Today is the 10th anniversary of the day America changed forever. Future generations may well note that this day in 2001 marked both the end of America as we knew it, and the beginning of the New America, with DHS and TSA and a host of other new alphabet soup agencies. It was the spark that created the Patriot Act, a swift and certain plan to “temporarily” curtail our liberties that was supposed to last but four years. And yet, it remains in force. Like many people, my perception of the world changed that day. No longer was America secure in the fact that no one would dare come after us on our own soil. Too, that day I realized how quickly the world could devolve into anarchy, and how woefully unprepared I was to defend my family, should panic break out, and the police be unable to stop looting, assaults, and other activities that seem to breed in times of emergency. But today, I’d like to focus not on self-defense, but in looking back.
Much has changed since that fateful day in September, ten years ago. For an all-too brief time, our nation was united in spirit and in purpose. We faced a common enemy, together. We believed in our nation. We came together as a people. That was then. This is now. Under two Presidents, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, America has seen a mixed bag of changes. Personal liberties have been threatened. Traveling by plane is now akin to being herded into an abattoir. But our 2nd Amendment rights have been resoundingly reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, and more Americans are buying handguns for self-defense than ever before.
But as we look back today at 9/11, the cancers of muddled thinking, misplaced guilt, and lack of purpose have reared their heads. New York City Mayor Bloomberg banned participation by both Clergy and Firemen, from the commemorative ceremonies at Ground Zero. He said there were too many faiths and clergy that wanted to participate, and the only way to be fair was to exclude them all. I’ve not learned his rationale for excluding the first responders. Funny. There was plenty of room for both clergy and firemen on September 11, 2001. Odd that there’s no room for them now.
But if you take a closer look at the 9/11 memorials, we find ourselves hamstrung by political correctness run amok. The proposed memorial at Shanksville, PA looks from the air like a Muslim crescent. A radical Imam wants to build a Mosque just a couple of blocks from Ground Zero, yet a church that was destroyed that day can’t get a building permit to rebuild. We hear words like “understanding” and “peace” and even “the importance of respect.” In New Jersey, a special 9/11 Middle School curriculum will “analyze diversity and prejudice in U.S. history.”
Bullshit.
We need to look back at 9/11, especially on this tenth anniversary of the attack on innocent Americans. We need to look at how vicious animals took control over civilian aircraft and turned planes into missiles, flying them into buildings filled with thousands of innocent people. We need to look at how brave first-responders sacrificed their own lives to try to save as many people as they could. We need to look at how people acting in the name of the “religion of peace” attacked us, and how Muslims in America and across the globe have refused to stand up and disavow these actions. We need to look at those who willingly signed up to fight for our country, and how so many of them have willingly given their futures, their bodies, and some even their lives to keep us free. And we need to look at what makes America great – what makes our land worth fighting for.
What we do NOT need to do is to apologize. Nothing that America has done, is doing, or will do can ever justify what those terrorists did to us that day. We do not need to second guess ourselves. We made mistakes, keeping what intelligence we had from being used to thwart the attack. What happened was inconceivable. We need to acknowledge that, stop blamestorming, and fix things to prevent another attack. We need to analyze what we can to stop terrorists, but acknowledge that the only things that will ultimately stop terror will also put an end to the very freedoms that make America great. And most of all, we need to stop deluding ourselves that a “kinder and gentler” America will make our enemies love us.
I’ve figured out what bugs me so much about multiculturalism. On the face it sounds great – celebrating all cultures and religions, giving each of them value and reverence. When you dig down deeper, you’ll find that multiculturalism is a smokescreen for religious affirmative action. It’s a way for some to penalize, prosecute and persecute Christians in some vain, ill-informed, misbegotten scheme to level the playing field for other religions and beliefs.
And speaking of cancers, lets lay bare the fraud that is political correctness. We are increasingly hamstrung by our own language, by the PC Police. It’s not a war, it’s an “Overseas Contingency Operation.” It’s not terrorist attacks, it is a “man-caused disaster.” (Of course, all Hell would break loose if we called it a “woman-caused disaster.”)
When we traffic in euphemisms we miss the point. Lemme spell it out for you in the kind of plain English that is out of favor inside the Beltway.
A band of Islamic fundamentalists trained by the radical, Saudi Arabian-based/funded Wahabi sect of the Muslim faith attacked us on 9/11 by hijacking four planes and turning them into missiles. Around 3,000 innocent men, women and children died that day, because these animals wanted to prove a point. They were emboldened to do this because they thought we were a paper tiger, after “Blackhawk Down.” They were only partially right.
As long as many American Muslims do not stand up and vocally, vociferously renounce terror and the actions of these radicals, we must look at the ones who do not, and understand that though they are Americans, their allegiances may – MAY – lie first with their religion and not their country. We must never sink to persecuting anyone because of their faith. That is un-American. But neither should we blindly ignore those here at home that believe terror is an acceptable tactic.
As long as there are people anywhere in the world that think it’s okay to kill anybody (including their own people) to get their point across, we are in danger. But it’s far better to take the fight to them, than allow them to attack us here again. But we must be willing to fight to win – not fight to a draw. We have to play by the rules, but the rules say, when they are willing to stop at nothing, we must be willing to do what it takes to win. By definition, that means acting decisively, and using and projecting force to overwhelm our enemies. And we must be willing to accept that war is a messy, ugly thing. Innocent people get hurt. Sometimes theirs. Sometimes ours. This fact is regrettable, but inescapable. When we fret over this, our enemies see this as weakness.
We do ourselves no favors by looking away from that footage of the planes hitting the towers. We hurt ourselves when we use euphemisms, and try block out those memories. We give our enemies strength when we tolerate and celebrate those who would apologize for America. And we should always show our kids the truth, unvarnished and accurate, of what happened that day. For if we try to protect them from the truth, they will never learn from it. And this will happen again.
Please take a few minutes today to think about 9/11. Not the smarmy crap you’ll hear on TV. Not the puffery and quackery you’ll hear from the pundits. Think about where you were that day, and how life has changed. Think about what you want for your kids – the kind of world you want for them. And when you hear someone complain about 9/11 and opine that we should all just forget about it, think about what that will mean for our country.
Never forget. Never apologize. Never quit.
Thank you, Brad, for your forthrightness and your rational perspective. Sage words indeed. I’ll read this with my daughter later today.
I feel sorry for your daughter.
Why, Bambi? Because she’s learned the truth about 9/11? She’s proud to be an American (which is more than I can say for you) and she is fully aware of how this politically-correct mindset is poisoning our country and sapping our will to defend ourselves. It is YOU who should be ashamed, for you don’t have the courage to stand up for yourself, your fellow Americans, and your country.
I pity you.
The “truth” about 9/11 is that the FBI and FAA dropped the ball. A complacent country that has been terrorizing (yes, terrorizing) a large chunk of the rest of the world for decades finally got attacked by the people they’ve been abusing. We haven’t been “defending” ourselves. We’ve been expanding the American Empire.
