Posted on 06/01/2002 5:54:25 PM PDT by Alan Chapman
Yes I did! Which is why I said that the only "Americans" being held are those who were soldiers in the terrorist's army. Let me refer you to:
Yaser Esam Hamdi, 21, an American citizen born in Louisiana but captured in Afghanistan
Which is why I objected to comparing them to the law-biding patriotic Japanese-Americans of WW2. This guy is not a bank robber, he's an enemy soldier in a terrorist army. And you do not let enemy POWs go during a war.
"You mean the same Iraq that we armed so it could go to war with Iran? Iran, the country whose leader we helped depose?"
Yes, that one. That's also the same Iran which was kidnapping americans and killing us abroad. And British MI6 were the instigators behind Mossadeq's overthrow, as recently revealed documents in the U.K. have shown, they along with BP manipulated the U.S. into involvement with that situation. Mossadeq wasn't exactly innocent either, he nationalized the refineries (i.e. STOLE THEM), property which wasn't Iran's to just up and snatch. I'm a big believer in property rights....
"Because a country happens to be the origin of a terrorist is no justification to drop bombs on that country and kill thousands of civilians who had nothing to do with the acts."
Oh please...it goes far beyond just being the origin, it's a willful participation by their governments and their "leaders". When you're faced with such hostility, what's the alternative? Isolationism work for you much on the school yard? It didn't for me..
"During the 1992 Los Angeles riots should the appropriate action have been to fly over the city and drop bombs to stop the rioters? Afterall, people were pillaging, murdering, and razing."
Not a bad idea. I'm joking...hardly a relevant issue, and hardly a concentrated focused attack designed to do maximum damage. Don't see what that has to do with regimes and governments that have been systematically involved in destroying our ventures and citizens.
"The same Afghanistan to whom we've given hundreds of millions in foreign-aid? The same Afghanistan whose invasion by Russia was partially financed by the US?"
The same one...what's with the non-sequiturs? What does it matter whether our governments have tried to "bribe" Afghanistan to curb opium production or terrorist facilities? Saying the U.S. supported the Soviet invasion is pure Chomskyesque mythology.
"It absolutely makes the US government responsible for everyone of those deaths. No official declaration of war was made and neither were Letters of Marque and Reprisal issued. The bombing was to appease Americans who were screaming for something to be done. Now the infrastructure of Afghanistan lays in ruin, thousands are dead, hundreds of thousands are refugees, and we are no more safe from terrorism."
News flash, hundreds of thousands were refugees to begin with, and thousands were already dying yearly from civil war and famine. Where have you been? This sounds like more Noam Chomsky b.s., and it's been proven that he's spreading myths about displacement and how much aid is getting into Afghanistan, which is more now than when the Taliban had control. Check out Horowitz's or Hitchens' refutations to this nonsense. "9/11 was the act of a terrorist organization and not a nation of people. Al Queda terrorists also inhabit Saudia Arabia and Pakistan. Why aren't we dropping bombs on those countries?"
We'll drop bombs on them soon enough, but economic bombs, like when we cease purchasing Saudi oil. So long Riviera mansions and kaviar dreams... "The US government was looking for any reason to invade Afghanistan so it could topple its government and replace it with one friendly to international oil intersts. It's been all over the news in the rest of the world but not in the US. Gee, I wonder why that is."
The U.S. government has had more than one opportunity to do this...this reaks of conspiracy theory, the whole Conoco b.s....when Conoco bailed out of the pipeline project years ago. And regarding the U.S. looking into the resources of the region, no duh. This pipeline has been in the works for over a decade...did you just stumble on to this? Why is this a bad thing, both for Afghanistan (which has one of the worst economies in the world) and the U.S., which has to depend on volatile middle-east regimes for energy sources. I'd like to see the studies that prove that drilling a bit here and there in the U.S. and setting up some solar panels and windmills will solve all our problems. We all saw what happened when it was suggested we drill ANWR...
Not common sense. Convenience. Expediancy. It's easy to say that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. But, this is the justification used for all kinds of government intrusions.
If you're unwilling to stand in defense of liberty, even when doing so creates imposition, then what's the point? You might as well throw your hands up in the air and hand your life over to the state for safe-keeping.
