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Wow, Wally!!! Didn't mean to hit a nerve. 😀
Sorry again; I tend to get that way when I think about the way our society wimps out about cultural things. We must be able to look at differences as just that, differences. To be able to solve anything (without total destruction to one side or the other) both sides are going to have to move.
I'll get back later but one comment I have. These moderate Muslims, what happens to them if they speak up or help our troops? Usually they end up beheaded and buried somewhere. We do need to protect them more.
Not just them but Muslims world wide that will speak up... as well as the young ones that need to be shown blowing yourself up doesn't fix anything.
As for propoganda, one of the biggest tactics used by the extremists is the definition of Jihad. Do we use OBL's definition (worldwide domination, convert or die. He wants everyone to think this. That way, in his sick little mind, he can justify his actions. He certainly has Daniel Pipes, Beck, and some other Right-wing Islam so-called "experts" convinced), or the moderates' definition (a personnal spiritual and moral struggle. Many Muslims scholars and policy makers think this. We really should go with this and empower them, IMO)?
Agreed. Sadly we look weak if we say that isn't what he means... we and the moderates need to say that's what the Holy Book means.Cheers,Wally
Perhaps I overestimate the non-radical Muslims… they are the ones that have to step up and declare to the terroists and the rest of the world that Islam is really a religion that cares about human life and peace and then prove it. As to the propaganda thing; we have been trying to be politically correct and not say these guys are pond scum bent on dragging the modern world back a century and a half to live in a catbox! Yet they can go off 24-7 about the modern world being the devil's work and corrupting their ways of life... sure they win; let them give up their internet connections and SAM's and automatic weapons etc. and get on their camels and schlep back to the days of the Sultanate.Diplomacy has a chance as long as the $ holds out... in the end we are gonna get what we pay for.Hitler was, as I tell the students, one of the most influential leaders in the history of humankind... a sociopath, surely, but he told people what they wanted and needed to hear... that it wasn't their fault that their world was messed up; no he blamed the Jews. He had an audience that wanted to be the innocent victim of someone or something and Hitler picked the Jews. (Ironic isn't it that the officer that put him in for the Iron Cross in WWI was a Jew?) Any of this seem anything like the terrorist's appeal to the underclasses in the Muslim world?Ah yes... the Palestinian issue. Another case where the rest of the world did make it worse trying to fix it (with self-interest); the Balfour Declaration, bastard calf of The Treaty of Versailles. All I can say is I'm amazed that two Semitic peoples that have been the doormat for the rest of the world can't figure it out and get their (collective) act together. Tribalism again! Same old "...my God can beat up your God!" When will they figure out that my God is your God?Oh well... sorry for the rant.Wally
.... The next question becomes whether or not this doctrine is legitimate in today's world given our diplomatic progress and the channels for peace we have developed in modern times.
Diplomatic solutions work only if the parties involved are willing (recognize that their position is driving the potential problem)... both sides must be willing to talk. Also assumes that the gov'ts are in control and speak for the country... Serbia wasn't able to control Black Hand and who should have had Al-Qaeda or Osama on a leash?You're right though, this is a good topic for discussion.Wally
Is all war reactive?
In a word, yes... reaction to threats (real or perceived) or to opportunities (same parameters).I really don't think anyone in Al-Qaeda thought we would react quite how we did to 9-11; they really couldn't expect us to completely roll over, curl up and die... it was an opportunity for them to send a message: "We are able to reach out from our sandbox and mess with you! You can't stop us."While we have made some progress in defeating them, we mostly showed them we weren't going to change just because they didn't like how the world is getting to be. Our victory comes by showing them how marginal they really are in the entire scheme of things. The rest of the world will not allow it... see below.Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were real threats (international communism too) because they were built on the concept that their system would, somehow, make life better for the people (at least in therory)... fundamental anything seeks to regression to a simpler system that will not support us today; not looking to build anything but to crawl back into the sandbox of history! No one really wants to go there; if that were true the Iraqis would be happier now with less infrastructure, no? Let one country in the Middle East go 100% fundamental... no holds barred, and see how the liberal press reacts. This presupposes total disclosure of all the repression and execution... not likely, eh? So in the meantime we can just hope the rest of the world gets the idea and helps squash these nut cases.One can certainly see why some folks believe religion is/has done mankind more harm than good.Wally
Know this soulds like a sound bite but it just might apply; Lawrence's quote (from the movie, so not sure… may, or may not, really be his though): "So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people - greedy, barbarous, and cruel...."Applied to the Turks as well as what's going on today all over the Middle east, IMHO. Too tribal, need to get their act together to accomplish anything of import.Wally
....Mind you, I'm not suggesting that legalizing hard drugs is necessarily the best thing, or even a good thing. I'm just trying to uncover some effects that would flow from such a move and see if I can get a better grasp of what the big picture would look like.
Legalization, taxation, regulation... seems to have tobacco and alcohol somewhat undercontrol (no black market or cartels to speak of). Doubt the majority could swallow the change, though, it might be worth a shot. What we have done in the last 40 years or so hasn't worked too well.Wally
Are we talking about a "one-holer" or a "two-holer"?
Either I suppose... privacy would be the key, don't take a friend if you're dropping off something important ;).
When privy's were in common se in the South the most common site for a Black Widow bite was the buttocks. The spiders liked the dark areas under the seats. I had a high school friend who suffed this indignity :-[ :-[ :-[
This was/is the case today as well for the home made types, I'm sure :o.
....I do think it's sad when cultural and world historical heritage is destroyed through war - most significantly during all the bombing and battles in Europe during World War II. What took man hundreds of years to build took him only a few to destroy. As people have come to understand the importance of historical sites and items it's good to see policies and practices put into place to at least try to preserve them in times of turmoil.
I agree but hope that the bad guys don't read the 5 of clubs....Wally[follow the links and enlarge the picture of the deck]
I guess it then begs the question why they'd be throwing garbage in there as well.
Often items that were wanting a private disposal would end here rather than in a more public trash bin. Anything of a personal nature would find it's way to the privy; bottle collectors are very interested in locations like this.Cheers,Wally