I think the fundamental difference is in how we differentiate “right” from “wrong”. Some people (you, for example) believe the USA can do no wrong… that it’s okay to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, slaughter hundreds of thousands of innocent people, overturn lawfully-elected governments and steal the resources of others. Pinheads of that ilk are surprised when the victims strike back.
My view of “right” versus “wrong” is more objective. If the United States does something to another country which, if they did it to us we would view with dismay or anger, then it’s wrong.
So, tell me Brad, are you PROUD of the 100,000 innocents that America has slaughtered in the name of “the war on terror”? Would you welcome Iran overthrowing the government of the USA? Would you welcome Iraq building bases in America?
If not, then at best you’re a hypocrite, probably a jingoistic moron and possibly a pro-genocide racist.
I don’t feel sorry for you… but you do disgust me.
Please don’t. For one, it’s not your place. For another, one should NEVER lie to their children or tell half truths. She is currently, and will continue to be, just fine, thank you very much. Resilience and rationality are essential facets of the human endeavor; we neglect them at our peril. I will not allow myself, to allow her, to neglect, overlook or disregard her responsibilities to herself, her family, her ideals or her community, until she reaches the age of majority.
I, too, pity you.
+1, Greg.
Laced into that nice 9/11 talk was a anti-PC rant. Very nice. Most Muslims in the US denounce terrorism (just like any other American), but they don’t make the headlines because that doesn’t sell papers or ads on the news. I don’t expect a Muslim in America to have to make a statement anyway because no one expects me, a Catholic, to make a statement about the Irish Republican Army. Terrorism is a violent political statement, not a religious one. The sooner we all realize that these guys just use Islam as a secondary motivation and not the primary one the sooner we’ll free our minds from the idiotic thinking that makes us want some kind of comforting statement from other Americans.
I’m an airline pilot, and I’m flying today.
Terrorism may be a violent political statement, but it is fueled by an ideological agenda–religion, in this case. Further, in the flavor of Islam they adhere to, no demarcation exists between Islam the religion and Islam the political system. They are the same ideology.
Also, if, as you claim, Islam is not the primary motivation, what do you think IS the principal driving force? Surely not hatred of nearly-identical buildings?
US Foreign Policy, simple as that. Our old cold-war policies of propping up authoritarian regimes to prevent the spread of communism made us a lot of enemies. We may think the US is a fountain of freedom, but outside the country we are often the opposite. Remember, we supported Hosni Mubarak before it was clear he was going to lose.
Religion is the means of instilling courage – but it’s not the motivation.
American abuse of countries around the world for decades is the root cause.
Muslims don’t just sit around studying their religion and one day, out of the blue, come up with, “Hey! Let’s go attack America!”
They see a continuing legacy of abuse and manipulation, occupation and subversion and hate it and the people doing it. Us. Their religion gives them the courage to act on their revulsion. But it’s not the religion that motivates them. The abusive acts of our government is what motivates them.
Bambi, have you ever studied Islam? I have. Calling it a “religion of peace” is more politically-correct spin. I’m sure there are many Muslims that are not radicals, and do not want to kill us. Sadly, they are largely mute. The radicalized Muslims want to kill us for two reasons: 1) our culture (not Christianity – but our POP culture) is a direct threat to Islam. 2) they are jealous of what we have accomplished – our achievements, our industry, our success. The Arabic world once gave us mathematics. What have they done since being subsumed by Islam? Nothing. Nada. Squat. They have contributed exactly ZERO to the advancement of science, the arts, et cetera. They realize that when you compare the two cultures, theirs comes off as a distant, third-rate player. But it’s our pop culture that represents the greatest threat to Islam. You like your freedom to study? To wear what you like? To take control of your own life? Under Sharia law, you can kiss that goodbye. And as a liberal, I’m sure you’re a fan of the “separation of church and state.” Under Sharia law, the church IS the state.
They do not act out of courage. The fundamentalists act out of rage, blind hatred and fear. They would attack us even if we were the isolationists envisioned by Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul. Images of sexualized teens, conspicuous consumption, and the “if it feels good it must be acceptable” meme are enough to make us public enemy number one – or the “Great Satan.” They see us as Earthly representatives of all that is evil in the world. THAT empowers them. Not American foreign policy.
+1
Calling it a “religion of peace” is more politically-correct spin.
Mohammad was a soldier, yet the Islam that he created was the most tolerant of all religions. In
Spain, Jerusalem and other areas taken by Islamic armies, people were allowed to practice their religions as long as they paid their taxes and didn’t disrespect Islam. That was at a time when Europeans were slaughtering everyone who didn’t worship the same way that they did.
Well, you’re almost partly right, Brad. Which is an improvement.
Our culture viewed through the lens of Islam is one of whores, debauchery and excess. Our culture viewed through a traditional christian lens is one of… whores, debauchery and excess. So our moral standards have slipped, and Islam’s haven’t. There’s grist for many discussions in that alone. But regardless of the extent to which the Muslims may disapprove of our godless hedonistic culture, that is not the reason we were attacked on 9/11.
Osama bin Laden spelled out the answers to TWO questions in his “Letter to America”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver
The people who launched the 9/11 attacks didn’t cite our WD&E as a reason for the attack – but did cite it as something they wanted us to change. Two separate, but related, issues. And that’s all you got right, Brad.
Turning to the first question, “Why are [they] fighting and opposing [the U.S.]?”
The first part of the answer is:
Palestine, Somalia, intervention in other countries and intervention by U.S. allies, theft of oil, the presence of our troops in their lands, support of Israel…
Why did they attack civilians?
In the entire answer to why they are fighting us, not a single mention of our “culture”. Not one, Brad. Not one!
It is only when bin Laden answers the question of “what they want” that our WD&E culture is mentioned.
So there you have it, from bin Laden himself, the reasons for attacking the USA. My bet is that you’ve never read bin Laden’s letter, have you, Brad? (Note: Ron Paul has. And he’s got it right – where you and the rest of the jingoistic cheerleaders do not.)
Go read the cited page yourself. Educate yourself. Stop spreading ignorance and stupidity.
Bambi:
I have read the Bin Laden letter. If someone attacked you personally, physically assaulted you and perhaps even raped you, then got away, and then a year later published a letter telling you that it was your fault for crimes you and your friends had committed, would you take him at his word? Of course not. And I’ve got to note that, if you’re going to seek out something to buttress your opinion, you’re really laying yourself wide open to skepticism, derision, and disbelief by quoting Wikipedia. That’s the moral equivalent of getting your foreign policy advice from things scribbled on the wall of a bathroom stall. For your information, Wikipedia is a wonderful resource, even entertaining at times, but accurate? Um…no. Now if you wanna come back with something out of a respected publication – online or off, I might take you seriously. As it is, you’ve given me no reason to.
