Posted on 04/10/2002 6:09:48 AM PDT by Apolitical
Well, yes, the US was warned from the start to avoid European entanglements, etc.
But so what? Live in the world around you.
The US -- both though official federal channels and indirectly through all many of social activist groups and even more indirectly through business channels which are de facto political channels -- has pretty much been mucking around in world affairs for at least 90 years.
Crossing your arms over your chest and jutting out your chin and saying "The US shouldn't be involved in these things" is just childish and is darn close to denial. The US is involved in these things and the US is going to be involved in these things. Deal with it.
And, given that the US screwed up the Middle East by giving the Arab world oil extraction technology and then not going to war when the scum nationalized the oil fields and stole all that technology the US put there -- in fact, the US further empowered the Arabs by giving them uncounted billions in petro dollars for the oil that they extracted using the equipment they stole from US companies -- it would be downright wrong for the US to wash our hands of that mess after we were so instrumental in making it!
Mark W.
This conflict is not about the Palestinians. It is about extremist Islam. We are engaged whether we like it or not. 911
Tom Friedman, a New York Times' columnist, wrote recently of "Suicidal Lies", warning that "The Palestinians are so blinded by their narcissistic rage that they have lost sight of the basic truth civilization is built on; the sacredness of every human life, starting with your own."
No religion sends its children out to commit suicide for the purpose of killing others. No religion declares martyrdom a sacred duty. But Islam does! It is not a religion; it is little more than a 7th century warrior cult and one that spread its faith by the fear of death unless one converts. Indeed, to convert from Islam is a death sentence. The word "Islam" means "submission." Are you ready to submit?
This is the Islamic Jihad at work in the world today and nations must take up arms against it. In March alone, Palestinian suicide bombers killed more than a hundred Israelis. As the suicide bombers did their evil work in the streets of Israel, this is what Yassir Arafat was telling Palestinians and Muslims around the world:
"Allah, give me martyrdom (in Jerusalem), the place from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to the heavens..." Jerusalem is not a holy city to Muslims. Mecca and Medina, both in Saudi Arabia, are their holy cities. For centuries Muslims ignored Jerusalem until they decided to conquer it.
"To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions," said Arafat. "This is our destiny. This is a divine decree..." The Koran is a call to war!
That was a good comment. And a good, telling phrase: "narcissistic rage"
One way I think about this business, is to in my mind, put myself in the place of the PLO.
I mean, I was born in a little neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. My family has lots of ties there. My grandmother, in fact, was born in a little house not far from where I grew up. But-- If (and this is a little crazy, but it's for thought purposes) some weird UN decree came down handing over the south side of Chicago to some Native American tribe and demanding that all non-Native Americans get out, I wouldn't start killing people because I disagreed vehemently with the politics of the decision. And, after all, I can live anywhere else in Chicago, or anywhere else in America...
The PLO are in the same kind of fix. The Jews have no other place to call home. The PLO are "home" any where in the Arab world. Is the establishment of Israel a "perfect" solution? (It's not as crazy as my example.) No. But is the psychotic, unbounded Arab rage and hatred in any way proportional to the context around them? No. Is it in any way a civilized response to the context around them? No.
Mark W.
If it is, it's only in your dreams.
Bush's poll numbers are going down. Not because people are tired of hearing about the Middle East. But because people are angry at him for allowing his administration and America to be seen as unprincipled toadies to Arafat and his fellow terrorists. Bush s rating slips, but still high ( NBC/WSJ poll: : W at 74% )
Mark W.
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