We Are All Spaniards

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
I doubt the perpetrators of the explosions in Madrid
give a damn what the Spaniards think of them. Do
you think they expected their actions to endear them?

If not to rally men to their cause, for what purpose then?

Ultimately, this is about who is in control.
Without the masses, the terrorists lose.

Exactly, but the masses they care about are Muslims. Attacks against
Western countries are carried out for their propaganda effect in the
Islamic world.

The terrorists are cultivating their hero image among their constituency
to broaden their political base; they couldn't care less what the
infidels think, as long as they are afraid.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

"John Harlow" wrote in message
...
There is no such thing as "stopping terrorism". It is a fantasy . .
. an illusion . . . an impossibility.

Finally a sensible statment. Sorry, Jay, as much as I wish it weren't so,
you could spend every dollar in the world on fighting terrorism (just like
the "drug war") and you won't wipe it out.

What you need to do is remove the fuel from the fire. Americans need to
stop thinking they know what's best for the world.

Every country in the world suffers from terrorist attacks. It is not just
America or countries that support Bush. Nor is Bush the cause of every
problem in the world. Sure, Spain might not have supported the US in Iraq.
They could have caved and supported Hussein like the cowardly French and
Germans. They would still be attacked by numerous other terrorist groups,
from Basque separatists to violent anarchists. If nobody had attacked Iraq,
we would still be attacked by Kurdish separatists seeking support for their
cause, Palestinians, Croats, American Indian separatists, political
extremists within our own borders, Iraqi agents trying to get us to do
something else, etc.

The fact is that there will always be people who oppose what we do -- no
matter what it is that we do -- and who will be willing and able to use
violence to express that opposition. Therefore there will always be
terrorists. There have always been terrorists.

Frankly, I think that opposing thugs like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden
is worth doing. I suppose we might have convinced those guys to like us more
if we had given them all our money and bent over and grabbed our ankles.
Really, though -- do you want the respect of people like that? I just don't
see the point of trying to score high on the popularity meter of
organizations and people like the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Weathermen
wing of the Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Panthers, or
Timothy McVeigh.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
newszJ4c.6689$_w.233787@attbi_s53...
We are all Spaniards today.


Well, Jay -- your post succeeded in one thing. It brought all the usual
apologists for terrorism out of the woodwork.

I guess there are plenty of people even on this news group who somehow think
terrorism is justified if it opposes the United States or its allies.

"S Green" wrote in message
...


Terrorist / freedom two sides of the same coin.

The world is full of them - and it is totally dependent on which end of
the
telescope you look out from.

After all were not the founding fathers terrorists seeking to overthrow
the
legitimate government?

Terrorists are not interested in freedom, and it is ugly of you to pretend
that it is so.

"Judah" wrote in message
...

Perhaps the agenda of modern-day terrorists is not as clear as the agenda
of the Independence fighters who fought for independence and control of
their own countries...

Or, worse yet, perhaps the AGENDA is pretty clear, but the coutries they
are fighting for control of are not...

It has always struck me as the ultimate in obnoxiousness to claim that
fighting for democracy and the rule of law is somehow morally equivalent to
deliberately attacking non-combatants in an attempt to impose totalitarian
rule.

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

In this war, the trick is to do PRECISELY what Bush has been doing
-- fight terrorists where *they* live.

They'll simply move and disperse. And plenty of terrorists recruits
already live in the U. S., and in Britain, France, Canada, etc.

If that means Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, or
the entire Middle East, well, that scenario sure
beats waiting until the *******s put bombs on trains
in Chicago, or kill a busload of school kids in
Des Moines.

The entire Middle East? What do you think the effect of such an
operation will be on the American economy? How long will we have to
occupy the entire Middle East? What effect will such an operation have
on the hearts and minds of Muslims everywhere? To whom would go the
propaganda victory?

Bottom line: When you're rooting out an insect infestation, you don't
just
kill the roaches in your kitchen -- you go after the nest.

Spoken like an innkeeper! But we're talking about an infestation
with nests worldwide, not just in our kitchen. Your insect metaphor is
not very comforting when one considers the struggle against fire ants in
the U. S.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 06:44:32 -0800, C J Campbell wrote:

They could have caved and supported Hussein like the cowardly French and
Germans.

to say it direct: YOU ARE AN IGNORANT IDIOT.
stick a finger up your ass and whistle.

§$%&§$/&$&$§"%$!!!!!

#m
--
A far-reaching proposal from the FBI (...) would require all broadband
Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire
their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5172948.html

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:G9N4c.8196$_w.243103@attbi_s53...
What you need to do is remove the fuel from the fire. Americans need to
stop thinking they know what's best for the world.

Yeah..especially when it's the Islamic fundementalists that KNOW what's
right for the world, and are under strict and explicit order to kill
everyone who says otherwise.


An interesting perspective, John. I suggest you explain it to the people
of
Madrid.

Indeed!! I guess only a thug can understand another thugs "reasons".

"Rosspilot" wrote in message
...

Because it is a TACTIC, not an ENTITY.
There is nothing to "wipe out".


Tactics cannot be defeated?

No. You can defeat the ENTITY that is using a particular tactic in a
specific
instance. But you cannot defeat the tactic, since it can be used again
and
again.

Why, pray tell, do we fight crime in general?

I bet the British at the time would have disagreed with you. I am certain
they believed the American rebels / freedom fighters were terrorists.

Terrorists kill innocents. America's rebels fought the British for
independence -- they didn't pointlessly blow up schools in far-flung,
unrelated locales.

Basically, when history finds a band of rebels or oppressed people who
fought their way to freedom, they war is called a War of Independence.

When they were suppressed, the war is called a rebellion, an uprising, or
a failed coup-de-tat...

To even suggest that El Queda operatives are fighting a "war of
independence" is offensive. They are killing innocents around the world,
for no apparent reason, with no goal other than terror and suffering in
mind, all in the name of Allah.

If anything can truly be classified as "insane," this is it.

Perhaps the agenda of modern-day terrorists is not as clear as the agenda
of the Independence fighters who fought for independence and control of
their own countries...

Their agenda is not freedom -- it is the downfall of Western civilization,
in the name of God.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"