Free Republic

"If he was alive don't you think we would have seen a video by now with him holding up a pictures, or news papers of the latest attack

No. Examine the reasons he might have to do this:

1. Personal/Egotistical.

And consider the reasons not to:

1. It would increase US resolve to find him and re-solidify the loose paste holding together the international coalition established post 9/11. Mark my words; if he had kept quiet for another year, the EU participants would have stopped supporting the effort.

2. It keeps his opponents guessing while his supporters (i.e. most of the Islamic community) will gladly take even the flimsiest of evidence as proof of survival.

3. Each time he communicates with the outside world he exposes himself to detection. You can gather copious information from video (rock formation, soil, foliage, weather, seasonal attributes, topography) as opposed to audio where the maker need only eliminate background noise, deliver the tape far away from where it was created and make sure that the chain of messengers is trustworthy.

4. Periodic resurfacing creates the illusion that he is immune to our efforts to capture him. He appears to be calling the shots and this should be reassuring to his followers.

From his perspective right now, less is more.

"that mediocrity can be good"

This should be the EU slogan. What a riot. And it would work too as long as everyone was mediocre.

I had an interesting conversation recently with someone from the Netherlands. Apparently this is a huge problem over there and the dwindling majority has been electing hard-liners to try and close the boarders and stop middle eastern immigration.

It might be too late to save some of Europe from this filth but I'm not so sure I would want to anyway. We need to close our boarders and take this threat seriously. I don't think it was an idle one.

"Lately they've been out-USAing the USA

Good observation, or at the very least Russia seems to be moving further from the left while the US is moving closer. I don't think we should be too critical of the way this was handled; anyone can go back and analyze where a chess match went wrong. This was a tricky situation to begin with and determining the cubic volume of the theatre and the flow rate necessary to quickly put everyone out would be difficult under even the best of circumstances. Someone had to make a tough call and it fell a bit short. What we will never know is how many would have been killed had the Russians not acted the way they did. They may have saved many lives.

"Yeah, that's the spirit that made America great."

Been wondering about this myself. I go into NYC often and remember the when violent crime used to be high. The possibility always existed that you could be randomly killed but life went on as usual. Heck, look at how dangerous DC is even without the sniper. Try walking a few miles in the downtown area after dark. Talk about feeling like you are in the cross-hairs!

"There is no homeland security unless the "insecure" elements are removed

I would settle for just stopping new influx. At least it's a start. Heck I already sit in traffic for an hour each morning. Why do we need more people?

As to having the courage to do stop immigration/remove unwanteds, it has more to do with capturing votes than common sense. As we know, politicians will do just about anything to gain a point or two. Think about how Jeb Bush's constituency might view this type of action. So, we had better just mind our own business, keep our mouths shut, and work hard so we can help finance these foreign leaches.

"The only evidence we'll really get is the day the first weapon is used.

And heaven forbid it is detonated in one of our major cities. Think about the ramifications of a small nuke going off in a large city like NY and Saddam making an announcement to the effect that he is holed up in a bunker and has more of our major cities mined with similar weapons. Even if subsequent bombs do not exist, who is going to call his bluff? There would be a mass exodus from most highly populated areas and our economy would literally "shut down". The death toll would easily exceed one-hundred thousand and render the blast site and surrounding area useless for years. If the target were on the west coast, the fallout could contaminate crops and cattle, disrupting what might be left of our infrastructure.

This is speculation but if you had to look for the most likely candidate to undertake something like this, Saddam Hussain is at the top of the list. Not to say that there are not others who would love to see this happen but his regieme seems closest to making this a reality.

"Thank you for the link... I found it an interesting read in light of the date"

More than interesting. It is important regardless of the date. The writer points out that valuations should trade historically at 13 times earnings. This number seems slightly low to me but it is not far off the mark. It might be wise to avoid the equity markets a bit longer.

