An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right
Toothpaste-Tube Terrorism
Squeeze them out of Iraq, and they squirt into Afghanistan and Pakistan tribal areas. What’s clear is that the Bush-McCain mantra of “fight them there [Iraq] so we don’t have to fight them here” has turned out to be an oversimplification of the war on terror the US will be fighting through the next Administration and beyond.
This week, A US Marines commander reported his troops have killed 400 insurgents in southern Afghanistan since late April, and visiting Congressmen were told the Bush administration is “recalibrating operations in the region because of a 40 percent increase in violent attacks against US-led forces in Afghanistan that have pushed US casualties for the month of June beyond the monthly toll in Iraq.”
opinions powered by SendLove.to
5 Responses to “Toothpaste-Tube Terrorism”
Backing up forty years…if alternative energy wasn't suppressed and we'd weaned ourselves off large-scale foreign oil dependance by now, we WOULDN'T EVEN BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION.
Bearing that in mind, it stands to reason that people in the Middle East, most particularly Iraq and their sympathizers, would be mad at us for invading their sovereign countries and throwing our weight around to get more oil.. You know, that is what all this is about when you boil it down….OIL…
And when I say “we” I mean “they”, since “we” would've been just fine with staying in our own country and developing alternatives years ago. “They” have stirred up a hornet's nest and of course the swarm is going to migrate all around as it considers new angles to attack (defend?) from. The remedy is to leave that area and leave it fast..to do what we should've done 40 years ago.
Imagine if say, the Belgians suddenly decided to fancy redwoods…and convinced their populace that redwood was the only viable wood to use in their buildings and that all other types of wood were inferior…due to redwood's durability and resistance to rot..that any ideas of any other wood was silly and talk of it wouldn't be tolerated..and they invaded our country because next to China (someone they don't want to tangle with) we are the only country in the world who has them. Let's say they created an excuse and then just brought in tanks, helicopters, missiles, aircraft carriers and thousands of troops and just started laying claim to our redwood forests and blasting our cities to smithereens and killing thousands of innocent civilians who tried to keep them from our redwoods? What would we americans do? And would we be “terrorists” if we resisted with all the force and wile we had at our disposal?
C'mon folks. These people in the Middle East for all their foibles aren't aliens or another species, they are people, just like us. Just ask yourself “what would we do in their shoes?” Just for a “what if”…
I hope no one on here is surprised at Bush oversimplifying the terrorists threat and necessary action in Afghanistan and Pakistan….
The problem is that when someone like Obama tries to talk about this and other issues without oversimplifying, few people seem to understand him, either willfully or naively.
That's been the most disheartening discovery I've made over the past year. it's almost as if our leaders have to resort to one word slogans (Ex: victory) to maintain the public's attention. People demand simplisstic, misleading promises, or they become suspicious that something is being put over on them.
i want to rip my hair out in frustration as I watch that happening. Do we really have to operate in stupid gear ?
The thing is about human nature is that most people want to believe in good intentions and even when their noses are rubbed in the truth their minds will fabricate alternative…simply to maintain the status quo.
It is very psychologically upsetting to most people that they might have supported the wrong ideology and believed lies and made bad decisions based upon those lies. It's embarassing to be so totally deceived at the very least..
So the mind, the ego will struggle to unmake the truth as fast as it is revealed to it instead of admitting having been duped.
Stay tuned because this same phenomenon is happening with a certain presidential candidate as well..
runasim, I agree with you and want to rip my hair out too, at times. Which would be a feat since my hair is thinning…. like my patience sometimes.
I think most people just want to know that a candidate is in tune with them and will make life easier, with no new taxes. Most voters are not inclined to get fired up over infringements on their rights under the constitution because most voters believe that they've done no wrong so they won't be affected… And when the Republicans simply present the case as “you're either with us or against us” if you want to be safe, then that's all voters care about. Voters (IMO) are more than happy to give up their freedoms under the constitution if it means they can drive their SUVs in peace… That's the bottom line and that's all they want to know.