a_majoor said:
Unfortunately if you belong to Al Qadea or other jihadi groups; fortunately if you were among the majorety of voters in the United States.
I'm not sure if that was a deliberate attempt at a troll, but I'll chip in. Without even pointing out the obvious erroneous generalizations you've made, your own thought (I use the term loosely) implicitly states that 48% of Americans support Al-Qaeda. I'm sure that New York- a heavily Democratic state- might disagree. I'm somewhat convinced that various terror factions throughout the world are thrilled at Bush being voted in to the office. The "War President" gives radical nut-jobs a carte blanche for recruiting and mobilizing terrorist cells. Unilateralism, disregard for "collateral damage", as well constant posturing allow propaganda machines to make him out to be the stereotypical villain. Some examples:
Iraq- no one can convince me that military action in Iraq could have been avoided in the foreseeable future. Regardless of many leftist portrayals, Iraq was far from a Bathist paradise before the US invasion. Rampant corruption and violant discremenation throughout the land provided a country ruled with an iron fist and held together by fear. However, I don't understand how a "liberation" of a country includes a systematic massacre of a sizeable portion of it's citizenry. In order to invade Iraq to remove the Bathist regime, a slow, methodical, and casualty intensive war was inevitable. A "shock and awe" strategy was absolutely the wrong way to liberate a country. However, the war machine refuses to see large numbers of American soldiers coming home in body bags- which is very understandable. In effect, what he had done is substitute Iraqi lives instead- at a much higher ratio. And I'm not referring to military casualties. The speed and and lack of planning of the operations in Iraq have led to an occupied country that does not have a working infrastructure nor an appreciation, respect, or welcome of US forces. Very unfortunate considering the US troops that have given their lives to defend their country and honestly believe that they are liberating Iraq. I won't even begin to discuss the weapons of mass destruction (or should that be distraction?)
Terrorism- After turning a blind eye (and in fact supporting) the Taliban for many years, the US declares them Public Enemy #1 and ousts them from Afghanistan. This has nothing to do with fighting the war on Terrorists. You can never fight a military war on terrorists. They have no single country, no single leader, and no single agenda. When a man is willing to kill himself for a cause (as in suicide bombers), you cannot scare them with your might. Having a war on terrorism is the same as having a war on racism- you can't blow it up or pump it full of bullets. It is a concept. The only way to destroy a terrorist is to take away their reason for being- namely US foreign policy. Stop alienating and destroying the economy of other countries (at no or marginal economic costs to you), stop the concept that collateral damage in the thousands is an acceptable measure in war, and stop believing that you are the only player on the world stage and you'll be amazed at how fast the terrorists will diminish in numbers. This is not an attack on Americans- In fact, I firmly believe that the world is too quick to forget the amount of resources the US has spent on foreign aid, or the fact that, while flawed at best, the US is one of a few number of countries that offers true civil liberties.
And now the disclaimer- I don't condone terrorism, nor do I support it. I find it ironic that so-called Islamic fundamentalist use terror in the name of their religions while the latter expressly forbids it. "Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind"- from the Muslim Holy Book. However, one must condemn all acts of terrorism- which I define as a the deliberate targetting of civilians by armed forces (military or para-military) This includes suicide bombers, collective punishment, as well as the gross disregard for collateral damage. Militaries fight wars, when we forget that we loose all rights to call someone a terrorist.
As an side, I have no problem with a Republican president, in fact I believe that Arny is doing a bang-up job in Califormia. He's showing that you can be a Republcian and not have to follow all the party lines, something no Democrat that I can recall has done. We need more people like him on both sides of the fence.
This was not an attack on Bush, merely a statement of my disagreement that terrorists should be shaking in their boots (sandals, to perpetuate the stereotype) that he's been elected.