Liberals, a couple of times, as a child, I walked away from a fight and felt like a real coward. How do you...

Question

... back down and knuckle under to angry Muslims who want to topple Western democratic governments and replace them with Sharia law-governed theocracies and not feel completely ashamed of yourselves?

When you sided with the violent, rioting Muslims during the Danish newspaper "cartoon" ordeal, didn't you feel shamefully cowardly?

Answer 1

it's not even cool to be liberal anymore

Answer 2

I reject the premise of your question. I have no problem taking the fight to the right people. The problem is how many Iraqi agents were on the planes that hit the towers? Pentagon? Pennsylvania? Zero.

Furthermore, I would ask you why we pulled many of our troops out of the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We didn't finish the job, and now the Taliban is back with a vengeance. Bush seemed obsessed even before he was appointed President about invading Iraq.

Quote: "One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade -- if I had that much capital -- I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency." - George W. Bush, 1999

What you need to understand is that Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda. Not only in reality, but in Bush's mind as well. Iraq is something entirely different -- a chance to implement the game plan from the Project for a New American Century. (See the link below for a very enlightening insight into why our foreign policy seems so crazy.)

So what's the mindset for invading the Middle East and setting up bases? George H.W. Bush put it best: "The American lifestyle is non-negotiable". In other words, we're king of the hill, and we're going to stay there. That means we need lots of cheap energy. That means control of the Middle East, not necessarily by occupation, but definitely by proxy. Many folks there are less than happy about this idea. Thus the current problem with terrorism.

So after examining this fundamental root of our struggles against the terrorists, what is the most logical course of action? Well, obviously we need those supplies of energy for the short term. However, we need to get away from being dependent on resources that are older than dinosaurs in the long term.

Frankly I'll be glad when we can just walk away from that part of the world. If the people there want democracy, they have to earn it the same way we did here. Once the revenues from oil are gone, the terrorism and spread of Sharia will dry up as well.

Answer 3

Matt, the main flaw in your thinking is that we are engaged in a battle to the death with terrorists who want to destroy us and our way of life. It's simply not true.

9/11 was not perpetrated by a group of deranged terrorists who want to destroy America and the American way of life. Rather, it was an act of retribution. It was payback. For what? For desecrating Islamic Holy Land and supporting Israel.

Remember we used Saudi Arabia as a staging area for operation Desert Storm in 1991. Then, Clinton used Saudi Arabia to stage terrible bombing of Iraq for all of his years in office.

This made the Saudis furious, it was an embarrassment to all the Islamic world. Then, add to that the continued humiliation of Palestine.

Those were the explicit reasons given by Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda for the 9/11 attack. Bin Laden put out tapes explicitly celebrating the payback.

And, let's not forget all the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi or UAE.

You have been sold a bill of goods by Bush, Fox and the gang. This is not a war against people who want to destroy our way of life. The repetition of that lie does not make it more true.

So, your question can't really be answered because it is based on a fantasy cynically propogated by Bush and others.

Now, the second part of your question -- should we be cowardly and fold when attacked? Of course not. People who fold when attacked deserve what they get.

But, don't allow yourself to be tricked into thinking this is a playground brawl. This is not a street fight where our honor is at stake. You have been convinced this is the case through cynical manipulation.

Finally, politics and foreign policy is not about violence and who has bigger cojones. We have to move away from a dominance model to a cooperation model.

If you can work constructively and cooperatively to move the whole planet forward, you need not characterize modern life as a constant war for survival.

I guess I would challenge you to elevate your thinking about America's possibilities in leading the world to a better place. It is not going to happen with the application of violence and mayhem.

Answer 4

Actually, Al Qaida has stated publicly that their reason for attacking the US is to get Americans out of Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, and to eliminate Israel. That is their goal - it's not to take over the US or topple Western governments.

Answer 5

Actually, we wouldn't be in the situation we're in now if we'd actually gone after the person responsible for the 9/11 attacks (Osama bin Laden) and not invaded a country that was in no way involved in the attacks. Also, I think you should know that I sided with the Danish newspaper during the controversy, since I'm a strong supporter of freedom of speech.

Answer 6

First of all, liberals didn't support the riots. That's a bunk straw-man argument.

Second, if we continue the current strategy, we WILL buckle... only we won't be doing so under our terms.

It's better to walk away and pursue more productive goals than it is to be forced into saying "Uncle" down the road. Without a real plan for victory (and we don't have one) there's no reason to continue butting our national heads against the wall.

Answer 7

it is so not well worth it. think of with regard to the implications. a million) you may get harm. and it's going to harm plenty greater and take plenty longer to heal than it did once you have been youthful. probably regarding wreck day artwork and expensive scientific scientific care, based on the harm. 2) you may bypass to detention center. whether finally, the charges are dropped, do you particularly choose to could call-in "arrested" to artwork? 3) you may could bypass to court docket. as quickly as lower back, wreck day artwork and you may could hire a criminal expert. All it particularly is SO not well worth it over some words that somebody says to you. merely walk away. And locate someplace to entice close out that may not crammed with such immature human beings.

Answer 8

First of all, what happened to respecting sovereign nations?

Second of all, the extremists that you refer to are only strengthened by our presence in the Middle East. They love having us there because we have become the targets, instead of the conflicting cultures that have fought there for thousands of years. In addition, we have screwed up the stability there and made extremist recruitment easy by increasing the desperation of the majority of people over there.

Third of all, I didn't support the Muslims over the cartoon b.s.

Your argument is flawed and ridiculous.

Answer 9

"...a couple of times, as a child, I walked away from a fight and felt like a real coward."

Sort of like Cheney and Bush did when they avoided combat service during Vietnam?

Answer 10

You are a coward. Anyone can spew hate across a computer screen. I live in Charlotte, NC. Come to Charlotte and start spewing your hate and then we can see who the coward is.

Answer 11

Perhaps if you were to get down on your knees and ask God to heal you of your afflictions you will learn to have the right feelings at the right times.

.