War is abrewin'

[JaZz0r]

Taken from Yahoo! News:

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Taliban Warn of Revenge if U.S. Attacks Afghanistan
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s ruling Taliban warned on Friday of revenge ``by other means'' if the United States attacked their country in retaliation for the deadly terror attacks on Washington and New York.

The warning came as fundamentalist Taliban clerics in the capital used Friday prayers to urge the world's Muslims to unite against the U.S.

``Oh Muslims of the world, we should unite together if the United States attacks us,'' one cleric told the faithful at a Kabul mosque. The theme was repeated across the capital.

Washington says Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), who lives in Afghanistan as a ``guest'' of the Taliban, is a prime suspect in connection with Tuesday's deadly attacks. It has vowed to strike against those responsible as well as any country which harbours them.

Abdul Hai Mutamaen, the Taliban's chief spokesman, warned of revenge if the U.S. attacked. ``We will take revenge if America attacks through different means,'' he told reporters without elaborating.

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited.

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Wow....I never would have thought of seeing the word "war" in U.S. headlines outside of history books. TV is almost too depressing for me to watch, along with the radio.

Pearl Harbor....so, this is what it must've been like...

[tubedogg]

Sort of, except we didn't provoke Pearl Harbor...

[Skeptical]

Originally posted by tubedogg
Sort of, except we didn't provoke Pearl Harbor...

That's what we always think. But to them there's always a reason. People don't just attack each other out of the blue, unless they're really trying to take over that country, which Japan was clearly not trying to do to the U.S. in WW II.

[Hooper]

We're coming. Count on it.

[thewitt]

Originally posted by tubedogg
Sort of, except we didn't provoke Pearl Harbor...

Many American historians will disagree with you, and all of Japan's accounts of the events leading up to Perl Harbor will disagree with you.

There are very few protagonists in a war who cannot describe how their attack was provoked by some action - physical, religious, philisophical - it doesn't really matter to the one that starts a war.

-t

[tubedogg]

I really do think we did provoke it. Our complete arrogance as a world power (our way is the best, so we have to force it on other countries), coupled with our unrequested (and unneeded) intrusion into external disagreements (e.g. Israelis vs Palestinians; Iraq vs Kuwait; etc.) made it just a matter of time before something like this actually happened. We were so arrogant as to believe that it couldn't happen that we never saw it coming.

Bin Laden, in an interview with CNN from 1997, specifically mentioned our use of Saudi Arabian land during the Gulf War and our involvement in the Israeli/Palestinian affair as reasons for his war against the US.

---- another topic -----

Working at a TV station I often hear things that never make it to air. One of these is that there is supposedly an Afghani faction (not the Taliban) planning a "ground strike" against the US on Friday (not sure what ground strike means exactly, nor am I sure which Friday we're talking about). Whether or not this is actually entirely true is another issue, but just FYI.

[Jake Bunce]

wOOt! i'm gonna get drafted and get to die! yay! hmmm, i'm gonna get naked, paint my body, and go on a rampage.

ok jake, too many puter games.

[thewitt]

Originally posted by tubedogg
I really do think we did provoke it. Our complete arrogance as a world power (our way is the best, so we have to force it on other countries), coupled with our unrequested (and unneeded) intrusion into external disagreements (e.g. Israelis vs Palestinians; Iraq vs Kuwait; etc.) made it just a matter of time before something like this actually happened. We were so arrogant as to believe that it couldn't happen that we never saw it coming.[clip]

Kuwait asked us to get involved when Saddam decided he wanted more beachfront property. Israel of course, is always asking for our help.

Shall we buey our heads in the sand as we did prior to the Japaneese attack on Perl Harbor? We let Hitler nearly completely control Europe. Was it a mistake for us to get ultimately get involved?

What is Saddam should decide to take Saudi Arabia? Should we stay out of it? What if Saddam should decide that Jordan, Egypt and Israel are next on his list? Let him have them? Where do you draw the line?

It's a crummy job we've taken on since WWII, however if there is no one to suppress the bully, then the bully will take what he wants, when he wants it, and persecute his private war as he sees fit.

The world is a bad and scary place, full of people who have been taking land, rights, and other peoples for a lot longer than the U.S. has existed. I don't see this stopping just because we would prefer it to be that way. Do you honestly believe that is the case? Wish it were better than it will be so?

Where would the world be today if we did NOT help those in need? Those who ask? What happens when both sides ask? Who do we help? We make a moral judgement, often the lessor of two evils. We are not perfect. Our leadership makes mistakes, and we misjudge, but we help. The low profile acts of assistance dwarf the high profile ones, however we help as best we can - without the malise that is often ascribed to our goals.

Do the Palistineans have the more righteous claim over Jerusulem? The Israelis? Should we turn our back on the region and simply let them duke it out? Survival of the fittest?

How far back should we go to determine soverienty in a region? Who conquered whom and when? In the Middle East alone, you can go back several thousand years and not get a clear answer to these questions. It doesn't get easier in many other places in the world.

There are no easy answers. The truth is, we have no choice but to involve ourselves, and it won't get any easier over time.

-t

[Nicholas Brown]

Originally posted by Jakeman
wOOt! i'm gonna get drafted and get to die! yay! hmmm, i'm gonna get naked, paint my body, and go on a rampage.

ok jake, too many puter games.

Indeed

$puter = 'apple mac'; 

[Wayne Luke]

Originally posted by tubedogg
coupled with our unrequested (and unneeded) intrusion into external disagreements (e.g. Israelis vs Palestinians; Iraq vs Kuwait; etc.)

We were in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia at the request of those governments. We still maintain a military force there at their request and the request of the United Nations.

The PLO initiated Peace talks with the Isrealis and requested a neutral place to do so. The United States volunteered and the Peace talks were held here. I see continual condemnation of the continued violence there from our leaders no matter who starts it.

[Jake Bunce]

*me stuffs a cream pie in nick's face*

[Nicholas Brown]

Originally posted by Jakeman
*me stuffs a cream pie in nick's face*

- why I awdaa...

[Hooper]

All I know is.....................

We're Coming.....

[Skeptical]

Originally posted by Nicholas Brown


- why I awdaa...

Hey at least he didn't fly an ________ into your face.

(I left that blank 'cause I wouldn't want anyone to think I was insensitive after the wtc thing. But it was just too good for me to pass up)

[Jake Bunce]

*me reaches for the wipped cream can*