carving faithful can sleep at night knowing they've secured a place for themselves in heaven alongside Mohamed Atta. One can assume the director of the Nigerian Department of Tourism isn't too pleased. Winning the pageant site had been an uphill battle from the beginning. Some of the more closed-minded Miss World participants had already begun carping about the upcoming stoning of a Nigerian woman, in accordance with Islamic sharia law. The president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, tried to downplay the Muslims' murderous rampage by cheerfully explaining: "The beauty queens should not feel that they are the cause of the violence. It could happen at any time irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam." Well, that's a relief. It seems an article in a Nigerian newspaper had mused that the Prophet Muhammad "would probably have chosen a wife" from among the Miss World contestants. This upset the practitioners of the Religion of Peace, whose polygamous prophet preferred his wives a little younger – one was 6 years old. They expressed their displeasure with the article by bludgeoning, stabbing and burning Christians to death. In one part of Nigeria, enforcers of the Religion of Peace commanded that Muslims kill Isioma Daniel, the authoress of the blasphemy. (Overheard at Miss World contest: "Does this make me look fatwa?") The New York Times can't bear to think that their little darlings – angry, violent Muslims – could be at fault in this melee. That makes no sense because Islam is a Religion of Peace. So the Times reviewed the facts, processed it through the PC prism, and spat out the headline: "Religious Violence in Nigeria Drives Out Miss World Event." According to the Times, rampaging Muslims pouring out of mosques to kill Christians and torch churches resulted from "the tinderbox of religious passions in the country." Islam is peaceful, but religion causes violence. Pay no attention to the fact that the most bloodthirsty cult in the 20th century was an atheistic sect known as communism. But that was not "true communism," just as Muslim terrorists are not practicing "true Islam." The ironic thing is, liberals would hate Muslims who practiced only "true Islam." Without the terrorism, Muslims would just be another group of "anti-choice" fanatics. But these are the good Muslims – the Mumia Muslims, not the Jerry Falwell Muslims. The police step in to try to quell violent Muslims and the Times reports this as "fighting between Christians and Muslims." Ah, the cycle of violence. It would be as if a conservative newspaper, with no basis in fact, referred to all murderers as "environmentalists." Environmentalists Fly Planes Into World Trade Center; Environmentalists Rape Woman In Central Park. Winning "Best in Show" was the Times' headline on an article about the Christian missionary shot dead in Lebanon by a Muslim: "Killing Underscores Enmity of Evangelists and Muslims." This is like referring to the enmity between a woman and her rapist. She hates him, he hates her. It's a cycle of violence! Except the funny thing about the Christians is, they still love the Muslims. The Muslims' main beef with the Christians was that they "destroy the fighting spirit of the children, especially of the Palestinian youth, by teaching them not to fight the Jews, for the Palestinians to forgive the Jews and leave them Jerusalem." No new data are capable of shaking the Times' faith that Islam is a religion of peace and Christians, as a general matter, deserve to be shot. The Times seemed to agree the Muslims had a point with the evangelical. In a news analysis, the Times said the missionaries claimed they were merely exposing people to Jesus Christ. "But," the Times charged in a "j'accuse" tone, "a somewhat more direct goal emerges amid the Web site postings." They were asking for it. (On the bright side, at least this means the Times is holding the gun innocent in this one instance.) The Christians were caught red-handed committing irresponsible Web postings against Islam. Fortunately, Christians do not rip out people's entrails in response to irresponsible journalism committed against Christianity. worldnetdaily.com