Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (51868)	7/31/2004 2:44:32 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 74559

I didn't say that Epytians have an unfavorable opinion of us - Zogby did! But that doesn't change anything. And what I stated was that Zogby apparently didn't poll my Egyptian friends when he came up with that ludicrous number you quoted about 100% of them having a negative opinion of the US. But futhermore, my point is that we must ask ourselves "so what?" .. Are we supposed to ignore the regional and global threats that are emerging because of the growing turmoil in the mid-east just because some people think that it's better to maintain the corrupt dictatorships that are creating/fertilizing that turmoil?? Do we ignore criminal organizations and their subversion of social order, merely because they are popular in various neighborhoods, or because people just don't like having cops patroling their neighborhood? Much of the problem is in perception. The fact that much of the rest of the world has a far more effective network capable of mass communicating such anti-American propaganda is part of the problem. But more importantly is that the US, and certainly this administration, has been unable,unwilling, to undertakes its own no-holds barred propaganda campaign for fear it will destabilize the current regimes and create revolution, rather than long term reforms.. So we bite our tongues.. But I really believe we have been wholely ineffectively in presenting the inadequacies of Islamic fundamentalism to properly run a nation's economy. We should be highlighting on a regular basis, the failures of Iran's hardline government to create economic prosperity for their people, while advancing our own perception of what econonic and social changes are required to create economic growth and jobs for the people of the region. And then we should state what we're willing to do to help them foster than growth.. Speak money, security, and social and economic stability.. Those are all things that people around the world desire... And given that the US accounts for approx 33% of the total global economy should speak volumes. I'm mean and selfish - I don't want to fix Iraq, I would rather invest in making America better. Well, that's you're prerogative Steve.. But I'm a pragmatist and a realist.. I recognize that if we just continue to ignore the mid-east and the importance of its oil reserves on global economic growth, AS WELL AS the baby-boom underway in the region, AND the fact that all of these young people could possibly be brain-washed with Islamic extremist views, you can bet your bottom dollar that reality is going to slap all of us, including you and your posterity, right in the face.. I would rather send them to Afghanistan along with the full force of our military which we cannot do because we are babysitting Iraq!! Afghanistan is the periphery of the battle against Fundamentalism. The battle there will gradually die out because of Pakistani pressure and lack of financial and logistical resources. However, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran are the front lines. And Saudi Arabia, where the Wahhabist and militant Islamic heresy are firmly rooted, is the head of the snake. It is where all of Al-Qaeda wackos learned their beliefs (carrying them to training camps in Afghanistan).. It is where the majority of the funding, via Islamic charities.. etc, was coordinated. And success in Iraq is crucial to being able to quash the rise of Islamic extremism in Saudi Arabia, hopefully without requiring us to directly invade the country. Hawk