Re: [Osx-nutters] President Bush Vows Attacks “Across the World”

[Stefano Mori]

On 2006-Oct-06, at 14:45, Chuck Bennett wrote:

> On Oct 5, 2006, at 9:26 PM, Chris Gehlker wrote:
>
>> On Oct 5, 2006, at 2:01 PM, Chuck Bennett wrote:
>>
>>> Actually, 'we' are not fucked..   We haven't been attacked in the  
>>> US since we went on the offensive.

>> One thing that I am pretty sure of though, the next time some  
>> radical islamist group does pull off an attack on US soil, Bush  
>> and Co. will not  say "This shows our policy was  mistaken, we are  
>> withdrawing from Iraq".
>
> I don't think it's a win in any other sense than it may buy us some  
> time to find a better way to deal with them.   If they are indeed  
> pouring into Iraq then they aren't going anywhere else at the moment.

Something I never understood was why it's thought that the 911  
hijackers must have had huge financial backing. People have been  
hijacking planes for years, like, since 1932 apparently. What does  
waging a war to secure a foreign land have to do with a few nutters  
in Nairobi deciding to make a plan? I could have been blown up by the  
PLO in 1980--as it happens my parents changed their dinner plans at  
the last minute. Why Nairobi? Did Nairobi have any history of  
terrorist attacks? What does regime change in Iraq have to do with  
combatting sporadic, chaotic, unpredictable groups popping up  
somewhere, anywhere? Terrorism is for small groups, so they can do  
something so shocking and unthinkable that the whole world takes  
notice. It's advertising. It's media relations, don't you think?


> "Know that we, like all the mujahidin, are still weak. We are in  
> the stage of weakness and a state of paucity. We have not yet  
> reached a level of stability. We have no alternative but to not  
> squander any element of the foundations of strength, or any helper  
> or supporter."
>
> <http://www.ctc.usma.edu/harmony.asp>
>
> This doesn't sound like a groupe on the verge of victory.
>
> Sometimes in a war you draw the enemy into a battle to keep him  
> occupied
> while you do something else.
>
> I'm not saying that we are actually smart enough to be doing that,  
> I'm just hoping that that is the effect.

Yeah, well, here's a different take. Read the letter and get into the  
mind set. What are they really upset about? They are upset when  
people stop believing. They say, "It's worse to rob Muslims of their  
religion than it is to rape and murder thousands." (words to that  
effect). They know the world is changing. They see people starting to  
become more secular, more moderate, more tolerant of difference. They  
feel it and it drives them mad. So they throw tantrums. And on 911  
they got very very lucky. But in return, what have we given them?  
What we've handed to them on a plate is that we've taken them  
seriously. Remember, they're clamoring for attention. They were  
nobody, and we've made them into somebody. And by attacking Iraq, and  
messing up the infrastructure, we've thrown the country into chaos.  
An insecure population doesn't develop, they retreat to more  
primitive mindset when stressed. Not having jobs is a stress. Talk  
about inner city slums. What's the employment rate in Iraq? 40 per  
cent? We've halted the very progress that the **terrorists**  
**despised**. I think maybe there haven't been more attacks because  
they haven't been needed. They're getting what they want. And when  
they want more of it, they'll pop up, all of a sudden, somewhere  
else. Will USA take the bait again?

Stefano