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Originally Posted by Deborah
Adrian, I'm not sure why you think Bin Laden has never taken responsibility for being behind the attacks. I've seen a lot of film footage contradicting that notion--unless the interpreters were missing something. He freely admits to being behind the attacks.
quote" The hijackers were blessed by Allah to destroy America's economic and military landmarks. Yes, we kill their innocents and this is legal religiously and logically."unquote
He has directly threatened the lives of President Bush and Mr. Blair. He warns other nations to keep out of the conflict, implying that they could face terror attacks if they do not. And speaking of terrorists attacks, how about the unanswered ones our country has endured, the 1st WTC bombing in 1993, the bombing of the Cole in 2000, the bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania among others. American blood is on terrorist hands.....and, if you feel the need to look elsewhere, on the hands of those that turn the other cheek and allow terrorism to escalate.
Hatred of Americans/America has been around for a good long while and always will be. We were attacked and when we did not respond, did the hatred stop? NO.
As far as John Lindh Walker.....you say he is just an unlucky American. What do you think his purpose was for being present at an Al-Qaida training camp? Was he just there for conversation about his admiration for the US? That's like me saying I'm going to a crack house, but not for the purpose of buying or smoking crack.
I work for the government, and let me say this. The average citizen knows very little of what's actually going on in the world today. I work with military officers with high security clearance, and for security purposes, a minuscule amount of legitimate information is released to the general public-- and for good reason.
Oh, and one more thing. (and this is not directed at you personally Adrian), please don't call me a blind follower, sheep or whatever. I'm a fairly educated individual and will receive my Masters next year, so I can form my own opinion and beliefs like the rest of you.
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Why would I think Bin Laden did it is a better question. Lots of people in the mid east cheered the towers going down. Were they all connected with the perpetration of the act? I don't think so. Even in his private home movies, Bin Laden has never said "yes, we did it". He could get hundreds of new followers simply by advertising "I am the man who brought down the Twin Towers". Why doesn't he? Would we really back off his case if he said he didn't? Would we go easy on him if he pleaded guilty? No in both cases. This guy's got nothing to lose by saying "I did it", and nothing to lose by saying "I didn't". Why doesn't he play his cards and net a whole bunch of followers for his cause? I would.
Bin Laden threaten Bush and Blair?
Oh wow. There are millions of people around the world who wouldn't feel the least bit of grief if either or both of them bought it (me included), and my guess is, both of them have received thousands of death threats, just for being in public office. The unanswered attacks?! If I'm not mistaken, we took the 1WTC bomber to trial and got a conviction, we couldn't find the people who bombed the Cole (not for lack of looking), and I know too little about the embassy bombings to comment. I'm not saying we ignore the bombings, I say we try and find some evidence before launching a war against people who for the most part didn't attack us. Did Iraq attack us? NO! Did thousands of Afghani civilians attack us? NO! For the cost of the 2 wars, we could've put a bounty on Bin Laden's head that would've had him turning himself in. Or he would've been turned in by hundreds of other people, anxious to get a couple billion in their pockets.
John Walker Lindh...are you saying he was treated fairly? That tying him down to a stretch, blindfolding him, not treating a bullet wound to his leg (that we inflicted), and sticking him in a cargo crate and ignoring him for 3 weeks is by any stretch of the imagination humane!? This boy was only a few years older than me! He was denied the rights he was entitled to by the Constitution that his abusers were sworn to uphold. I don't know what he was doing over there, but no one was able to prove he was there to join a terrorist cell, and last time I checked, there was no prohibition against talking to people outside our country. So he wasn't there to talk about how much he loved this country. Big whoop. I hate all US foreign policy and most of our domestic ones too. Should I be treated as inhumanely as he was?
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I work for the government, and let me say this. The average citizen knows very little of what's actually going on in the world today. I work with military officers with high security clearance, and for security purposes, a minuscule amount of legitimate information is released to the general public-- and for good reason.
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Jeez, I love this! A miniscule amount of legitimate information is released to the public for good reason. And what reason would that be? Us mere mortals can't handle the burden of knowing what's going on in the world? Let us be perfectly honest here. What, intellectually is the difference between you and I? Between me and the high security clearance officers you work with? Last I knew, officers weren't gods. They're human. My guess is, they're normal people in power, who know a lot of secrets. So its not like they know Words Of Power or anything. Secrets that must not be uttered by mortal man, else the world would shatter or anything like that. They're everyday guys who just happened to get a highpaying job, and are privy to a lot of internation info I can't get. Might I remind everyone who pays these people's salaries? The AMERICAN PUBLIC. Our tax dollars (well, not mine yet), pay them to keep secrets from us. Their good reasons, my guess is, have a lot to do with covering the government's backside. Their good reasons aren't good enough. They, and anyone else who agrees with this reasoning, is taking part in a massive superiority complex. They're normal guys, but because they work for the government, somehow they're better than the rest of us. They never use bad judgement, and the phrase power corrupts doesn't apply to them, though it would to everyone else. Right. They're MORE likely to use bad judgement, and the consequences of their bad judgement are likely to be much larger for the American people. So lets not rush to deify them just yet.
I'm not saying you can't make up your mind, and are a blind follower. I'd never say that. Just like I'd never say the terrorists who run with Osama are blind followers who can't make up their mind. The Hussien brothers weren't blind followers. I'm not comparing you to a terrorist, but you get my drift. I'd never accuse anyone of that.
Adrian
12-12-2003, 07:02 PM
We're a pretty peaceful church. On the eve of the Iraq war, the main pastor offered a prayer for the Iraqi civilians, and we had a message in our bulletin one week saying that since so many people asked about our church's official opinion on the war, that they were against war all together, except in self-defense, and that this war wasn't. Cool bunch of people. I do wish they'd take down the flag in the sanctuary though. That's in rather poor taste.
