Posted on 11/23/2006 8:26:38 PM PST by UnklGene
"Yes, they do. You aren't the only "smart" one in the world."
OOOOhhh, I love it when you talk down to me.
Yes, I know I'm not the only smart one in the world. Statistically speaking, a substantial fraction of one percent of the population is smarter than I am.
Be that as it may, the apt response to your "Yes, they do," is "No, they don't."
You got me started...
World : 0-14 years: 28.2%
Afghanistan : 17.5 years
Egypt : 23.4 years
Indonesia : 26.1 years
Iran : 24.8 years
Iraq : 19 years
Kuwait : 25.9 years
Lebanon : 26.9 years
Pakistan : 19.4 years
Syria : 20 years
Qatar : 31.4 years
Saudi Arabia : 21.2 years
Turkey : 27.3 years
United Arab Emirates : 27.7 years
Yemen : 16.5 years
Israel : 29.2 years
Australia : 36.3 years
Canada : 38.2 years
France : 38.6 years
Germany : 41.7 years
Italy : 41.4 years
Spain : 39.1 years
United Kingdom : 38.7 years
United States : 36 years
China : 31.8 years
El Salvador : 21.4 years
Honduras : 19 years
India : 24.4 years
Japan : 42.3 years
Korea, North : 31.4 years
Korea, South : 33.7 years
Mexico : 24.6 years
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcindex.htm
Ah, I love the smell of sarcasm in the afternoon.
The rest of your post can be filed under things I already know.
Islam itself is the enemy, regardless of the numbers of innocuous Muslims.
So, how do you fight Islam? Do you make total war on the Muslims who are fighting with us in this war? Does your statement that Islam is the enemy mean that all Muslims by default become our enemy whether they agree with the Bin Ladins of the world or not?
I'm thinking the same thing.
But, you seem to think that this Administration does not understand the enemy. I disagree. They do and are waging war against them.
Well, since only a substantial fraction of one percent of the population is smarter than you...I doubt that I am intelligent enough to engage you further in conversation. But I want to thank you for taking the time out to speak to someone who is not in that small stratosphere of intellect. This is a day that I will not soon forget.
Rice is an idiot. Where she goes, nothing ever happens for the good.
Outstanding posts, Lurker.
"Ah, I love the smell of sarcasm in the afternoon."
There was no sarcasm. I have been trying for a long time to identify the specific error that motivates a class of objections to regarding Islam as the enemy of mankind. You put it right out there.
"So, how do you fight Islam?"
Firstly, were it not impossible, through education. If enough people were aware of the threat, they would use their creativity to devise effective measures.
Certainly, Islam should be proscribed throughout the West.
"Do you make total war on the Muslims who are fighting with us in this war?"
You mean like Tecumseh Sherman did in his march across Georgia during the Civil War?
The term "total war" is a prejudicial term in the first place. I would advocate sparing non-combatants and those who wish to surrender, as far as is practicable on the battlefield.
"Does your statement that Islam is the enemy mean that all Muslims by default become our enemy whether they agree with the Bin Ladins of the world or not?"
If you are asking whether I mean that their lives should be forfeit, then no, many if not most should be spared. However, they are the carriers of a deadly danger, and must be treated like the carriers of an infectious disease -- cured or quarantined.
Thank you for posting to me. After I quit laughing, I have to admit that you parrot your elders well. But, I do want to encourage you to keep up with your studies and when you get to college (if you are not there already) stand up to your classmates for what you believe in. Your political beliefs as they become more refined and deepen due to study will be the saving grace of this nation. We need you!
STEYNAHOL PING!
"But I want to thank you for taking the time out to speak to someone who is not in that small stratosphere of intellect."
That's quite all right. I have to, or talk to myself.
"But, you seem to think that this Administration does not understand the enemy. I disagree. They do and are waging war against them."
I do not think they understand that Islam itself is the enemy. Their public pronouncements support this concern.
First and foremost, I totally agree with you that Islam is the enemy. It is nothing more than a plan for world domination couched in religious terminology. Islam will only be content and satisfied when it is ruling the world.
Let's be straight on the definition of the word: total war. Yes, it comes from the Civil War, but it was also the strategy in World War II as well. That was total war. So, I do not mean it in a prejudicial sense at all. Ronald Reagan described total war when he was asked how he would fight the Vietnam War: "I would go in at breakfast, pave it over at lunch, and be home for dinner." Stonewall Jackson described at "drawing the sword and throwing away the scabbard." So, whereas Sherman did march through Georgia...that is not the sole and lone definition of total war.
The President's "religion of peace" is just diplomatic speak designed to appease (and I hate appeasement) Europe and our allies in the Middle East.
But the reason I know that the President understands...is that his main advisor is Bernard Lewis. One cannot read or listen to Lewis and not come away with a true understand of Islam.
That's quite all right. I have to, or talk to myself.
Thanks again for coming off Mt. Olympus (does it get lonely or just cold up there) and talking to this mere mortal.
Well, then, I guess total war -- with the maximum practical effort to spare non-combatants -- is called for.
Sherman, as you probably know, deliberately targeted non-combatants in the effort to break the spirit of the Southern army. This is similar to our firebombing of Japanese cities in WW II. I would like to know that such tactics would not be employed unless the alternative was defeat.
Lonely and cold. Sometimes I just feel so sorry for myself...
"But the reason I know that the President understands...is that his main advisor is Bernard Lewis. One cannot read or listen to Lewis and not come away with a true understand of Islam."
I hope you're right. However, presidents do not always subscribe to all the opinions of their advisors. Look at Truman and McArthur.
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