The wonderful thing about the internet is is allows people to express their opinions, no matter how ill informed they may be. (See: “O’Donnell, Rosie and the 9/11 Truthers Controversy.”) The terrible thing about the internet is that it allows people to express their opinions and gives even the looniest ones equal weight with well informed ones.
If you have read the Koran (I have…have you?) You’d note that lying about just about anything is A-OK with Mohammed, if it advances the interests of Islam. I presume, in that vast warehouse of knowledge you command, you’ve heard the terms “misinformation,” and “head games,” right? What makes you think Bin Laden had any interest in telling us the truth? I’m sure he told us what he wanted us to hear, but what exactly have we done to Muslims? Certainly, not every U.S. policy has been either beneficial to Muslims or treated them with equanimity. That would be absurd. Our policies can and do reflect what our leaders believe to be in AMERICA’S best interest.
I’m constantly amazed at the naiveté of the Left. You presume that everything is “our fault,” yet you overlook any and every rationale that might point to a different conclusion. I have no doubt that there ARE Muslims who burn with hatred for the U.S. because they feel we are meddling in their affairs, killing their comrades, et cetera. And I’ll bet you’re singing out of the same hymnal that are both incensed that we have not done anything for Darfur, but decried our humanitarian efforts in Somalia that resulted in Blackhawk Down.
There’s more than one side to this issue. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you acknowledged that maybe, just maybe, the situation is just a wee bit more complex than you would have us believe?
A swing… and another miss!
Brad, bin Laden’s letter was essentially his manifesto – his explanation of why he did what he did. He wanted credit for smacking America up side the head, and he wanted everyone to know why he did it.
Now you’re coming along saying, “Oh, they’d never tell us the REAL reasons why they did what they did.”
Except, there you are, citing to the SECOND part of the letter for your proposition that we were attacked for our “culture”.
So, according to you, Brad, bin Laden was lying when he said the reason he attack was because of all the horrible immoral stuff America has been doing to other countries for decades, but you believe him when he says he wants America to change its culture from one of unfettered bacchanal immorality to something wholesome and good – only you insist that was the REAL reason for the attack?
As for citing Wikipedia, I frequently do it… especially when the Wikipedia article cites to multiple sources. It’s a polite way of saying, “Since you’re too lazy to do your own google search, here’s a list of a half dozen sources for you.” But to citing sources – where are YOURS, Brad? Where is your evidence that what bin Laden said in his Letter to America isn’t exactly what he was thinking? Show me one shred of evidence to the contrary. (Or just ignore this request because you haven’t got one.)
As for America’s leaders doing what is in America’s best interest – are YOU really that naive? Most people are at least beginning to understand that most of our “leaders” do what is best for themselves, which is usually to get re-elected at all costs. Do you think $14.6 trillion in debt is “good for America”? How about a dollar that is worth 2 cents compared to its pre-Federal Reserve value? Was Vietnam, or all the meddling the politicians did in Vietnam “good for America”? One of the top NVA generals wrote in his memoirs that they were on the verge of surrender when our politicians stopped the bombing – thus snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Was that what was “best for America”? How about the TSA? Gun control? RealID? Porous borders? Best for America, Brad?
As for the Muslims “burning with hatred” – how would you feel if someone came here and wiped out your family? Your entire home town? Murdered 100,000 Americans, or, to put it in proportion, since Iraq is a country roughly 1/10 the population of the USA, murdered 1 million Americans? We’ve killed better than 1 in every 300 civilians in Iraq!
Yes, there is more than one side to this issue. When am I going to hear you address the fact that we’ve killed 35 times as many innocents in Iraq (which wasn’t even involved in 9/11) than bin Laden killed in 9/11? Tell me why we’re even in Iraq, Brad? Is it because our “leaders” were doing what was “best” for us? (Or what was best for the oil companies?)
Yeah, thinking about foreign American abuse is so saddening. Look what we did to Germany and Japan after a bloody war that cost us thousands of our men. Yeah, we really, uh…sort of turned them into prosperous, democratic, economic powers. There’s a statue of General MacArthur in a Japanese square.
But hey, you watch CNN and gain your entire world perspective from media outlets and pundits, from the comfort of your living room. So you can’t be wrong; you know exactly what’s going on in the Middle East thanks to your totally flawless, unbiased, “concerned only with the truth, not profits” news. I’m sure China’s just a misunderstood beacon of human rights miracles too.
Bambi, I think the hunter that shot your mother winged your head.
We propped up Germany and Japan because it was in our interest to do so. The way Germany was treated after WWI set up many of the conditions for Hitler’s rise. It is also in our interest to help out Iraq and Afghanistan but it remains to be seen whether those efforts will be successful.
I dont know if the CNN comment was directed at me, but I don’t watch any of the cable news networks. I get my news in print media from multiple sources to ensure a reduction in bias.
I disagree. When some nut blows up an abortion clinic, the MSM tags it on Christianity as a whole. Same with persecution against gays, same with the guy in Norway. The difference is, when a Muslim leader gives some public denouncement, the MSM buys it; when a Christian denounces an action, they’re mocked.
And comparing it to Christians having to apologize for the IRA doesn’t make sense. While some facet of the IRA’s fight may has roots in religious persecution, their actions are hardly about spreading Catholicism by force. They’re not screaming “God is great” when they bomb places. The simple fact is, Christianity and most every other religion has evolved to a point of being able to coexist, for the most part, with a modern, rational, “diverse” society. Islam is still stuck in the dark ages.
You’re fooling yourself if you think Islam is not the problem.
I’m not even Christian, so I have no stake in this.
Good read Brad.
Thanks
Very good read, Brad. I’d like to hope this kind of thinking will catch on widely, but I’m not holding my breath.
Silver, that “kind of thinking” isn’t thinking at all.
It’s jingoistic cheer-leading.
Sadly, half of all Americans are below-average in intelligence, so we can expect a lot of them to believe the Federal government has done nothing wrong – and we’ve nothing for which we should apologize.
138 IQ here (I know it’s the internet and anyone can make any kind of baseless claim but I don’t care, I know it’s the truth). And I hate the Federal government. Try again, sheep.
I must’ve missed the rule that says you have to believe in the perfection and infallibility of your government in order to love and defend your country and its founding principles.
The fact is, I have nothing to apologize for. Me being sorry for what the government may or may not have done before I was born is the same as me being sorry for slavery because I’m white. Right now in my lifetime, certain radical Muslims want to kill me. So I encourage killing them first. You don’t like it, go join them. You sound like the perfect brainwashed “homegrown terrorist” mind to me, completely unable to see bigger pictures and scopes of reality beyond one’s own perception.
Better yet, since you’re so awash with liberal guilt, let them off you to take out their rage. Maybe a decent, intelligent person will be saved in your place.
Our government has killed over 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians. You don’t think any apology is owed for that? You don’t think they were killed during your lifetime?
