Ish, I'm gonna take a stab and guess your name is David Hicks.

Jokes aside, I will agree with you and say that if terrorism is scarier now, it's only because of the bomb. I never really felt unsafe, even after 9/11. I'd much rather take my odds at survival in a USA hated by terrorists over the odds at survival anywhere else.

mark, I apologize that my perspective isn't exactly new.

I think I agree with you??

I'm guessing you misunderstood the emphasis of my post if you think I was really disagreeing with you.

"I will agree with you": agreeing with your post.

"and say": expanding to make a related point to try and tie it in with the original question.

I see now that wasn't clear.

Anyways, maybe I'm just spoiled, but I have never found terrorism to be a threat to my daily existence. That was the key point in my post. I figure it to be nearly impossible for them to perpetrate enough large scale attacks on the U.S. that I'd actually have to fear for my life. I think the current administration has manipulated the country through the use of fear of terrorism and that bothered me from the very first speech Bush gave after 9/11.

I do believe that giving terrorists a nuclear bomb would be scarier, simply because they have little to lose by using it. I know you like to see their perspective and all, but do we really have to disagree on that point?

hang on, hang on..whoa!!! I'm no terrorist sympathizer.

I agree with ya 2nd last paragraph entirely, and the 1st sentence in yr last paragraph, and yes, I can understand certain terrorist motives, but I totally disagree with their methods.

I'm pretty much a pacifist, and am of the opinion that Bush and his allies with their aggressive policies have made the world less safe and created more legitimacy for the terrorists in their own mind.
As far as I'm concerned, both sides in this 21st century list of horrors are terrorists.

Meanwhile, is Nougat your favourite sweet?....

More scarier.

They infiltrated us on a grassroots level to a degree the Soviets could never achieve - not counting their stateside Leftist sympathizers - and they also used our own resources to mount these attacks. They have duplicated the same hideous stunt on three other continents and operate clandestine cells in countless countries.

As stateless rogues, they are cancerous opportunists who can dress and speak like us and thereby insinuate themselves into our midst with ease.

They look for weak spots or weak countries. See Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan. Or states too large, unsuspecting, or bureaucratically inept to act with due diligence. See US, Britain, France, Russia, Saudi Arabia, among others. Find them and kill them. Period.

Hey syzygy! I have a great idea. Since terrorists are all around us, we should find a way of figuring out who they are!

We could institute some kind of "loyalty review board" to make sure our politicians don't hate America. And we could have the Attorney General keep a list of organizations we thought were subversive.

Of course we'd need some sort of investigative committees. They'd investigate people who hate America, like those damn Hollywood liberal terrorist sympathizers. We could call it the "House Un-American Activities Committee." I think that has a nice ring to it.

We would have to keep a list of subversive people, especially those in the media business able to spread their dangerous ideas. We'd have to make sure they never worked again.

Remember, dissent is treachery. Ideas are dangerous.

quote:

Originally posted by Ishmaels coffin:
Meanwhile, is Nougat your favourite sweet?....

I'm not gonna lie, Nougat is pretty good, but I'm not one to play favorites when it comes to something as delicious as sweets.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Twinkie:
Hey syzygy! I have a great idea. Since terrorists are all around us, we should find a way of figuring out who they are!

We could institute some kind of "loyalty review board" to make sure our politicians don't hate America. And we could have the Attorney General keep a list of organizations we thought were subversive.

Of course we'd need some sort of investigative committees. They'd investigate people who hate America, like those damn Hollywood liberal terrorist sympathizers. We could call it the "House Un-American Activities Committee." I think that has a nice ring to it.

We would have to keep a list of subversive people, especially those in the media business able to spread their dangerous ideas. We'd have to make sure they never worked again.

Remember, dissent is treachery. Ideas are dangerous.

your loopy sarcasm is a sad symptom and your great ideas don't pass muster as t-shirt slogans.

If you count the number of dirty leftists the red hunts of the 1950s did unearth as soviet spies, then yes, the same could be applied today. But no need.

Judging from news reports, more of these savages are being discovered by, of all people, average citizens. Who would'a thunk it ?

Not you ofcourse. My apologies. Heaven forbid any uppity leftist be counted as an 'average citizen'.

But everyday responsible people are calling these animals in. They are alert, vigilant, suspicious, all-too-concerned and, above all, too smart to buy the cynical conspiracies and scare-mongering peddled by effete know-nothings.

The little red book brigade just wont die.

I enjoy your response, syz, but can you link to the info in your post, at least the "average citizen busting animals" link. I believe it's necessary.

quote:

Originally posted by syzygy:
The little red book brigade just wont die.

People like you are scarier.
You would trade this country's rights for a bag of beans sold you by some far-right fascist manipulating you into doing his bidding.

