Jester;736066 wrote: The Saudis should pay for what tier part to, in time maybe we will get to them. Iran and Abeni-Jihad are to blame too, they contirbute on a regular basis, I would estimate 60% of the bombmaking black market terror trade is educated by Iran directly.
There are hundreds of ways to tattack up and other countries, but to attack in a manner that points to Iran but not implicate them is what they want. Using a dirty bomb form thier own stockpiles is the point, to take credit for it but not really let out in proof it was them.
Why wait? How about the cynical turning of a blind eye to saudi complicity in all of this. If you are serious about encouraging democracy then why is your biggest ally in the region an oppressive tyranny that deliberately fosters and funds fundamentalism? Wouldn't have anything to do with oil would it? Perhaps when opec decides to start trading their oil in euros instead of dollars the effect on your economy might drive the point home.
60% of the blackmarket bomb making trade? I've got news for you terrorist attacks are nothing new and have been going on for decades all over the world. You can go on the internet and find out how to make bomb-it's no big secret.
posted by double helix
Any Political leader delusional to the point of ignorance is dangerous.
Case in point, Chavez. First he declares the U.S. to be evil and Bush to be the Devil then tries to set himself up as a virtual dictator of his country.
So, I don't know about you but, I would be kinda Leary about trusting people with lots of wealth and power, who openly display their aggressive delusions pointedly directed at my comfortable existence.
Actually that sounds a bit like GW. Case in point, saudi terrorists attack the US so GW decides to invade a country that was not only opposed to the kind of fundamentalism behind the 911 attack it had nothing to do with it on the pretext that he had WMD's carefully altering intelligence reports to make the case. then having told the rest of the world to sod off complains about the lack of support.
posted by jester
Our enemies are the same ones we've been fighting for half a century and more. Whats changed is that they have the money and strength to kick us in ways they did not before. And before they could do worse we took the fight to them, in Afghanistan and Iraq and soon we will hear we are in other places doing more damage to the mechanism that perpetuates Jihad.
Very true in some ways but they're not actually attacking from abroad. Freedom and democracy are not defeated by outside attack but from within. They won the first round when they persuaded you that locking people up without trial was an OK thing to do. Just in case keep them outside the continental unites states in case those pesky civuil rights lawyers get involved. The most basic freedom is freedom from arrest and imprisonment without trial at the whim of your government. You give it up at your peril. It;'s not about someone else and what they might have done it's about you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus
The next thing is whip up fear about an enemy with the ridiculous idea that they are about to march up the street to convert you to their religion to justify even more excesses and while your at it persuade people it is unpatriotic to criticise. If you can then persuade the voters that they do not have the right to demand the government do what they are told or what the voters think they should do you're well on your way to doing what you want. Generate enough hysteria and people stop thinking.
Meanwhile the rest of the world gets by and while the US has been a powerhouse in the global economy it looks like your economy is heading down the toilet- new markets are developed and alliances shift. On the other hand the US is a democracy even if flawed so hopefully things will right itself soon I'd hate to see the US become a kind of right wing Christian totalitarian state. Interestingly enough a lot of your science fiction writers seems to find such dystopian futures fascinating.