Fight terrorism effectively, humanely
We're in a hole. We dug it by alienating and radicalizing Muslims. How so? We did it by ignoring the Palestinians living in occupied territory for 40-something years. We did it by toppling a democracy in Iran in 1953 and installing/supporting a brutal dictator (The Shah). We did it in Iraq by supporting a brutal dictator (Saddam). We did it by giving the Kurds hope we'd topple Saddam and then screwing them. We did it many, many ways.
The first step of any plan should be to stop digging the hole. First, as a general rule, stop taking pages from Machiavelli's "The Prince". It seems like those plans do a good job at fooling the constituency here at home. But, abroad, it seems to produce "blowback" (as well as constant turmoil in those foreign countries, which we should not underestimate).
Second, we've been involved indirectly in the occupation of Palestine for 50 years. Now, I'm pretty sure it was unavoidable for some number of years. (Maybe "most" but the past 15.) But, it's past time to do something about it. We need to persuade Arafat and Sharon into making peace. We can do that with a) threats and b) promises. We can promise Arafat and Sharon to cut $50B from our military budget for 2 years and investing it into desalinization plants, irrigation systems, power generators, etc in both Israel and Palestine. Offer to make the desert come alive! At the same time, we need to THREATEN TO CUT OFF ALL AID to both countries unless they accept our terms.
Third, STOP supporting Arab regimes listed on Amnesty International's black list. Indeed, it is brutal regimes (and turmoil) from which many Arabs flee west! People wouldn't leave their home countries if the leaders weren't such a**holes or if there weren't constant turmoil. This point should appeal to those of you concerned about being "overrun" by Muslims moving into your or other Western countries.
To use an analogy, imagine you're a doctor and a patient has a disease. At your disposal are a) a cure and b) treatments for the symptoms. Instead of just "treating" terrorism, we should address its root causes. Bush most certainly doesn't see past the symptoms.
If we don't change our policies, we'll continue down this path of turning 3rd world countries into battlefields between the GOP in this country and radical Muslims in Arab countries. (Indeed, we've already used those countries as battlegrounds. We built "the hole" I referred to earlier because we were so aggressive in fighting the Soviet threat. We turned other nations -- those without nukes of their own to defend themselves -- into battlegrounds between "good" and "evil". Maybe we shouldn't be so extreme in our reactions.)
Also, btw, did you see that leaked Pentagon report about global warming being a bigger threat than terrorism? By rejecting Kyoto, higher MPG ratings for vehicles, and no doubt much else, Bush just let #1 terrorist "Global Warming" get another 4 year jump on us.
With Presidents like this, who needs enemies?
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by: alphameter (35/M/silicon valley)
We're in a hole. We dug it by alienating and radicalizing Muslims. How so? We did it by ignoring the Palestinians living in occupied territory for 40-something years. We did it by toppling a democracy in Iran in 1953 and installing/supporting a brutal dictator (The Shah). We did it in Iraq by supporting a brutal dictator (Saddam). We did it by giving the Kurds hope we'd topple Saddam and then screwing them. We did it many, many ways.
The first step of any plan should be to stop digging the hole. First, as a general rule, stop taking pages from Machiavelli's "The Prince". It seems like those plans do a good job at fooling the constituency here at home. But, abroad, it seems to produce "blowback" (as well as constant turmoil in those foreign countries, which we should not underestimate).
Second, we've been involved indirectly in the occupation of Palestine for 50 years. Now, I'm pretty sure it was unavoidable for some number of years. (Maybe "most" but the past 15.) But, it's past time to do something about it. We need to persuade Arafat and Sharon into making peace. We can do that with a) threats and b) promises. We can promise Arafat and Sharon to cut $50B from our military budget for 2 years and investing it into desalinization plants, irrigation systems, power generators, etc in both Israel and Palestine. Offer to make the desert come alive! At the same time, we need to THREATEN TO CUT OFF ALL AID to both countries unless they accept our terms.
Third, STOP supporting Arab regimes listed on Amnesty International's black list. Indeed, it is brutal regimes (and turmoil) from which many Arabs flee west! People wouldn't leave their home countries if the leaders weren't such a**holes or if there weren't constant turmoil. This point should appeal to those of you concerned about being "overrun" by Muslims moving into your or other Western countries.
To use an analogy, imagine you're a doctor and a patient has a disease. At your disposal are a) a cure and b) treatments for the symptoms. Instead of just "treating" terrorism, we should address its root causes. Bush most certainly doesn't see past the symptoms.
If we don't change our policies, we'll continue down this path of turning 3rd world countries into battlefields between the GOP in this country and radical Muslims in Arab countries. (Indeed, we've already used those countries as battlegrounds. We built "the hole" I referred to earlier because we were so aggressive in fighting the Soviet threat. We turned other nations -- those without nukes of their own to defend themselves -- into battlegrounds between "good" and "evil". Maybe we shouldn't be so extreme in our reactions.)
Also, btw, did you see that leaked Pentagon report about global warming being a bigger threat than terrorism? By rejecting Kyoto, higher MPG ratings for vehicles, and no doubt much else, Bush just let #1 terrorist "Global Warming" get another 4 year jump on us.
With Presidents like this, who needs enemies?
Yahoo! News Message Boards World News
by: alphameter (35/M/silicon valley)
posted by Gary at 12:43 PM
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