I notice that no one who has tried to justify America’s evil actions around the world has even addressed those actions.
Would someone here on the jingoistic cheer-squad please tell me how they justify 100,000 murdered innocent civilians? After you’ve done that, explain how you justify our military bases in other countries – and how you would welcome Chinese military bases in America.
Smarmy is as smarmy does. “the truth, unvarnished and accurate, of what happened that day” was not inconceivable. What was done that day was wrong. Much of what America has done in response is wrong. Neither can be justified. The absolute “never apologize” is what you “want for your kids?” How about the truth?
I agree, we should spend even more than a few minutes thinking about 9/11. We should think about all innocents killed, throughout the world.
“it’s far better to take the fight to them, than allow them to attack us here again” Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. What we have done, are doing there will require an apology if we ever expect to be able to handle the truth. Know your target, and what is beyond.
While I agree with you on PC-ism and multiculturalism abuse, I think you’re totally out-to-lunch when you say:
We have been screwing around in the affairs of other countries for decades. We overthrew a legitimately-elected government in Iran and installed the Shah. Coups and coup attempts world-wide have CIA fingerprints all over them. We can’t seem to go more than a year or two without attacking someone – and now we’ve been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan for longer than any other war in our history.
While you wring your hands over 3,000 Americans killed (fewer than died in traffic accidents in September 2001), you don’t seem to think that well over 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians killed is even important. That’s the sort of blinkered stupidity that motivates people to attack us. If those who wiped out the World Trade Center are “vicious animals” (and I’m not saying they aren’t) what would you call a People that would commission the slaughter of 35 times as many innocents?
Who would do that? Who would slaughter so many innocent people?
Americans.
We would do that… or at least, our out-of-control Federal government would.
We have slaughtered over 100,000 Iraqi civilians as “collateral damage” in our war on a few thousand terrorists around the world.
But even if you didn’t care about America’s growing reputation for killing innocent people, or the murder of 100,000 innocent Iraqis, you might be concerned about the 100,000+ Americans who have returned from Iraq missing limbs, or faces, or other pieces of their bodies. You might be concerned because they are being chopped up for nothing, and even apart from the toll in human suffering (of Americans, since they’re the only people of any import to you) you ought to be concerned about the cost. Our Empire is costing us close to $1 trillion a year to maintain. That’s just the 800+ bases we have around the world. Add a few hundred billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the budget-busting reality is we cannot afford these wars. We are already bankrupt, and we’re going into debt faster than ever. 40 cents of every dollar the Federal government spends is borrowed. We will soon reach a point where no one will loan us any more money, and when that happens, the Federal Reserve will begin printing money (even faster than it already is) and inflation will soar. The American dollar will crash and with it, America.
Just as the multiculturalists are ruining America, so are the jingoists – those who mindlessly shout “USA! USA! USA!” and then run up huge debt sending young men to die in a black hole halfway around the world that most Americans cannot even find on a map. The only people benefitting from America’s mindless aggression are the arms makers and those who service the military machine. How can Americans be so stupid as to think pouring money into their pockets (along with the blood of so many American servicemen) is a good idea?
9/11? Yes, remember 9/11. Remember that the families of those killed in the attack were compensated to the tune of $1.8 million each. Remember that FBI and FAA failures allowed the attacks to succeed. Remember that we have been meddling in the operation of governments around the world for decades and that far from being aware of the putrid offenses committed in our name against other countries, the average American is too self-centered and ignorant to know what’s really going on. Remember that hasn’t really changed – and that 37% of Americans cannot find AMERICA on a map of AMERICA! And finally, remember that actions have consequences. One consequence of American interference around the globe was the death of 3,000 Americans in an attack 10 years ago.
We need to stop. Learn. Think. Weigh the cost. End the wars. Recall the troops. Repair relations with other countries. Take our Country back from the military-industrial complex. Balance the budget.
Restore America.
I’m curious. Where did you get the 100,000 figure for Iraqi civilians killed by U.S. fire and the 100,000 + Americans that have returned with missing body parts?
Good question.
100,000 is a conservative estimate. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War
As for the wounded, try http://eslkevin.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/50000-american-casualties-in-afghanistan-iraq-real-numbers-probably-much-higher/
Or do your own google search and report your own numbers.
BambiB, I’m afraid you and those who feel like you do are so ashamed of american hubris that you would risk our security in a mistaken campaign of deference and healing. With our great power, we should consider the costs of having our way, both to ourselves and to our neighbors, but to seek a stasis where we flourish along with everyone else is mistaken not only because it is impossible but because there is calamity in the attempt. The world has never been and will never be a place of peaceful stasis, not in any stable way at any rate. We should avoid taking on the bully roll, tyrannizing the rest of world, but we should not shrink from striking a balance between rewarding those willing to cooperate in mutually beneficial trade, and meting out a thorough thrashing to those who attack us.
Keith: Amen to that.
Keith, I’m not “ashamed” of American hubris. I’m pissed off by American hubris! Today’s American People are so ignorant they don’t even know what they don’t know! As a substitute for knowledge and thought we have chants of, “USA! USA! USA!” As a substitute for understanding what truly motivates our enemies, we have glib and asinine statements like, “they hate us for our culture”.
No, I don’t think we should risk our security.
But where is American security in angering millions of people and giving them reason to want to kill us? Where is security it bankrupting our Country so that war profiteers can grow rich? Where is security in running tens of thousands of our military through a meat grinder in the longest war we’ve ever fought?
I’m not advocating a “campaign of deference and healing”. But how about a campaign of treating others the way WE expect to be treated?
How would WE treat someone who invaded our Country, occupied our lands, overthrew our government, supported our enemies, stole our natural resources and killed 100,000 of our people?
Thank you Brad.
Very well done.
May we never forget.
BambiB
Your argument fails because you refuse to hold other cultures to the same standard you hold ours.
First, America has influence generally because America brings great value to the world. Does not your teacher have great influence over you?
Second, America is not an uninfluenced nation. Foreign investments, foreign corporations, embassies, lobbyists who work for foreign entities…all these are “interference” in our affairs as well. The great moral difference is that Americans do not fly airplanes into the skyscrapers of foreign nations in retaliation for their “interference.”
America is not a global villain because we seek influence in other nations through commerce and other means. ALL nations try to gain influence in other nations. We do it to primarily sell people shit – a pretty benign activity. During the cold war, we did it to contain Communism. You may bitch about 100,000 casualties, but Commies butchered in the millions. We fight to preserve life, we choose the lesser evil for the greater good.
Terrorists do it to advance a tyrannical ideology. America is categorically and objectively by any measure morally superior and we have every right to protect the morally superior and morally innocent against the morally inferior. If securing the safety of the morally innocent means displacing a culture that celebrates the death of 3000 Americans with a better one – well there you go. The world is a better place.
