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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (45156)	5/18/2004 10:33:35 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793616

They've changed the course of history in a big way already. The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the ongoing WOT are the first phase of a massive historical shift, the results of which we cannot yet see. I would argue that it is not they who have changed the course of history. They may have triggered it but it is we who are changing it. Afghanistan, Iraq, and the WOT are our initiatives, not theirs. We are the ones in control of how we respond to triggers. We are the ones choosing the course of history. We need to take responsibility for that.

To: carranza2 who wrote (45156)	5/18/2004 10:35:07 AM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793616

<<<No, they are just different. They have no state, wear no uniforms, practice no rules, are ruthless, willing to kill themselves in the process of inflicting terror, have no compunction against killing innocent civilians, and are well financed.>>> Yes, they seem so different that it is hard to comprehend. For instance during our other epic existential fight against the evil empire, we were at least able to get estimate of their capabilities. The number of troops, armor, aircraft, missiles, nuclear weapons, and other WMD. We could at least imagine the threat. With these terrorists, we have to let our imaginations go wild. For instance, we can't get our FBI to communicate with our CIA because we lack the funding to provide them with the latest technology. How the terrorists communicate with each other world wide is beyond my imagination. We can't get Congress to approve another 50 to 100 billion dollars just maintain our troop levels, I wonder how they raise their money (and how much), keep an audit trail (so no one steals from them - I suppose they have crooks in their system also), and disperse them to be used in the most economic manner. If nothing else, these people can teach us management and organization with very little resources. Nevertheless, I do see the threat. It is very much real. It can do some real damage. It has already done a great deal of damage. But because the threat is so clandestine, and our inability to obtain any metrics on the situation, I can also see how our imaginations can betray us - the danger that we imagine can be much greater than the reality. At the same time, I do not want to minimize that danger.