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I'm just floored by a couple of Canadian politicians arguing about whether or not to hold parliamentary discussions concerning our military's new role as lead-force in Afghanistan. One guy has the nerve to still use the word 'peacekeeping'.. PEACEKEEPING MY ASS!
It's a full fledge war zone again over there with the Taliban on the offensive.. just yesterday one of our soldier/correspondant types was sitting at a meeting with some town elders when a flipped out fanatic stuck an axe in the side of his head.. our soldiers are dying at an alarming rate over there and this jaggoff has the nerve to use the word 'peacekeeping'!
Doesn't ANYONE remember what the Afghans did to the Russians?? This is not even a war ..this war on terrorism. Its an undefined mess is what it is. And yes..I'll get political here.. cause I'm damn angry..
The leaders of the western world are out of thier minds if they think they'll ever make hard-core Islamic states into perfect little democratic countries where everyone has a house, a good job, and drives a Volkswagen. It's just not realistic. So if that isn't the goal..what is?
Can someone answer this question? How is this war on terrorism won? ..When is it declared OVER?.. or won? ..or lost? Won't there always be people left who hate the capitalist world? Aren't we making two 'enemies' whenever one is killed?
Here's both sides of the coin as seen from my western-world limited perspective:
THEORY #1 : Leave the middle east alone.. swallow the over-inflated capitalist pride and stop making war in foreign countries.. stop giving anyone a reason to hate having a foreign policy shoved down thier throat. Abandon ALL interests (political, ideological, and economical) in the Middle East, pull the troops out, and admit defeat..
pros: western-world soldiers will go home to thier families ...thousands of lives will immediately be spared. 'terrorism' goes away because it is no longer necessary.
cons: Saddam-like regimes will flourish again.. the Taliban comes back to power. Human rights will be trampled again ... price of oil sky-rockets. Iran gets the Bomb. Isreal gets invaded or anihilated..fights back and takes a few neighbors into total destruction with them.
THEORY #2 : Stay the coarse. Fight until every western-world-hater is dead, whether it takes 100 years or not. Fight the propoganda war until there are overwhelmingly more supporters of democracy than Islamic law or totalitarianism and every country in the world has conformed to the western world notion of human rights, equality and freedom for all.
pros: there is a small chance that eventually (and very eventually) all countries are democratic, human rights are restored, and there are no more rogue-states with WMD's.
cons: Millions will die in battle. Free countries will continue to live in fear of terror attacks for years to come. Fundemental Islamic doctrine will become diluted as it mixes with the rules of democracy. Trillions of dollars will be spent on the war efforts as opposed to being spent on worthy causes.
Do you see how damn confusing this whole thing is? Answers are not entirely clear any more. It may have gone too far to just pull out. That makes George Bush right! uggh.. the very thought makes my toenails curl!
I'd love to hear some opinions on this.. especially from my Muslim friends.
love y'all
Skinner
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CONTEST NEWS - MARCH 06</b>
The 2006 Photography Olympics continues to roll along.. nine days left and 84 entries! ...16 more entries and we've got the 100 we were hoping for! .. lets have em folks!
I'm VERY happy with the turn out and photo quality so far!
I hope all the photogs out there are giving thought to representing their country when they're out with the camera
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Mad 
When I listen to the news or read a newspaper I try to focus on facts and not the 'story' as it can be misleading, but it is difficult to understand what is happening, even when I do this.
Anyway, my point is to say that I don't feel that I could say anything about the matter as I don't really hear many facts about it. However....I do think that there are more options than what you have listed above. I don't know enough to give any other options, but things are never just black and white.
anyway i have to go
when i read what i have just said it really doesnt make much sense sorry but i hope you can catch my drift and try to get what im saying
laters
Yea i know, but it shows the terrorists that these terror tactics work and so instead of eventually giving up, they are shown (by spain for example) that it works and so will continue to use it
One, it makes no sense to compare this to Russia's war in Afghanistan. The reason Russia was defeated in Afghanistan was not because of how enormously great/fierce/dedicated the opposition was, but because they were undersupplied and basically betrayed by their own government. Most died from infection and disease, not in action. I should know - I was born and raised in the former USSR, and many of my friends' fathers served there.
Two, can we really leave the Middle East alone? I've a cousin in Afganistan. All this "they hate us" is nonsense. Most people there are just normal people who want to leave in peace and can't - but not because of the big evil West, rather because of a bunch of radical fanatics who don't give a shite whom they kill as long as they kill something. Following WWII, the situation was similar, a few Nazi supporters still stirring trouble long after the war was over. That is in no way an indication that we've failed, or that things won't ever get better. The only way they'll get worse is if we leave now.
Last by not least, I'm just at a loss how people who're against our "meddling" don't seem to be bothered by the fact that Muslims in London are standing in the city squares as we speak, holding signs like "we won't stop until Islam dominates the world" and "annihilate enemies of Islam". Do you believe they're minority? They're not. Maybe, just maybe, we should open our minds to the fact that radical Islam is not much different than fascism, and is an ideology that cannot be allowed to continue.
Please don't assume I'm racist or intolerant or any other such thing. I live on the edge of a Muslim neighborhood in Brooklyn. My child goes to school and is friends with Muslim children. I'm friends with their parents. And even they, who practice Islam down to wearing a hijab and praying five times a day, are terrified by the prospect of radical Islam coming to dominate the world. It's what they escaped by coming to the West. Even they, Muslims through and through, call it a "death cult" and believe the US does not have the right to NOT intervene in what's going on in the Middle East. It's people like this we should be listening to: [link] . Not people like John Kerry & Co or worse yet, MTV.
No disrespect meant in any of the above, I respect your work and you seem like an intelligent person too. Just thinking out loud there, your post made it hard to say nothing at all. Peace.
It's interesting your opinions of the Russian experience in Afghanistan ... I never said HOW the Afghans defeated the Russians because that is not the point.. the point is this.. they are a tough people who are willing to live in caves and weather the storm until an advantageous moment arises to pounce.. in the case of the Russians, that moment was when the Russian government grew weak .. In the present case it was when the Americans handed over command of Afghanistan to less devotedly committed forces. Still I think Afghanistan will turn into the same bloodbath it did for the Russian soldiers (who were ambushed relentlessly by men with nothing to lose). That concerns me because my own homeland forces will be first to die..
The Canadian people in their media-saturated ignorance were assured that Afghanistan was on the brink of peace and democracy.. the Americans had succeeded in the goal of erecting a democracy and things could only get better.. I never believed that for a second.. and now our soldiers return to us in bodybags..
Yes I believe we have to stay the coarse.. but until when? Until what is accomplished? Those are the questions I want answers to.
The speech made in your link there was very powerful .. a little too edited..too rehearsed.. and too biased for my liking though.. she seemed to have alot of resentment toward Muslims in general and too much adoration for Jews in general to be fully convincing y'know?