I stayed out as long as I could. I don't disagree with everything you said in there Red. True, these people have been warring for 1,000's of years.......back to Persia and the friggin' hanging gardens and we, with the military, can't stop that from happening. I agree. I don't agree with putting 500,000 troops in there. I don't think it would have or will do anything to stop these people from fighting. It may stop the insurgency from doing damage for the most part, but it won't stop anything really. When we leave, the thing will start no matter what we do or how many troops we had in there. The main thing I think people have to understand is, with the history of these places...i.e, the Middle East, Africa, the people there will not and cannot just jump to freedom and become a Republic and everything is cool. Look at Russia: far more advanced but then they attempted to head towards democracy or a republic, and still things are not paved with gold. These people have to baby step towards making up their own minds what they want and they'll end up at democracy because it is the last best hope for mankind. Look at Liberia....just people wanting to become a republic isn't enough. Wanting freedom isn't enough. All the people have to ready for what that means and what it takes to get there. The main thing I think we have to understand also is that Al Qaida and these terrorist networks are not fighting based on Islamic law. This is not Islam. If it were, hundreds of thousands of Muslim's living here already would be blowing up every street corner they could find. With prosperity, everyone can get along in a democratic country. These terror networks are fascists.....we've defeated this kind of thing before. It's an ideology...like communism, like Nazism and it has to be defeated. They use the Islamic religion as a cloak to hide what they are....but there's no mistaking what it is. We've seen this before. The problem though is, it will only be defeated by all countries, including Muslim countries. Not just us. If it were a country.....we could defeat it. But since this breed of fascist lives in every country, including our own, it has to be defeated over time with the military, schools, in homes, in churches......all over. This either happens or sometime soon, this Israeli type terrorism will hit our shores and instead of no more WTC, it'll be no more Los Angeles. Or no more Miami.
Yes sir. Indeed, millions of muslims across the world would be blowing up everything western if it were true. Al Qaida is not a religion or a government or a country. It is a shadowy band of international criminals hiding among islamic nationals. This is why I think it is vital to have muslim help to find, infiltrate, and sabotage Al Qaida. The occupation of Iraq and our support of Israel hurt us in this effort. Muslims who would otherwise help us eradicate Al Qaida will sit and do nothing because they despise us for other reasons. We need to divide them instead of uniting them all against us. Reward our friends and punish our enemies . . . and of course, understand which is which. Easier said than done, I realize, but that is the direction in which we must move.
My meaning is that the Dubai deal is a prime example of the problem of distinguishing between friend and enemy in the middle east. The UAE is a friendly Islamic country and an ally. However there is much legitimate concern that our enemies, the international Al Qaida criminals, are hiding among them. How do we reward an ally without making ourselves vulnerable? Smarter and more carefully than this port deal was done, in my opinion. They are already greatly rewarded with absolute US military protection from their larger neighbors that covet their riches. Actually my main concern was less about port security than about the company being an agency of the Dubai government rather than a private company. Foreign governments should not have any role in US critical economic infrastructures. A private company only works to make profit, while governments also work for political reasons. There is something about allowing a foreign socialist company to have a role in our free market that just bothers me. A private foreign company from a free-market country like Britain should be allowed to compete for the job. Foreign governments should not.
Nope. Iraq doesn't want to control our ports, the insurgents in Iraq are only a threat to Americans in Iraq. And when we leave they go back to killing each other, which doesn't bother me a bit. Moreover, no Iraqi citizens attacked the US on 9/11. However two of the hijackers were from the UAE.
Like you said Red, Al Qaida had nothing to do with Iraq pre-9/11 huh? From ABC News: Documents found in Iraq and now translated. People need to wait till all these docs have been translated before spouting off the Democratic Party line. Patience is important when the need for accuracy is so clear. "Osama Bin Laden Contact With Iraq" A newly released pre-war Iraqi document indicates that an official representative of Saddam Hussein's government met with Osama bin Laden in Sudan on February 19, 1995 after approval by Saddam Hussein. Bin Laden asked that Iraq broadcast the lectures of Suleiman al Ouda, a radical Saudi preacher, and suggested "carrying out joint operations against foreign forces" in Saudi Arabia. According to the document, Saddam's presidency was informed of the details of the meeting on March 4, 1995 and Saddam agreed to dedicate a program for them on the radio. The document states that further "development of the relationship and cooperation between the two parties to be left according to what's open (in the future) based on dialogue and agreement on other ways of cooperation." The Sudanese were informed about the agreement to dedicate the program on the radio. The report then states that "Saudi opposition figure" bin Laden had to leave Sudan in July 1996 after it was accused of harboring terrorists. It says information indicated he was in Afghanistan. "The relationship with him is still through the Sudanese. We're currently working on activating this relationship through a new channel in light of his current location," it states. (Editor's Note: This document is handwritten and has no official seal. Although contacts between bin Laden and the Iraqis have been reported in the 9/11 Commission report and elsewhere, (e.g. the 9/11 report states "Bin Ladn himself met with a senior Iraqi intelligence officer in Khartoum in late 1994 or early 1995) this document indicates the contacts were approved personally by Saddam Hussein. It also indicates the discussions were substantive, in particular that bin Laden was proposing an operational relationship, and that the Iraqis were, at a minimum, interested in exploring a potential relationship and prepared to show good faith by broadcasting the speeches of al Ouda, the radical cleric who was also a bin Laden mentor.
I can only reiterate: No Iraqis attacked the US on 9/11. This is an established fact, LC. 15 Saudis, 1 Egyptian, 1 Lebanese, 2 from the United Arab Emirates. Even though you gave no link to read the entire story, NOWHERE in the part you posted is there any suggestion that Iraq and Al Qaida conspired to attack the United States. Only that they discussed attacking Saudi Arabia. I wouldn't be surprised if all of Saudi Arabia enemies might have been contacted by bin Ladin six years before 9/11 when he was seeking refuge after being exiled by Saudi Arabia. But the fact is that only Taliban Afghanistan gave him support and a base for operations against the United States. The 9/11 Commission rightly concluded that Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. LINK - No Evidence Connecting Iraq to Al Qaeda, 9/11 Panel Says Al Qaida is the enemy. Saddam was only a distraction.
