Re: Could it be the Next World War
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Smurf, sweetheart, I am so sorry if I came off all pedantic again. I'm just a history buff, so I can't help telling what I know. If it's any consolation, the Hoax quote was so close to Caesar's mentality I thought sure it WAS real, different as it may be from his style. 'Til NYCjacqueline straightened us both out. Which she, superb woman that she is, is welcome to do to me anytime. As are you, if you feel I have been wrong.
Oh, I'm not upset/offended/etc. I just feel a tad silly is all and was trying to make myself feel a little less stupid. :) If I was angry I'd have shown up at your front door with an Elastrator. Great little tool, every girl should have one. Used for castrating goats and stuff. It strectches out a very tiny, thick rubber band and well, without too much detail the process is called "withering."
My gawd I sound like suuuuch a hillbilly. Okay, well since I already sound like a hick, no shame telling "yall" I gotta go back upstairs and finish making my new bridle. :D
love and cookies
-smurfmonster
Re: Could it be the Next World War
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Heather_Young, My prayers and love are with you.
Pamela
Thank you Pamela. I truly appreciate your support.
Re: Could it be the Next World War
Daisifire - Our country has different color codes to warn Americans of how high the potential threat is. As of right now we are in code orange (high) This was raised last week from elevated, and is only one underneath the highest threst (red).
First of all, the duct tape thing is ridiculous. I swear the duct tape company must have paid the news to advertise for them. Do any of you REALLY think that this duct tape and plastic is going to save your lives? No.
Terrorists work like this: They want to instill fear in as many people as possible. They are irrational and also do not have respect for human life. That is why they are so hard to deal with. They could care less if they live or die, as long as they are hurting innocent people. They WILL ATTACK regardless if they are attacked or not. Their methods will be totally unexpected and unpreventable. YOu can not compromise with a terrorist.
Need I remind you of September 11th??
We were not at a war with Iraq when September 11th occured.
There is a huge difference between the US having nuclear weapons, and Iraq having nuclear weapons. The USA is not trying to take over the world. Iraq's ultimate goal is to destroy all of America. Should we allow them to go into and destroy Israel, and then hold the rest of the world hostage?
Noone wants war, but if we hold off, this is only going to give Iraq more time to take advantage of our ignorance. There may be some casualties now, but think of the death count if we are hit with a weapon of mass destruction!
Let Bush do what he needs to do. He is going to anyway. We have no control over anything. This is not about oil. This is about standing up for ourselves, and protecting our future. If his father would have taken out the enemy years ago, perhaps we would not be in this situation now.
Remember that your personal chance of being involved in an attack is only 1 in a million. Look out for strange people and packages, shady vehicles and report anything else that looks suspicious.
I have a hard time thinking stripping is in anyway important when all of this is going on. The (place adjective here) terrorists from 911 went to a strip club right before they flew on 9/11. Id hate to be the dancer that gave those guys a lap dance :(
god bless.
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Do any of you REALLY think that this duct tape and plastic is going to save your lives? No.
No, but along with dr._catfish's potasium iodide pills it will certainly buy extra time in which to die a slow and agonizing death. :P
Re: Could it be the Next World War
actually, the avowed goal of Iraq and every other Islamic country is not to obliterate the USA, it is to obliterate ISRAEL and reclaim "Palestine" (i.e. pre 1921 Palestine = present day palestine + all of present day Israel) for the arabs. But it just so happens that we are Israel's largest supporter (to the tune of $50 billion US tax dollars every year), with the Brits being the #2 supporter. Actually it was the Brits that 'gave away" Palestine to the Jews in 1921. If we really wanted to avoid war and stop all of the middle east conflicts all we would have to do is walk away from supporting the Israelis. After that the "problem" would be resolved within a matter of weeks with no impact on us (although there will be quite a few Israeli casualties).
