***** EDIT ***** Now with a working link in the post (hat tip to Bou for pointing that out!)
Generally it has to be said that I don't see the war on terror in the same way as a lot of the US based readers of IMAO and over at Harv's/Grau's. Harv wrote this post and got rather a sharp response from someone who I am guessing is a democrat and got righteously pissed about what he read there, but even then I felt that there was this element of political point-scoring about it rather than an unbiased look at the facts. Simply put it is not the fault of Regan, Bush Snr and Dubya and the evil (sic) Republican party. I seem to remember Carter managing an almighty screw up with the Iranian hostage crisis and that there was a certain Bill Clinton in office at one point too and I'm pretty sure they had nothing to do with the Republican party either. How come they never sorted it out Mr Ranter? Probably because, at that point, foreign policy objectives were mainly to do with counteracting whatever moves the Russians made and gathering allies, or fighting a war by proxy (the whole of Central America for a time being used as a ideological and physical battleground) rather than actually giving a s**t about the people in those countries.
Oh, and before anyone points it out, we were no better. Our stupid crappy ideas of piece meal-ling off bits of the Middle East to anyone who bothered to help us during WW2 paid real dividends, huh? Or how about how we destabilised the entire region by promising the Jews a homeland (conveniently forgetting the Palestinians that were already there). Our foreign policy was (and probably still is - history will be the judge) a masterpiece of duplicitous treachery and lies. Colonial ambitions tend to mean that the people subject to them are treated as if they don't exist.
So the political point-scoring cuts no ice with me. The original post was simplistic and, I feel, naive to a point of embarrassment in trying to tar all Muslims with the same brush but the response was clearly a left-wing pop at some right-wing rhetoric. There is no simple answer, or solution to the issue. To stand by your beliefs, Mr Left Wing Ranter, is not a sign of weakness but then neither is questioning the information that you are being given. To have an absolute belief in something to the point where you defend it so vigorously perhaps gives you something in common with these people that both Republicans and Democrats now so vilify. It is the means to the end that are so despicably different. We value the right to free speech and self expression and these terrorists, these guerillas, cannot value this until they realise that the cause they are fighting for will take these freedoms away in an absolute and final fashion.
Posted by AlexC at August 19, 2007 01:01 PMThe link doesn't work. :(
Posted by: Bou at August 20, 2007 03:10 AMI didn't think I tarred all Muslims, I thought I divided them up into those who tolerate other religions and those who don't.
Anyway, good call on Mr. Liberal's moral relativism.
Posted by: Harvey at August 22, 2007 02:31 AMLet's be honest, it's hard not to tar them with the same brush because what we see is all the violence and chanting in places like Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, etc. It is these so called second nations (since when does having a shed load of oil money make you a second nation? Does that make Antarctica a second nation?) and their less than liberal attitudes towards the freedoms I mentioned that give an impression that actually this religion breeds violent fanatics that are happy to kill and maim.
Plus the left wing commentator on you site alluding to the Crusades and our attitudes then - try looking a little closer to the present day with the Western nations continued support (politically and financially) of Israel when a lot of these Arab nations were busy receiving aide from cold war era Russia (military advisor's, weapons, economic infrastructure and development grants). Best way to seize oil supplies? There isn't one - but make a nation beholden to you and they sure as hell will sell it you cheap (Iran during the late 60's and early 70's to the US for example).
So now the Russians have started to exploit their own oil resources does anyone really think they give a rats ass about the Middle East? Of course not - and the withdrawal of their military and economic aid in this region has DIRECTLY lead to the destabilisation of these areas and given rise to fanaticism to replace the relative stability this offered. Religion has stepped in to fill the ideological vacuum left behind.
There are democrats and republicans too eager to play the blame game when, regardless of the reasons we're there, our troops deserve nothing less than our absolute support for the time they are there.
Posted by: Alex at August 22, 2007 08:36 AM