Brethren, Let us begin with the assumption that Iraq is cleared by the majority of the Security Council of the possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs). Let us also assume that the majority of the civilized world holds out its hand to Iraq, welcoming it back into the embrace of the international community. Let us now assume that the USA defies the wishes of the international community and attacks Iraq unilaterally and illegally (and, for many members of the civilized world, terroristically) in January 2003 with its own weapons of mass destruction, perhaps with the support of the UK. It goes without saying that such a war will be swift and the USA will quickly establish military bases across Iraq and take effective control of Iraqi oil reserves, which is all it ever really wanted to do. The immediate implication is that the civilised world will have no sympathy for the USA of any retaliatory attacks by Muslims on the USA. The civilized world will view what the USA has done and what the Muslims have done as nothing more than terrorism and yet more terrorism, so will not shed any tears for collateral damage resulting from revenge terror on the USA. I was wondering what kinds of retaliatory action by Muslims against the USA we are likely to see in the aftermath of the USA's successful acquisition and effective control (i.e. using proxies) of Iraqi oil reserves. Remember that the international community will shed few tears for the retaliation that the USA is likely to be at the receiving end of, so the kind of terrorism that we are likely to witness in the USA is likely to be of the extreme kind. The terrorists will be viewed as brave soldiers across Arab states, and will be viewed by many European, African and Asian countries as representatives of the victims of the US foreign policy simply taking their revenge (however misguided or wrong such a revenge is) against the hegemony that defines US foreign policy and has indeed defined it for several decades... Please vote for the most likely kind of revenge terrorism that we are likely to witness. If any of you can think of other kinds of terrorism not included in the list, feel free to share. Candle P.S. Of course, if the USA decides to abide by the wishes of the international community, perhaps all of the above will remain where it belongs (i.e. within the confines of hypotheses)... a long shot I know, but one that could help bring down the walls of hatred between the USA and the international community
I think I am lucky I moved away from NYC 6 years ago. Most of my family still lives there. I think that poor city is going to be the theater for the terrorist attacks because it represents us to them. This war really scares me.
re: US hegemony ... "The Eagle Has Crash Landed" http://www.foreignpolicy.com/issue_julyaug_2002/wallerstein.html
Is the day far from us when the people of New York (or Washington or LA or any other of the US metropoles) will shout the American equivalent of "Hannibal ante portas"? Remember: the day that Hannibal stood with his troupes "ante portas" of Rome was not the end of the Roman empire, but it was the beginning of the end. As a non-American "citizen of the world" I have to ask: did the Vietnamese retaliate with terrorism? Or did the Cambodians? Or the Laotians? After all the crimes that were committed in those countries? I am asking as a friend of America, not as someone who is trying to provoke some nasty chauvinist reply.
Perhaps, after the US has attacked Iraq and a) the Muslim world has taken its revenge on the USA and b) the civilized world tells the USA to fuck off (should the USA ask the civilized world for moral support) and c) the civilzed world firmly informs the USA that it got what it deserved will the US foreign policy makers relent and apologize for their decades-worth of hegemony and crimes against humanity... In the meanwhile, I fear that the world will bear witness to US terrorism and Islamic resistance, taking the form of revenge terrorism... this is surely a no-win situation for humanity at large, even though the US oil companies will of course be winners...
Few in the news have already noted: the question is not if, but where and when... (Buffet interview on CNBC) and others ...- There are over 200 documented cases of persons attempting to purchase special nuclear material (stuff to make bombs) or tactical nuclear weapons on the black market - There are over 100 "suitcase bombs" missing from the Soviet nuclear inventory This last item is probably the most important. The former head of Soviet National Security, Alexander Lebed testified to that fact before congress. He stated that the devices measure approximately 24" x 16" x 8" and can be set off by an individual in less than 30 minutes, producing a 1 kilo ton yield. Such a device, set off in New York Harbor would produce a 15 to 20 foot wave that would destroy New York City... ...Does al-Qaida have 20 suitcase nukes? Author claims bin Laden purchased them in '98 from ex-KGB agents for $30 million ... ...Tenet told Bush that Pakistan's nuclear weapons program was more deeply compromised than either government has acknowledged publicly. Pakistan arrested two former nuclear scientists, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Abdul Majid, on Oct. 23, and interrogated them about contacts with bin Laden and his lieutenants.... some of the claims have been discounted by gov't sources.. ...One hypothetical scenario, participants said, began with a sensor detecting what appeared to be the radiation signature of a nuclear weapon amid a large volume of traffic on a highway such as I-95... ....Uranium Found at bin Laden Base Newsmax.com Wires Monday, Dec. 24, 2001 LONDON -- Uranium and cyanide have reportedly been discovered in drums at an al-Qaeda terrorist base near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan... ...ISLAMABAD, Pakistan â Pakistani nuclear scientists, in collaboration with former Pakistani intelligence officers, were assisting Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization in developing a "dirty" nuclear weapons capability, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agencies concluded, United Press International learned Thursday.... ...The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria is aware of 175 cases of trafficking in nuclear materials since 1993, including 18 that involved highly enriched uranium and plutonium pellets the size of a U.S. silver dollar.... ...In the US, experts reeled. Chelyabinsk is home to some of Russia's most important nuclear facilities, including a nuclear-weapons assembly and disassembly plant at Trekhgorny, and a weapons-design lab at Snezhinsk. If a group of insiders at one of these sensitive sites had decided to steal fissile material - well, that would be a highly serious matter. Furthermore, the material involved was apparently not some useless radioactive slurry. It was weapons-usable - meaning 18.5 kilograms might be enough to make an entire nuclear weapon. This incident is not included on most lists of the most important nuclear trafficking incidents, for the simple reason that it was quashed in its initial phases. But it remains one of the most troubling apparent cases of attempted proliferation ... http://www.ki4u.com/loose_nukes.htm Interviews with US Policy experts and Smugglers http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/nukes/interviews/ Enough nuclear material is missing worldwide to make a 'dirty' bomb. Where is it? What is being done to prevent its use by terrorists? http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1205/p1s3-wogi.html Russian Nuclear Smuggling http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/TED/NUKESMUG.HTM The Nagging Fear of Nukes U.S. planners must consider the awful what-ifs http://www.msnbc.com/news/635922.asp?cp1=1#BODY Are we doing enough to prevent such an attack? Who are our friends really? Do we spend too much time and resources on preparing war on Iraq? Why? I just hope cool heads prevail, and we focus our efforts in the right areas. Josh
candletrader is a relentless apologist for the US. these threats to humanity need to be addressed. if not the US then who? do you think anyone that wishes should own a nuke? that's it is really none of our business and that we should concern ourselves with matters closer to home? i think the US should intervene and stop the proliferation of nukes throughout the World for humanity's sake, and if that means sticking our noses in their business or forceful prevention then so be it. get real candletrader. or you just might end up incinerated dust particles. and if the "black mamba snake" doesn't like it too freaking bad. we'll just cut it's freaking head off! don't f$ck with the US! we are The Man! we are not perfect but you can't expect perfection. that's unreasonable. we need only be more right than the next guy. and we will kick a$$ if need be in the name of peace and humanity!
Where is the choice for "no repercussions, because the extremist terrorists don't really care for Hussein's secular goverment either"?