vvv, i appreciate your words of wisdom. the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon were abominable acts but i think the key point to understand is that this event is nothing more than the most recent manifestation of a cycle of violence which has been perpetuating for years/decades/centuries during the Kuwiat/Iraq conflict, we bombed Bagdad incessantly for weeks. how many innocents were killed? Women, children, elderly? Was this US action justified? Maybe. This is just one example - and I am not blaming Iraq for this attack. The point is that the violence and destruction just goes back and forth...always justified. Yes, i think we should find and punish those responsible for the WTC attack. But i hope that we would not rush to judgement or harm anyone who was not involved. i live in a town with a major university which is a true international melting pot. I have known many Arabics who are among the kindest, most gentle, and generous people I would never defend terrorist acts, and these recent attacks have been particularly calculated and destructive. Let's get the bad guys and leave the others be. If the cycle of violence is ever to be broken it will require true wisdom and the realization that these events never happen in a vacuum.
I don't know much about the Moslem religion. Other people here pretend they know about it when they really don't. What I do know, as anyone who reads the newspapers knows, is that Islam is tied to a lot of war and terrorism. You never heard of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or other religions being so immersed in war and terrorism like the Moslems. Based upon the reactions from the people in the Middle East, dancing in the streets and cheering, it's obvious that a large percentage of Moslem people support these kinds of actions. What kind of "response" is justified by the United States? Well, after killing what looks like at least 5,000 people, maybe 10,000 people, any response like what we have done in the past would be a mere slap on the wrist. I propose we punish the perpetrators by doing the opposite of what they wanted to accomplish. They wanted to punish the US for its support of Israel. We counter this by giving the Israelis the green light to completely annex the West Bank and expel all the Palestinians. That would surely teach them a lesson not to mess with the United States.
The US should respond to this by cutting all ties with Israel. They have caused us enough grief. They are as much at fault for this tragedy as any terrorist group. Israel, and its special interest groups operating in the US, has dragged us into this. It is about time that we just stop supporting them. I would feel alot safer if we did.
Mugshot, it takes a lot of guts to say that. i agree with your sentiment although i don't think we should completely cut ties - just treat Isreal as any other ally i am also concerned about Israeli special interests' great power to manipulate our government
Respond to terrorism by doing EXACTLY what the terrorist would most want us to do? Are you crazy? What kind of message does that send to every terrorist in the world? It says "bomb us and then we will give in." We must NEVER allow the world to think that they can control our foreign policy through acts of terrorism.
>You never heard of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, >Buddhist, or other religions being so immersed >in war and terrorism like the Moslems. Uhhh...the Jews have battled the Arabs since biblical times. The Arab/Jew conflict is not one sided. Clearly written by someone who is not a student of history. Ever hear about the crusades, inquisition, etc. JB PS: momentarily couldn't resist, but I will let everyone else have the last word on this one -- I'm definely out.
You're talking about stuff that happenned centuries ago. What's been going on during the last 25 years; Moslems causing bloodshed and violence.
very wise and true words. yukon, violence and terror is really in absolutely no way limited to sponsorship under the hypocritical guise of islamic religion. ever hear of northern ireland and ira terror in both ireland and the uk? ever hear of the basque eta terror in spain? ever hear of israeli terror in the lebanon and palestine territories? and the list goes on and on, roger very aptly stated what it's all about, a vicious cycle.
------------------ Islam and tolerate in the same sentence? How do you reconcile the attrocities being perpetrated right now and in the past by the Islamic government of Iran on the largest religious minority in that country, the Bahai's. Baha'is are not allowed to travel, marry, own or run businesses, pursue education, assemble, hold government jobs, etc. It was brought to light that they had a SYSTEMATIC PLAN to eliminate all members of this peaceful religion both inside their country and OUTSIDE in the rest of the world. Documents bearing the plan with the seal of the Iranian government and the signatures of high ranking officials is filed in the UN. I don't want to engage in religious arguments here but Moslems believe Muhammad to be the SEAL of the prophets and are NOT awaiting the Second Coming of Christfor the same reason. Actually if you had read the Koran you would have read Mohammad saying: "I am Christ." The above are not my opinions but FACTS so please do yourself a favour and read something before you try to attack it.
PALESTINIAN TV The official Palestinian TV station broadcasts the Friday sermons from the main Mosque. What do the Islamic Imams (Moslem Priests) preach in the Mosque? Do they preach to their congregation about trying to have a âPeace Accordâ with Israel? Here is a translated portion of the âsermonâ preached on August 3rd 2001. "Allah shall make the Moslem rule over the Jew, we will blow them up in Hadera, we will blow them up in Tel-Aviv and in Netanya in the righteousness of Allah against this riff-raff, we will fight against them and rule over them until the Jew will hide behind the trees and stones and the tree and stone will say: 'Moslem! Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, kill him!' "We will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, and Jaffa as conquerors, and Haifa as conquerors and Ashkelon as conquerors, we are certain that the victory is quickly coming, as we bless anyone who rises against a soldier, we bless all those who educate their children to Jihad and to Martyrdom, blessings to he who shot a bullet into the head of a Jew...â There is a group of people mostly from England, who call themselves Christians, who are now in Arafat Land. They are there to be âhuman shieldsâ so the Israelis will not shoot back at the Arab snipers in Biet Jalla. Biet Jalla is the Arab town directly across the valley from the Gilo Suburb of Jerusalem. Gilo is the suburb where our Torah Light Base is located. Mortar shells, machine gun and rifle fire comes from Biet Jalla into Gilo every night now. When the Israeli Army returns fire sometimes civilians are hit. The so-called âChristianâ activists are there so that the Israelis will not return the sniper fire for fear of hitting them. They know that if any of them are hit by Israeli fire, the world media would have a frenzy of damnation against Israel. They claim to be humanists who wish to protect the innocent Arabs in Beit Jalla who are not snipers. IF they were truly unbiased âhumanistsâ wouldnât they send half their members to Gilo to be human shields against Arab sniper fire to protect the innocent Jewish women and children there? OR are they Jew haters hiding behind the robes of Christianity and humanism? The sad thing is that some extreme leftists Israelis have joined this group of âhuman shieldsâ. My name for these Israelis is: Traitors. They are aiding and abetting the enemies of Israel who are daily murdering Israelis and blowing up their children. They have the same spirit, as certain left wing Americans had during the Viet Nam war, and are getting the same preferred media coverage. Things are coming closer and closer to a boiling point. Pray that GODâs will be done. Shalom in Messiah Jesus, Dr. Stan Chester Rabbi C