You, Ms BambiB are in fact morally superior to terrorists and terrorist sympathizers and terrorist look-the-other-wayers. You would not kill in the name of your ideology, you would not sympathize with Americans who killed innocents indiscriminately and you would rat out any Americans involved in such a plot. Your superior morality deserves to win out over inferior moralities. You just have to have the guts to do admit you are better and live with the burden.
What makes you think it is the job of America to “school” the rest of the world? And should we not hold ourselves to the same standard we expect of other countries? (And if we do, how will we punish ourselves for murdering 100,000+ innocent Iraqis?)
Foreign investors are a far cry from thousand-pound bombs. Investors in America aren’t machine-gunning American familes in their homes. We don’t fly aircraft though skyscrapers only because we have far more advanced weapons system. Al Queda doesn’t have anything like the push-button weapons operated in Iraq from Nevada by officers in easy chairs. I think you confuse “moral difference” with “tactical weaponry”.
Agreed. America is a global villain because we seek to overthrow duly-elected governments, start wars around the world, kill legions of innocent civilians and occupy foreign lands. Nobody’s done that to us. The closest we’ve come was the Japanese attack in 1941 and the WTC attack in 2001, so there’s no moral equivalence.
That’s quite an interesting measure of America’s goodness. “The Communists were worse!” It’s a bit like saying it’s better to be stabbed than shot, I take no comfort in the fact that history holds examples of governments that are even more evil than our own.
Maybe that could be Obama’s reelection slogan. “I may be bad, but at least I’m not Hitler/Mao/Stalin”.
Then you’re saying bin Laden wasn’t a terrorist? Because the reasons he laid out have nothing to do with advancing tyranny, and everything to do with fighting it.
Says who? The relatives of the 100,000+ dead Iraqi civilians? And if the members of Al Queda were to say, “We are categorically and objectively by any measure morally superior…” would it sound any less ridiculous? Is this your “manifest destiny” argument? That Americans are inherently so much superior to everyone else that we can, and should, treat them like rats?
Oh yes. I see that is your argument.
A prime example of American ignorance.
In case you didn’t realize it, Iraq didn’t attack the United States. Iraq had nothing to do with the people who DID attack the United States. So why did the United States murder 100,000+ innocent Iraqis? And how do those murders equate to “moral surperiority”?
July 4, 1776 is a day America changed forever. December 7, 1941 is a day America changed forever. April 12, 1861 is a day America changed forever. November 22, 1963 is a day America changed forever. This country has had so many “days that changed America forever,” I’m beginning to suspect that the media — who maybe didn’t invent bullshit, but certainly perfected it — has never looked up the words “change” and “forever” in Webster’s Dictionary to see what they actually mean.
So what’s actually changed since 9/11/01? A couple of more government agencies have been added to the roster. Is that really a change? The fed’s been piling it on since the New Deal. The Patriot Act was a change? Really? Check history and see what Lincoln and Roosevelt did during the War Between the States and WW2, respectively. It makes the Patriot Act look like Act One of “Into the Woods.”
Don’t apologize? Goddam right.
Where are all the crazies coming from today in these two articles? Are they randomly clicking 9/11 editorials so they can spew their worthless tripe all over the great wasteland known as the internet? How did they find a gun board of all places? Are their lives so utterly void of meaning that they spend all their time bleating baseless hate in random blogs they never knew existed, in a vain attempt to ensure themselves of their righteousness?
God, it’s a friggin firearms blog.
Though, in a way, it’s a good lesson. These clowns will be tomorrow’s domestic enemies and obstacles to true peace, justice, and resilience. It’s good to be reminded sometimes to keep vigilant and prepare; not every enemy will be wielding a bomb and spouting religious nonsense. Some are far more insidious.
Truth be told, I miss mikeB.
Wait, let me get this straight — people who just want the US to stop waging wars are obstacles of peace?
So… war is peace? Got it.
Brilliant!
I want my children to live in an America that doesn’t endlessly meddle in the Middle East.
Never forget.
Never forgive.
Never submit.
Never surrender.
Never again.
I have a Nikon Buckmaster scope on my deer rifle. Does that make me a terrorist?
The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, after all.
Let’s not forget that “terrorism” was the excuse used to close Meigs field in Chicago, despite there being no threat of it whatsoever. It will be used ( it’s already been attempted) to institute tighter controls and bans on firearms. I can’t forget 9/11 even if I wanted to since I work in the airline industry. It’s all around me. But don’t forget that after that day people were begging the government to curtail their freedoms so they could once again bask in that blanket of safety.
Eric, you wouldn’t have happened to have worked at O/T/A?
Nope, sorry.
The ascendency of the Nazis followed the “terrorism” of the bombing of the Reichstag Building. I doubt we will follow the same path as Nazi Germany because of the large number of firearms in private hands. But we would do well to realize that many dictators come to power on the heels of “national emergencies”, and over 170 million people were killed by their own governments in the last century.
It seems more likely that America will be destroyed by other means – like the destruction of the dollar (which has been underway since 1913) and the accumulation of debt (which has been in overdrive the past couple decades).
Starvation is a powerful tool.
Has anybody checked to see if the trollish behavior isn’t the same IP using multiple names? It sure seems that the comment about folks following the 9/11 links to troll may be accurate.
I am a patriot. I love my country. There’s no “but” being added to those statements. Rather I want to point out to people who would like to discuss their harsh views of the US, etc – pick a better day than one where people are mourning their personal losses. This is too similar to that sicko Phelps picketing the funerals of soldiers. If you must post your views try to be a decent human being and allow that folks are mourning the deaths of the Trade Center, of soldiers and of broken lives.
\
Come on – compassion is not weakness.
Well said, William.
Okay. It’s 9/12. Can all the “patriots” stop shouting “USA!” long enough to hear the facts about what America has been doing to other countries – and to itself?
No?
Still not a good day, eh?
Bambi,
It’s crystal-clear to me that you are squarely in the camp of those I like to refer to as “Progs,” (short for “Progressives,” both because it sounds vaguely sub-human in a H.G. Wells “Time Machine” kinda way, and because it means I don’t have to contribute to the devaluation of yet another word to describe your particular socio-political viewpoint, you guys having already ruined the word “Liberal”). But, I digress.
You seem to be infected with the same tunnel-vision that afflicts so many other Progs, namely that you believe you are not only ‘right,’ but that your position is morally superior to all others, which automagically makes you more intelligent than all the rest of us poor, unenlightened schlubs put together.
Allow me to disabuse you of those notions.
There are many sides to this argument. Not “yours” and “everyone else’s.” You have a particular bias (so do I) but the fact that I have a bias – and admit to it, gives me the ability to examine my own beliefs and evaluate them against new data. Your inability to do the same puts you squarely in the Luddite camp.
