Would you vote for Bush if..........

[thruthemurk]

VC-10


Excellent post that relects the reality of the terrorist problem. We can flex our muscles as long as we like, and kill thousands and thousands of them - but the problem will not go away until the root cause is eliminated.

Israel has been fighting this problem for over 30 years, and has not been shy about clamping down on their relatively small borders and the individual "rights" of their citizens. They have not been successful, and that is the best precursor as to what to expect.

The only thing I might add is that the the original best recruiting tool for the Al Queda was building our airbase in Saudi. Like it or not, this has been the event that motivated countless recruits to believe the rhetoric that the "evil west" was controlling the Saudi royal family and spurred them to action. You can follow the number of terrorist attacts and their organizational growth like clockwork after this event

Murk

 

[BobbyB]

VC, While I do agree with some elements of your point of view, the problem is that freedom is THE problem that the current batch of extremists hate. They don't want you to have the freedom to not have a beard, or your woman to not be covered up, and you certainly couldn't have the freedom to be Jewish. They will not be happy unless they are free of the infidel. The Palestinians won't stop attacking Isreal if they had their own state, either. Their motivation is not peace with Isreal, it is peace WITHOUT Isreal.
I too believe that freedom and democracy will create a better world, and that is what is taking place in Iraq. It will take time. A free society will be able to eventually kill or capture and incarcerate religious extremists that will die to ensure that we don't enjoy our freedom to disagree with them. It is foolish to think that the oppression of the Taliban, or the Saudi royal family, or Saddam "created" these terrorists. Their perversion of their religion makes them want to convert us or kill us. Those are their only two choices. We would be foolish to think that they are fighting for freedom to practice their religion. They are, in a way, but only WITHOUT Isreal existing, and without anyone else who is not an extremist Muslim. You and Truth are correct in that you can't kill these guys out of business, but the previous 10 years of US policy also proves that you can't arrest and bring to justice in court of law the problem away either. I think that the US is safer now that we have our soldiers and Marines on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, than if we had never done anything and the terrorists could still roam around will less scrutiny and fear than they now have.