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Politics : Attack Iraq? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (8361)	11/26/2003 10:06:00 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 8683

>>IMO. It is them...islam....or us. And do you really think that the radical muslims increased their members just because Bush is in power? These nut bars have been murdering innocent people for many many years including many Americans. How many times has America ignored muslim crazies when they have bombed American interests and innocent people over the last 20 or so years....just to appease them hoping they would go away. Big mistake! America should have done what president Bush is doing to day. Confront them wherever they are.<< Lorne - Yes, I absolutely believe that radical Islamists have increased their numbers because of Bush's rhetoric and short-sighted actions. The Bush Administration seems to believe that confrontation and force are the only possible responses to Islamic terrorists. You seem to agree. But if you look at Israel's experience over the past 50 years, you can see that confrontation and force by themselves just don't work. Israel has taken a hard line, and has been adhering to a policy of "pre-emptive defense" for a long time, and what has it gotten them? Are Israelis safer today than they were ten years ago? By the way, I don't think America has ignored terrorists in the past. Admittedly, Reagan and Bush the First didn't have great records with respect to terrorism, but the Clinton Administration was dogged in its pursuit of terrorists, especially Bin Laden. In fact, the entire anti-terror program that the Bush Administration has put into effect since 9/11 was outlined for them by Richard Clarke, whom Bill Clinton had appointed as the first national antiterrorism coordinator. Clark had been given the task of coming up with a plan to destroy Al Qaeda. The plan included freezing their assets, uncovering fake charities that fund terrorism, giving aid to governments that were having trouble with them, to step up covert operations in Afghanistan to eliminate terror training camps, and to try to assassinate Bin Laden himself. That plan was completed in the last days of the Clinton Administration and handed to Bush when he took office. It's one of the reasons Clinton was praised for his anti-terrorism efforts by Robert Oakley (Ambassador for Counterterrorism in the Reagan State Department) and Paul Bremer (you know him). Unfortunately, Bush did not see fit to enact ANY of the provisions of the plan until after 9/11. - Allen