I love my country. From where I sit, I’m not sure you can make the same claim. America is not perfect. But it is unquestionably the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. I doubt you believe that. Prog Intropective Guilt Syndrome (PIGS) is a terrible thing. You take offense to things America has done in the past or is doing now, and you think we should all feel guilty. Um…nope. I sleep just fine at night. As an example (call it Exhibit #1) I’ll bet you’re the type that thinks Harry Truman should have been arrested, tried, and convicted as a war criminal for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan.
You may find it interesting and germaine to the topic to learn that I have visited Japan, and one of the many things I learned on my trip was that, while schoolchildren there study WWII and learn all about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they NEVER learn ANYTHING about Pearl Harbor. Why? Because Pearl Harbor caused Japan to “lose face.” But as a result of this policy, an entire generation has grown up thinking that we’re bastards for dropping the bomb, without ever seeing the other side.
You have them beat. Despite all evidence to the contrary, you believe, in your heart of hearts, that America is fundamentally evil, a fatally-flawed place that is guilty of a huge catalog of sins, both moral and ethical.
There is no way to convince you otherwise. Trying to do so is an exercise in futility. So go ahead. Rage at the Machine. Tilt at your Windmills. Nobody’s listening. Nobody cares. We love our country, and freely admit it’s not perfect. But while you’re spewing your rage, if I may, allow me to plant one, tiny seed of doubt, in the vain hope that it might somehow take root in that very narrow mind of yours. Here it is:
“Can you trust the information you’re getting, just because you agree with it?”
Think on that one. And remember the admonitions of the Watergate Era – follow the money. Examine who stands to gain by selling you whatever they’re selling you. Oh, and wake up and smell the coffee.
Wow, Brad! Not just one straw man, but a whole straw-army (complete with acronymic slurs, no less). I’m impressed… not.
So you sleep well at night knowing that our government has invaded a country and killed over 100,000 innocent civilians – just slaughtered them – despite the fact that they never did anything to us? Does it disturb you to consider that the Nazis thought they were doing the right thing too – and that they slept well at night?
Your second-to-last paragraph smells a bit like “holocaust denial”. Is that part of your belief set? The Jews were never killed and neither were the Iraqi civilians? And no, I generally get information from multiple sources. One recent source confirming much of what I’ve said is WikiLeaks – or rather, the US cables released by WikiLeaks. Here’s an American operation exposed by WikLeaks – the sort your government tries to hide from the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
Do you take as much delight in murdering innocents as these killers did? And since you’re talking about reliability of information, how do you think the military reported this murder of civilians? (How many RPGs and AK-47s did YOU count?) And when good samaritans show up and try to help the wounded (something you would never do, right, Brad?), the American murderers waste no time in lying to justify more murder and mayhem by claiming the samaritans were picking up “weapons”. Note: at no time were any of the Americans in any danger of any kind. This was part of America’s “push-button” war – killing people from long range who’ve done nothing wrong.
So there you have it – murder – multiple counts – pure and simple.
Come on Brad. That’s got to make you feel PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! Let’s hear it! “USA! USA! USA!”
Now picture how you’d feel if the guys in the Bongo truck had been your relatives and the folks doing the shooting were Chinese?
As for your last paragraph – FINALLY ground for agreement. Let’s follow the money! Who does stand to gain? Oil companies. Arms makers. Contractors who go in and rebuild the bridges and schools we blow up. Contractors who service the war machine. Companies that provide support for the 800+ military bases we have around the world. THAT’S where all the money is… about $1 trillion per year!
Somehow I doubt that’s what you meant – but can you tell me anyone who benefits more from America’s wanton attacks on other countries? Come on, Brad! “Follow the money!” We attacked Iraq for oil and money at the behest of the military industrial complex. Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11 and our war in Iraq has nothing to do with national security (unless, of course, you mean stealing oil).
Bambi, you’re blind. To the truth. I could go through your ridiculous rants, and counter your every point, but why bother? You won’t listen. Your mind is made up. I will, however, leave you with this, before I get back to cutting my toenails or a thousand other things more engaging than arguing with an intellectual empty suit such as yourself: if we went into Iraq for the oil, why didn’t we take it? I mean, we made Iraq our beeyatch, right? According to you, we mowed ’em down. (My stepson might argue with you. He’s a USMC Sergeant, and served in Iraq in a base just outside Baghdad. Oh, and your numbers on Iraqi deaths are absolutely, positively inflated beyond belief. But you won’t believe that, either.) So why didn’t we take the oil? We didn’t even ask Iraq to shoulder some of the cost of liberating them from the reign of Hussein.
But don’t let a little logic and reason challenge you to rethink your theories. I’m sure it’s much more comforting to twist the facts to reinforce your warped worldview.
As someone who is born Canadian and currently living in this country to become a citizen (because I love it) it saddens me to see so many young idiots on this forum with their useless postings. How do I know they are young? It’s easy – bravado. The world hasn’t struck them with reality. They are sitting in Mommy’s basement eating nuked food and spending the entirety of the day posting shit on blogs when most others are remembering the loss of people. They are on all day because a World of War craft server is down or their friends (probably out with something known only to them as a girl) are busy.
So many on here are so quick to tell everyone how it is and how they should feel. Posting crap about why we deserved to have the towers hit. Posting how no one should care because we had it coming. I was in college and had heard on the news that a small plane had hit the building by accident. No one could believe an actual airliner would strike it. We watched it on the news and we cried. No one thought that anyone in that building deserved to be incinerated or to jump to their death. Only (I may be banned but who cares… too many people bite their tongues these days…) a sick fuck would think that anyone deserved that in any circumstance. Site all the reasons and news articles that you have read in your short, pathetic life you can find. None of them erase the fact that anyone who thinks any person deserves that kind of end is fucked. You are scum. You should be examined and locked up.
Why there are so many American hating Americans is hard to pinpoint. I, for one think it is because most of these younger kids just take what they see and hear for gospel. They are jaded because nothing comes easy in this world where they for the most part are a generation of entitlement ( I like to refer to them as Mommy’s boys). They hate the country they live in and love those that oppose it. Why? Traitors of course.
Head off to Iran. Go support Afghanistan freedom fighters as you would call them. Let’s all see how they welcome you and your American newscast-formed opinions. Go drop all your Abercrombie shirts in a bin and lay down your I-Pad, I-Phone and I-Pod. Pick up an AK and wear rags for your heroes. See if you can do it. If not, fuck off. Grow up and get a clue.
Whether you want to support your country or not is of no regard to those overseas that hate you. If you and your friends love Osama and his like, see if when they bomb an embassy that you are staying in if they make note of your room and ask you to leave beforehand.
The fact is that you are born here and live here. You are American and they hate you for it. Suck it up, get on with it and become a person. Anything other then that is you folk eventually picking up a gun or knife and showing some random people how fucked you are the minute before you die a pitiful death.
I’ve traveled and lived in at least 13 foregin countries, including three that America has waged war on and never had anyone in any of them express “hatred” for me because I was American. Okay, the Parisians were pretty rude, but that’s sort of like New Yorkers.