This administration had better do something and do it quick. For starters it either needs to attack Iraq or concede to whatever inspections the UN agrees to (though the latter makes me sick). Either will have a good effect on the markets and possibly give Bush a second term at some point. Remember; most voters in the US are not as informed as we who read FreeRepublic (look at the popular vote for Gore if you want proof). They are not going to care that it's a result of the Clinton administration and the Rats will use it as an election platform. If this happens and someone like Gore winds up in office, this country is sunk. Sans market, sans economy, sans end.

"This number is only for Social Security identification and will not be used for any other purpose".

Great googly-moogly! Gore or Sharpton? That should keep me awake at night for the next two years!

"Does any think that maybe the Un is doing this CAUSE they Know we cant bomb if their inspectors are in there?"

Seems like a logical conclusion to me. This it tantamount to a slap in the face from the UN and we should plainly and concisely let them know that we will not be held responsible for the safety of the inspectors.

Should read Sarcasm/

"C'mon, $3 billion a year is nothing - that's only about $10 a year per US citizen."

I'm hoping that you forgot to write . You take this $10 and add it to the 2,000 other reasons the govmt has made up to take some nominal amount from my wallet and it's not so nominal anymore.

”Oh, so they're back on the street in Spain? That should be easy enough for Special Ops.”

Unfortunately the US Gov lacks the backbone to take out a group as high profile as this. It sickens me that they were released and I hope that Deguello’s previous comment “follow the money” is carried through. Just the fact that this sum was covered for their bail is a pretty good indication that there is strong interest in getting them out of Spain. If I were a gambling man (and I am) these guys may be bumped off; but not by our special forces. Im guessing we would like to keep them alive to gather any information we can from them. The group sponsoring them might not see it the same way.

We look so good we don't have to actually DO anything.

This is a great point. I have often noticed that the execs of my company seem to enjoy their lives quite a bit while the guys in my company's production area sweat their rears off. I'm all for sending the dirty work overseas and collecting a big check.

"Investors' emotions continue to drive the market. ... All you see is negative news"

To begin with, this statement is ridiculous. Investors do not generate news by doing anything other than buying and selling. What we are hearing from the press is for the most part a load of "horse-doody" with the exception of the gov reports (and even they have been known to lie).

IMHO, valuations still have some distance to drop (look at bear market 70's style for examples) but once they do Sisyphus will start rolling the rock back up the hill. In the mean time a Rolling Rock doesn't sound so bad....

"MacDonalds is nothing but overpriced artery-clogging lard served up by arrogant slowpokes."

I think part of the problem is that McDonalds has a history of promoting from within. Normally, this can be a prudent business practice but the whole dynamic breaks down when the pool of individuals you have to select from are nearly worthless. The least lazy usually winds up running the show. Hey... perhaps we should not rush to be too critical. Mc Donald's is probably keeping tons of people, suited to no other line of work, off welfare.

They could lose the clown too... scares the heck out of my kids.

"Wesbury says the war won't have a negative impct on the economy, and it might have a positive impact.

Protracted war, that involves large parts of the populous is good for the economy (though not a pleasant prospect). Unemployment traditionally drops (obvious reasons) and manufacturing increases. Although we now make many weapons components overseas, a great deal will still be made domestically.

The stock market is a whole different bag of nuts and for the moment it's probably a good idea to rotate equity weighted portfolios into something more stable.

Good point! They need money they can put some of the stuff on ebay.

"OBL is dead."

I hope that you are right and I am wrong but cant seem to reconcile myself to the idea that just because we have not heard from him means that he is dead. This scumbag is sly and knows that every day he remains silent means a little less intensity in the hunt to find him. Just take a look at most of our responses to the article. We are writing the bastard off based solely on assumptions regarding his prior physical condition and what we can guess about his ego. If this were evidence at a trial it would be considered pretty thin.

This guy is not looking for direct confrontation with our military because he knows he is overmatched. He will look to undermine the security that supports our way of life and this may be best accomplished by waiting until our guard is down.