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Politics : PRESIDENT JOHN FORBES KERRY -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (738)	3/11/2004 11:06:59 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1017

alan, remember when the arabs attacked spain in the 10th century, that was GW's fault.god, I thought everyone knew that

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (738)	3/11/2004 11:11:56 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1017

My first point is that most Americans think, well, American. Secondly, Bush is viewed by the larger Muslim world as being against them. They see America as wanting to take the resources from their lands, propping up monarchies or dictators who repress them, in order to do this. The wonderful world vision of the America of the '50s no longer holds. Too many people hate America today. Moreover, the war in Iraq was wrong and any sensible person with an understanding of math would know that 70-80 percent of the entire world opposed the US preemptive invasion of Iraq. The war was waged for the wrong reasons and it was deceitful. Now, word of mouth is a powerful propaganda tool. Do you think word has spread throughout the Arab world that the only Iraqi government building that the Americans protected when the occupation was complete was the Iraqi Oil Ministry Building? OK, so what do you think they think of that? Do you think they collectively said, "Kewl?" In American-think, when we see OBL walking around the countryside with his cloak and his cane, or when the cameras showing him eating his small meal, we here in America see the enemy. Unfortunately, for us, they seem him walking around like a prophet, the David of the David vs. Goliath match-up. Now, do you think a perceived prophet has any recruiting power? Unfortunately, they do. Ask any of America's television evangelists! Now, if the man whose declared a war on terror against the United States is asking unemployed and represeed Muslim youth--not just in the MidEast, but in Asia, Africa and elsewhere--to join his movement, which is the biggest deal to hit the bigtime (I mean we're talkin' Big Tent here!) in the Muslim world in a long, long time, do you think this perceived prophet is going to be successful? You bet he is! Thirdly, our own CIA noted that one of the risks of going to war in Iraq was that it could increase terrorism, rather than reduce it. If there was one thing that Bush could have done to enhance the goals and objectives of OBL, it was for him to invade Iraq. This created a more fertile recruting opportunity, one greater even than the University of Colorado's football program! Fourthly, Bush's best response to 9/11 was to ask questions. Princple among them would be: Why would terrorists do this? The solution to the problem lies in that answer. And the answer is a long-term solution, not the short-term political-advantage type solution Bush sought (his actions covered his presidential illigitmacy issue, the bad economy and gave him an opportunity to make a name for himself, this while avenging his dad). Bush should have immediately engaged worldwide multinational forums to engage the issues that wrought the terrorism in the first place. He should have stressed needs for education, fair trade, social justice (not only here in America but throughout the world); he should have immediately committed to the world court; he should have been visiting the United Nations near daily and having its representatives often visit him (instead he spy-bugged the UN Security Council!); he should have made a statement that America is more than willing to share its life-sustaining technologies so that others have a better shot at healthy lives. He should have stressed independent self-determination for all people; not just Americans. There's a lot he could have and should have done that he did not do. Instead, he decided to kill people and perform the acts of a two-bit bully. Again, American-think vs. Muslim-think. Bush thinks in reelection cycles; OBL sees a much longer engagement. And because of Bush's warmongering, OBL will have more people lining up behind him to commit more acts of terror in the future against the world. And we will continue to respond with: Where are they? Think what Mario Cumo said this evening on the Chris Matthews show: [paraprhased] You can't beat terrorism with a military. If this was the case Israel's Sharon would have won a long time ago! Now, how did the policies of George Bush cause 190 Spanish citizens to be murdered and 1200 to become casulaties? Read the above!