But they all had questions about American foreign policy – why our government was doing the things it was doing. Frankly, I didn’t have any good answers, because the principal motivators for American foreign policy appear to be greed by the military-industrial complex, greed by big oil, paranoia, ignorance, stupdity and jingoism.
Out of curiosity, what is your international experience?
I’d like to ask people what their opinion on the Vietnam was is now, 36 years later, and if we still think it was a good idea to spend nearly 20 years fighting it. What about 36 years after September 11th, 2001? Will we still think that going to war with Iraq/Afghanistan was a good idea? What about all of the other battles we’re currently fighting overseas?
To Americans, America seems to be the “good guy,” always fighting injustice. But to everyone else, America is just a bully. A fairly young country who wants to put his hands in every cookie jar he can. I’m American, yet at times, I’m disappointed in the way this country has acted.
I’m not going to say we deserved what happened on September 11th, just like we didn’t deserve what happened On December 7th, at Pearl Harbor. Yet, about as many innocent Americans died on December 7th, as did on 9/11, and what did we do to retaliate? We completely vaporized two entire Japanese cities. What was our reaction after September 11th? Invasion and occupation. 10 years later, we’re still doing the same thing. Have we made any headway, apart from killing Bin Laden? Do we honestly believe that we can stem the tide of terrorism worldwide?
As an American, I’m proud of what this country was founded on, but I’m afraid of what it has become. Our debt grows by the millions every day, yet we continue to wage an expensive (in money and lives lost) war. Meanwhile, politicians complain about higher taxes and lower spending, yet none of them seem to ever touch on the subject of our expensive war.
50 years from now, will Americans still believe we’re doing the right thing? Bring back our troops already, so no more of them have to die for following the orders of the scared politicians. The politicians who, if asked, would never fight alongside them.
I welcome anyone who wants to bash what I’ve said. Call me wrong, unpatriotic, or naïve, but deep down inside, you all know that America, the proud, the country that once stood for freedom and independence, has let it’s guard fall, and can’t climb from the hole it’s dug itself into
At present, we’re spending in the neighborhood of 9.5 billion a day, with about 40% of that (3.8 billion) being borrowed. So it would be more accurate to say,
Not to pick nits, but three orders of magnitude is the difference between being bankrupt in a year or bankrupt in 1000 years.
Other than that…
Sorry, I kind of just threw out a big number. Knowing America, I should’ve gone bigger. I tried not to cite Wikipedia though, if that counts for anything?
I’d really like to know what has been keeping China at bay. Is it our television?
China’s held in check by the fact that they hold so much of our debt. If we go down, they take a big financial hit. The way it currently works, China loans us money and we use the money to buy Chinese goods.
But as Peter Schiff (the analyst who warned of the derivatives fiasco and the sub prime mortgage disaster) said in his recent book, once China figures out that they’re never going to be repaid, we are screwed because they will STOP loaning us money. Schiff then expects China to turn its economic focus to the emerging Asian markets. Once that happens, we… are… toast.
The top three foreign investors in American debt are China, Japan and the U.K. The three own about as much US debt as all other countries combined, and China holds almost as much US debt as Japan and the U.K. combined. In case you haven’t noticed, Japan and the U.K. have other issues at the moment and not a lot of extra wealth to hand over to us.
So what happens if the big three stop loaning us money? For starters, 40% of the Federal budget will be unfunded. Second, interest rates will soar as the government tries to interest countries in buying our debt. The Federal reserve will go into overdrive, manufacturing money out of thin air – resulting in rampant inflation. The dollar could become worthless. (It has already lost about 98% of its purchasing power since the formation of the Federal Reserve.)
But turning to your question on Vietnam, in hindsight, there was nothing good about the war. It was another unconstitutional, undeclared war that wasted lives and treasure. The politicians never let the military off the leash for fear of a military response from Russia or China, but the military-industrial complex (MIC) was making too much money from bombs, bullets and body bags to let go. We’d still be there if not for the “Peace” movement – something I disagreed with at the time. I’ve since grown up and realized that our government falls far short of the idealism envisioned by the Founders. The Vietnam War was predicated on lies: The Gulf of Tonkin incident and McNamara’s “Domino Theory” just as the Iraq war was built on lies: Weapons of Mass Destruction, association with Al Queda. The lessons learned by the MIC include not letting the body count get too high. America wouldn’t tolerate 50,000 war dead in Vietnam. But we’ll tolerate 5,000 war dead in Iraq and let the MIC run up hundreds of billions in profits before we finally pull the plug – and the MIC goes looking for its next victim.
I thank you very much for your detailed response. I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to American finances, but I’m still surprised China has been so lax with us. If the tables were turned, I wouldn’t doubt America would send troops over to “occupy” what they could, just to make our presence known.
About Vietnam, and the Iraq war, or the “war on terror;” I don’t think America has the balls it used to. We were invaded by Japan in 1941, and we retaliated by obliterating two cities, we devoted almost 5 years to doing it as well. I don’t think we have the will to do it anymore, because more money is being made for the rich and war profiteers to let the war end.
I’m loosing my faith in my country of birth, the country that I used to be proud to be a part of. I’m not unpatriotic, I fully support the troops and what they do to protect our country, but I strongly oppose the government who throws them into the fire IT created, to watch them die, yet insisting on putting more troops into the same fire. I wish more Americans could admit the same.
I think it’s less a matter of balls than it is intelligence.
As a society, we allow ourselves to be led around by sound bites and slogans and rarely question where our tax money is going or what our government is doing.
We all know that the government collects taxes – but why would it want to engage in wars we have no intention of winning?
Supposed I’m a congressman whose primary interest is in being re-elected so I can continue to enjoy the “good life” to which I’ve become accustomed.
http://unclejayexplains.com/2007/07/02/uncle-jay-explains-the-news-july-2-2007/
Elections are expensive, so I’ll want plenty of big donations to my campaign.
One way to encourage those donations is to do things that enable companies to make more money. Think of all the ways I can help companies make money.
I could arrange for specific funding of projects in my district (earmarks), but that might draw flack.
Another way I could help your company is by steering government contracts in your direction. But government contracts for what? Government warehouses are bulging with stuff the government bought and never used. so what kind of business makes stuff the government uses up?
Well, there’s always war material. Aircraft and aircraft parts. Bombs. Missiles. Bullets. Guns. And support functions, everything from Air Conditioning to Zuchinni MREs (okay, I made that up for A-Z… but you get the picture).
But why would the government buy all that stuff… unless we were involved in a war?
BINGO! Let’s have a war!
But to have a war, you have to have an enemy.
So maybe when a bunch of ragheads in caves put together a plan to hijack airplanes and crash them into buildings, you can blame someone else, like entire COUNTRIES including ones that were not even tangentially involved.
