Quote:
Originally Posted by fousto
Fousto, let me just say that you should refine your statement slightly. Radical Islam are the terrorists. There are a hell of a lot of Muslims who disapprove of terrorist activity. The Radicals WANT this to be a war against Islam, because it will allow them to wrest total control of the agenda away from the moderates. That said, the Islamic faith seems to be populated with a ton of people who will get upset if you criticize any facet of what goes on. The talk shows in Toronto stray into the subject on occasion, in the most bland way, and when something like what happened with the cartoons in Denmark, you heard the bile and hate. I do not think any Christian really reacts in the same way. A few radicals perhaps, but radical Islam has so permeated the faith that they will not stand for any slight it seems.
If this was a war on Islam, and you wanted to really tick off a whole religion, hell just bomb Mecca, that would show em. No, the US military went OUT of their way to avoid damaging mosques during the combat phase. Iraqi Army units set up in the Shiite shrine in Najaf and the US Marines were told to not even send a stray round into there. You have the US Military bending over backwards to respect Muslim laws and culture when they are the middle east, that is no alcohol on leave, no Porn, cultural lectures on what not to do while speaking to the Iraqi's.
IF there is a war on Islam, it is a civil war. In many of the instances up above Fousto has cited, Muslims were among the dead. Saddam Hussein was killing up to 20000 people a year. I have cited this OVER and OVER and no one seems to be getting the message. Amnesty will tell you the most vicious regimes on earth may not all be in the Middle East, but almost the all of them will go in the bottom of the rights and freedoms list. Dictators and Autocratic regimes populate the Islamic world and enforce a vicious level of oppression on their peoples. Very few of these nations have a standard of living for the average man on the street that approaches anything close to that of the Western Democracies. No, The US Army is very ineffiecient at killing Muslims, they kill each other at a far greater rate, I guess the Americans are not good at the heartless slaughter business??
I am sick and TIRED of hearing about how this is a war on Islam. You print a cartoon of Mohammed and you have riots in the streets of Islamic cities. Yet the Americans are the unreasonable ones? Give your heads a shake. Notice that if the riots were FOR democractic rights and freedoms, the watercannons, secret police and army would be there kicking the heads in of anyone demanding democratic rights.
For all you bleeding heart lovers of Diplomatic negotiation being the ends to the means, what has all the diplomacy solved vis a vis the Islamic terrorists? It hasn't solved things yet. I am a firm believer in diplomatic negotiations. In 99% of the negotitations between nations, things are worked out. Going to WAR is never an option for all but the most extreme cases. My Finnish friends here would tell me that the US didn't negotiate enough and it isnt their role to go to war. They would tell me they have ulterior motives. My Canadian friend Schmenke tells me the same. What a load of bunk.
The US has paid through the nose in the deaths of its sons and daughters, the monetary cost, the cost to its reputation. They have gained NOTHING in this war, not a damn thing. Some of you tinfoil hat conspiracy crowd might say Halliburton is making money on this, but they were making about the same profit margins before this ever started. No, the dirty little truth is America maybe well intentioned but not always well thought out. They may take actions that enrage people, but when they do nothing, people are enraged (Rwanda, Sudan/Darfur). Yet you see them as the bad guys.
Meanwhile, look long and hard at the list Fousto has put up there. It is RADICAL Islam or political regimes who hide behind the religion when attacked but it is the people of Islam who are killing each other and innocents. You heap no scorn on them. You try to JUSTIFY this slaughter in so many silly ways. You are fools for thinking that the Americans are the problem. IF the last soldier was on a plane out of Baghdad tomorrow, the attacks would continue. Innnocent Muslims would be caught up in it; the Assad's in Syria, the Military theocracy in Pakistan, the Mubarek regime in Egypt, Quaddfi in Libya, the Wahabi justice system in Saudi Arabia, the Hamas government of Palestine would ALL be killing, imprisoning and torturing their own people. In some parts of the Middle East where moderates have set up nation states, such as Qutar, Dubai, Kuwait, while there is not a true democracy, at least the people are sharing in the wealth of oil, and the nation is being built to some sort of civilized standard. The US is not invading those nations. Instead they took down the one shining example of everything that is wrong in that part of the world, and while they have screwed up the peace, it seems compared to some of these nations, they still treat Islam with more respect than some radicals.
Don't waste everyone's time trying to justify your hatred of the US based on this. Come out and admit it, you hate the US for reasons you cant even explain. Eki I think hates them because he feels Finland was abandoned. I have no idea what drives some of you guys but the point is, if the Americans are the problem to all the worlds problems, then getting rid of them will be a rude shock. The Chinese, Russians and French do their share of meddling in this part fo the world and get none of your scorn. All three at various times including NOW have been putting money into Iran. Western Europe is scared to death of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. Diplomatic talks are ongoing, but guess what, Iran doesn't want to give up on a Bomb. Why should they? Everyone else has one. Of course, all the other members of the Nuclear club save North Korea have NOT threatened on a daily basis to wipe out a democratic nation. Yet the US is the problem. You people really are all canadidates for the Neville Chamberlain award for naiveity.