And as far as terrorists go, this country's right wing has home-grown the Oklahoma City bombing, abortion clinic bombings and shootings and most recently a kid with a bomb at Falwell's funeral.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
I enjoy your response, syz, but can you link to the info in your post, at least the "average citizen busting animals" link. I believe it's necessary.

the 'fort dix six' is the latest of the news stories that i was referring to. authorities were tipped off by an employee who was developing their photos.

quote:

Originally posted by Arfy:

quote:

Originally posted by syzygy:
The little red book brigade just wont die.

People like you are scarier.
You would trade this country's rights for a bag of beans sold you by some far-right fascist manipulating you into doing his bidding.

you are just too comfortable in your onanistic scare fantasies.

i'm not right wing. i just detest virulent ideologues, right or left. anyone can hate a nazi. they're synonymous with evil.

But how many know that communists and their leftist sympathizers lasted longer and killed more people, accumulating piles of corpses and atrocities that dwarf all others.

Remember those peacniks frolicing in the grass, waving Mao's little red book from a generation ago ?

Mao had by then murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people in the so-called "Great Leap Forward." It was public knowledge and leftists poo-poo-ed those reports as Establishment mis-information, or worse.

Chomsky, as one notorious example, applauded the Khmer Rouge's social program, even after they had begun to empty their cities and herd their people out into the jungle for 're-education'.

When Lenin and Stalin had begun to murder their millions and when the Soviet totalitarian state was in full swing for decades, it was our state-side leftists who were providing ideological fodder for them against us. Some still do so.

Today, our lovely Western leftists sport a growing number of Al-Qaeda apologists, who demonize the US for goading those psychopaths into their unfortunate decision to committ mass murder.

Blah blah blah.

I don't know of too many American liberals that condone terrorism or mass murder, or believe Al-Qaeda was just in their attack on the world trade center. You need to stop reading Ann Coulter books.

I do think it's important to understand the plight of these organizations though, regardless whether or not you agree with their methods.

I don't know if you've seen Errol Morris' documentary about Robert S. McNamara, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. One of McNamara's lessons is "Empathize with your Enemy". He says, "If we are to deal effectively with terrorists across the globe, we must develop a sense of empathy — I don't mean 'sympathy' but rather 'understanding' to counter their attacks on us and the Western World." You may dismiss McNamara as a crazy lefty, since he served as Secretary of Defense under two Democratic presidents, but he makes some excellent points. It's also a terrific film.

ericg75, stop supporting terrorism this instant and go to your room!

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I don't know of too many American liberals that condone terrorism or mass murder, or believe Al-Qaeda was just in their attack on the world trade center. You need to stop reading Ann Coulter books.

i don't read ann coulter. there are many types of liberals, a good number of which are not part of the 'blame america mob'.

quote:

I do think it's important to understand the plight of these organizations though, regardless whether or not you agree with their methods.

plight of these organizations ? you mean al-qaeda ? do explain. you showed such promise. a pity to see that compromised.

quote:

I don't know if you've seen Errol Morris' documentary about Robert S. McNamara, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara. One of McNamara's lessons is "Empathize with your Enemy". He says, "If we are to deal effectively with terrorists across the globe, we must develop a sense of empathy — I don't mean 'sympathy' but rather 'understanding' to counter their attacks on us and the Western World." You may dismiss McNamara as a crazy lefty, since he served as Secretary of Defense under two Democratic presidents, but he makes some excellent points. It's also a terrific film.

i haven't.

the exhortation you make for us to 'understand' our enemy is not clear.

empathy means to understand and share the feelings of another.

is mcnamara asking us to 'understand' al-qaeda's murderous hatred for us and all things western ?
what does that mean ? how does that translate into our response for the 9/11 atrocities ?

quote:

Originally posted by syzygy:
is mcnamara asking us to 'understand' al-qaeda's murderous hatred for us and all things western ?

It means that you're never going to resolve the conflict without understanding why they hate the U.S. That's basic conflict resolution. Put yourself in the other persons shoes and understand their position.

I'm guessing you have no idea why Al-Qadea chose to attack the U.S.

I think what eric is trying to say basically boils down to something concerning your troubling dehumanization ("animals", "savages") of people you consider "enemies".

quote:

Originally posted by Dork:
I think what eric is trying to say basically boils down to something concerning your troubling dehumanization ("animals", "savages") of people you consider "enemies".

Yes. I'm not apologizing for their actions, mind you. But, I am aware that they have issues with the U.S. that go beyond "they're just murderous savages". Your worldview is pretty simplistic if you think you can boil every world conflict down to good vs. evil. This isn't an episode of G.I. Joe.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: EricG75,