Woo-woo! I’ve got an idea! Let’s blame a country with lots of OIL! Call the oil companies! I bet they’ll donate to the campaign too if we tell them that we’re going into IRAQ! Man! I can practically SMELL the re-election. Of course, Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but that’s okay, because the American people are too stupid to question their government and besides, how many of them can even find Iraq on a map? I bet we could slaughter 100,000 innocent civilians and most Americans would still say things like, “Well they killed innocent Americans on 9/11” – even though, as I said, Iraq was not involved in 9/11.
Oh! Oh! Oh! I got it! Let’s really scare the American people. Tell them the “threat level” is “YELLOW” and they could be killed by a terrorist any second! Scared people make stupid decisions, and boy do we want the American People to be stupid! Yeah, I know they have a better chance of being struck by lightning than killed by terrorists. And I know that it wasn’t clever terrorists who allowed the 9/11 attacks to succeed but lazy and ineffective FBI and FAA employees – but none of that matters. Scare them enough and they’ll even support us borrowing 40 cents of every dollar to give the money to war profiteers and oil companies so they can give some of the money back to ME so I can win my election over that guy who HATES AMERICA so much he wants to do things like reduce taxes, balance the budget, keep more troops from getting killed, stop making so many enemies world-wide and cut the profits to the MIC and the Oil companies. What a communist!
So let’s go get me re-elected! USA! USA! USA!
Not to worry. Recall Senator Everett Dirksen’s commentary:
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Jesus Christ
Mark 11:25-26
Here is my “sermon” on Mark 11:25-26
Point #1. We are at war with Islam. Not a nation; not a separate faction; not a radical splinter. But with all who call Allah their god. To them, we are the infidel. To them we are the evil ones whose death is pleasing to their god. No matter how soft the speech of those “good muslims” may sound, they are set against our very existence. And no political correctness will ever change this fact.
Point #2. We must fight with all our nations strength, both politically and militarily, in order to safeguard our families and our nation. There will never be peace without war. Never. “Hearts and Minds” is a myth, not a campaign. Brute force is the only method which can defend the innocent against such evil.
Point #3. While our enemies death is a necessity, it need not be a joy. It is sad that these human beings were born into such hatred and deception. As children, they were malleable and tender. They were open to all their parents would impress upon them. Sadly, they were handed over to such wickedness by the very ones who gave them life. This is the greatest tragedy of human kind; that innocent children would be made to “stumble” by their elders.
Point #4. There is mercy found when we realize they too are victims. We can see that if it had been us who were born in the same circumstances, we too would be blinded by the exact same hatred and deception. In this, we can forgive them.
Point #5. Forgiveness does not circumvent justice. A heart that has mercy and forgiveness toward its enemy does not abandon its duty to protect what is loved, and to enforce consequence. God in His great love and mercy will surely do the same. Only honest repentance will avoid such wrath. In the case of our enemy, repentance has yet to be seen.
Conclusion. Since we are at war, we must fight with all we have to secure the death of our unrepentant enemy who would kill us and all we hold dear. This is not a joy, but neither is this a fight we choose to initiate. Nevertheless, we must choose to finish it.
May God guard our hearts from bitterness.
May God protect our troops and give them victory.
May God give us a leader with a heart for Him.
May God Bless America.
Wow, if you change “god” to “Allah” and “America” to “The Middle East”, I think you’ve about got the Radical Islamic Agenda down pat.
So your solution is “Reject islam and accept christianity or die”?
It appears you were born 800 years too late.
I can see how you would interpret that.
Not my solution.
Perhaps you were born 800 years too early as well. That would make you 1600 years smarter than me. Congrats.
My question to you is, how many wars were fought in the name of God? Have you ever heard of the Crusades? They lasted roughly 200 odd years.
You seem to think that Christianity is the “one true religion” in the world. Right? How many other religions claim the same? Oh, every single one of them. Am I saying that all of them are “wrong”? No. I AM saying that unless you’re willing to accept the other side’s views, you will never win.
The war *could* be finished, but it *wont*. The politicians won’t let it end, they’re making too much money from it. The fact is, when you put religion and war together, they create such a volatile mix, that you can’t ever escape it. Again, look at the Crusades.
Far too many. Yes, Have written extensively on the crusades. Your figures are close.
Yes. Not sure of the exact count. Really? Didn’t know that research had been done. Unwilling. Never is a very long time.
Agreed.
Actually, if you think about the “one true religion” claim and apply a little logic, the absurdity jumps right out.
Suppose there are N mutually-exclusive (M.E.) religons, and by “M.E.” I mean, if you believe in one, you can’t believe in the other.
Note that no relgion is more provably correct than any other. If you could prove your religion was superior, all the other religions would die out.
New religions are popping up all the time. As an example, the Lutheran church split some years back and another split is in the offing over the issue of queer pastors. That means N is growing.
Putting it all together, there are N M.E. religions, none demonstrably better than any of the others, so your chances of picking the “one true religion” is at best, 1/N. But N is growing, so the odds are getting smaller with time. Oh, and let’s not forget the possibility that NONE of them may be right.
Suppose there are 10,000 M.E. religions in the world. Your odds of picking the “one true religion” would be somewhere between zero and .0001, which works out to be about 2 to 6 times less likely than being struck by lightning during the course of your life.
So, good luck with that all you christians, muslims, shintoist, druids, satanists, budhists, catholics, jainists, Siekhs, scientologists, Soka Gakkai, Cao Dai, Echankar, Zoroastrians (and to illustrate the splintering) Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Church of Lutheran Confession, Concordia Lutheran Conference, Iowa Synod, Joint Synod of Ohio, Buffalo synod, General synod, United synod of the south, Norwegian-Danish conference, anti-Missourian brotherhood…
Care to figure the odds of your argument ever changing my heart? Same as mine changing yours.
What I hope we agree on is our right to live peacefully despite our beliefs. But if you violate my right, I will defend what is in my trust to care for.
The man with a testimony is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.
Your arguments are futile against the testimony of a life that has been changed.
I have no problem with you not believing. Nor with anyone else. Soon enough we will all know for sure. One way or another.
I have nothing against anyone’s religion, but if you’re going to say that you’ll defend what is in your trust to care for, you have to realize that the other side is doing the same exact thing. Thing is, if you’re unwilling to strap a bomb to your chest and detonate it to kill dozens or more innocent people, then you’ve already lost. Are you willing to go overseas, to fight for your belief? Or will you sit at home and defend your belief with words instead of actions?
The thing is, acting haughty about your belief, claiming that you will never be bested, is an extremely arrogant way of looking at the world or anyone else’s opinions. You show a complete disregard for anyone else’s beliefs, meanwhile showing that yours are the only ones worth believing. I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for the fact that your mind is so closed as to assume everyone else is wrong.
Soon enough we WILL all know, and when that happens, make sure you come on down from your cloud and tell me how it is up there. But if in the end you realize that you’re wrong, be an adult and admit your faults. I may or may not be wrong, but at least I can admit to them.