As to this war being all about the economy and oil, oil supply and oil prices are certainly a big component. But continued support for Israel, revenge for 9/11 and a staunch refusal to be intimidated by Islamic terrorists are also a big part of it.
Personally I happen to agree with Colin Powell's legendary advice - the use of "overwhelming force". As far as having to occupy Iraq for years after the war is over, the US did the same thing in Japan and Germany in the 1940s and everybody including us, the Japanese and the Germans are better off for it. On the other hand, every place we have tried to make a half-assed attempt bowing to international opinion rather than using "overwhelming force" it has cost many lives and the problems still remain i.e. Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, and for that matter Iraq.
Re: Could it be the Next World War
"After that the "problem" would be resolved within a matter of weeks with no impact on us (although there will be quite a few Israeli casualties). "
Israel has several nuclear weapons in its arsenal, although they don't admit to having them. I think there would probably be a few more arab casualties than israeli casualties. I don't see Israel going down with a few mushroom clouds showing up.
Re: Could it be the Next World War
well I wouldn't be a bit surprised that there are quite a few ex-USSR nukes floating around the Arab world these days - Allah knows that the Saudis and others could afford to buy them when the Soviet Union was sold to the highest bidder, and there are something like 80 of these nukes unaccounted for! Perhaps this is the most noble reason for the US military involvement in the middle east ... to keep the Jews and Arabs from turning each other into glass.
Re: Could it be the Next World War
Here's the best analysis I've seen of what's REALLY afoot with the USA and IRAQ ......
Re: Could it be the Next World War
I've seen similiar assesments of the situation in the Middle East offered by numerous authors; in each case they completely ignore the role Western societies and America in particular have played in these so called "degenerate" cultures.
The entire Mid-East has been treated abomoinably by all Western nations, none have been worse than the US, there isn't a single democracy in the entire region. As much as we spout about dictators and tyranny, it's important to remember that many of these "dictators" have been encouraged and supported by the US. Saudi Arabia is a nightmare for anyone concerned about human rights, yet we consider them a close ally. The Shah of Iran was a brutal despot who's secret police arrested and tortured thousands, when he was ousted, the CIA engineered his return to power. The entire political structure was determined by England and France after World War 1, when they divided the region up according to " spheres of influence" and installed cooperative puppet governments.
Is it any wonder that in countries where human rights are almnost non existent and citizens have no say in their government that the people turn to religion? They are trying to establish some kind of control over their lives, even if it is only spiritual control. We demonize Saddam, but in reality we knew all along what a monster he was, that didn't stop us from providing him military assistance. Where were the cries of outrage when he was gassing the Kurds? Saddam murders his own people and invades Iran and we treat him as a hero and supply him with weapons, he invades Kuwait and he is a demon. Why would anyone in the Mid-East consider us as anything but hypocrites? We don't give a shit about the people in the Mid-East and they know it, is it any wonder they hate us?
Re: Could it be the Next World War
There's no question that Iraq has this nasty stuff. We don't need satellite photos to know that. We need a brain.
There's no question that they'll use it if given the chance.
There's no question that if we invade Iraq and get rid of this stuff ourselves we'll be considered a murderous bully. (Even though Saddam started wars with Iran, Kuwait, destroyed the local environment, and gassed thousands of people - and there was plenty of outrage about all that.)
There's no question that if a terrorist attack takes place on American soil with any of these weapons that Bush will be roasted extra crispy for not having taken action to prevent it. Many were quick to blame Bush for the WTC disaster.
How we respond to threats and attacks upon us is an indicator of our own character. If we waver, we merely delay and worsen the inevitable, Neville Chamberlain style. If we respond strongly and effectively, we earn our security for a while longer, post-World War II style.
Have we treated the Middle East badly? Sometimes, yes. No worse than they've treated each other. Sometimes we've treated them a lot better than they've treated each other. None of that is a reason to nod our head in the direction of Iraq and say, "We understand why you've got weapons of terror. Go right ahead."
We're not warmongering. The war is already in full swing.