That's also the same Iran which was kidnapping americans and killing us abroad.
And why were they doing that? That's the question that we have to ask. If we never ask the question then we will continue doing what we've always done and there will continue to be more killing. Obviously they were trying to provoke a reaction. But, to what end?
Mossadeq wasn't exactly innocent either, he nationalized the refineries (i.e. STOLE THEM), property which wasn't Iran's to just up and snatch. I'm a big believer in property rights....
Not our problem.
...it's a willful participation by their governments and their "leaders".
You mean the ones which we give millions and billions in foreign-aid and military equipment so that they can turn around and kill and destroy? Did you know what with the aid of US-supplied military equipment, Indonesia invaded and occupied East Timor in 1975 and killed tens of thousands? Then hundreds of thousands later? This is what interventionist foreign policy does.
When you're faced with such hostility, what's the alternative?
Think of some alternatives. I know you can do it.
Not a bad idea. [drop bombs to stop the rioters] I'm joking...hardly a relevant issue, and hardly a concentrated focused attack designed to do maximum damage.
Actually, it's very relevant. Bomb dropping is indiscriminate. It is not focused. That's why it should be used only as a last resort. Many of the bombs dropped on Afghanistan were cluster bombs. They explode into little bomblets which disperse over a wide area. Many failed to explode. People are still drying because of "duds" which turned out not to be duds afterall.
Don't see what that has to do with regimes and governments that have been systematically involved in destroying our ventures and citizens.
Unless they attack the United States there is no justification to initiate military action. The US military is not the private security firm of private overseas ventures and tourists.
The US military is not the world's police force. It should be used for one purpose only -- the defense of the United States.
What does it matter whether our governments have tried to "bribe" Afghanistan to curb opium production or terrorist facilities?
Because Afghanistan in a militaristic, authoritarian, theocracy. It is known to finance and harbor terrorists. Illegal drugs generate huge profits. To think that the government over there is going crack down on illegal drug production is naive in the extreme. Besides, the WOD is unConstitutional as is foreign-aid. BTW, the "bribes" you mentioned were likely encouragement to allow construction of an oil pipeline.
Saying the U.S. supported the Soviet invasion is pure Chomskyesque mythology.
Not supported. Financed. This was reported by John Stossel in one of his investigations.
...hundreds of thousands were refugees to begin with, and thousands were already dying yearly from civil war and famine.
Is this supposed to justify something? Perhaps we should drop bombs everywhere there are refugees, civil war, and famine.
This sounds like more Noam Chomsky b.s., and it's been proven that he's spreading myths about displacement and how much aid is getting into Afghanistan, which is more now than when the Taliban had control.
I've never read any Noam Chomsky. My information comes from various news sources on the Internet. The amount of aid getting into Afghanistan now, as compared with before, doesn't justify the bombings.
The U.S. government has had more than one opportunity to do this...this reaks of conspiracy theory...
The federal government ought not be involved in the negotiations at all. It is a matter for private industry to handle.
Why is this a bad thing, both for Afghanistan (which has one of the worst economies in the world) and the U.S., which has to depend on volatile middle-east regimes for energy sources.
The pipeline, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. The way in which the situation is being handled is.
I'd like to see the studies that prove that drilling a bit here and there in the U.S. and setting up some solar panels and windmills will solve all our problems.
It won't solve all our problems. But, we will learn to solve them in other ways -- ways which do not entail military incursions into other countries because we think we're entitled to their oil.
Ever been out of Florida? I've been all over this country. There are thousands and thousands of square miles of flat, desolate land that is unused. Plenty of room to set up miles and miles of solar panels, wind generators, geothermal, and oil rigs. The oceans are vast. But, this is really beside the point.
1. Cheney and Ashcroft did not say dissent was unpatriotic.
2. Clinton's warnings on terrorism given his administration's reaction to the East African Embassy bombings and the USS Cole should have been discounted heavily. People in the US have responded to Bush positively since Sept. 11 because in their hearts they know he has responded far better and more forcefully than Clinton would have.
3. I don't believe Karl Rove ever stated the events of Sept. 11 would elect more Republicans. The actions of Pres. Bush after Sept. 11 will elect more Republicans.
This article is so slanted, it's amazing it can even stand up.
heh--thanks! =)
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