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MisterJLA said:
You have a weird rational for 'what people think is right'. Terrorists think they are right...so that makes it acceptable? We know what they think: what do you think? They should get a free pass because they have a twisted outlook on life?



You totally missunderstood me. You have conviction that what the US is doing the right thing, right? People are being killed (intentionally or not, but always knowingly), but it's for a good reason. Well, what I'm saying is that they feel exactly the same way on the other side. Guess what: they don't think of themselves as evil. They think YOU'RE evil. And unless you're some sort of omniscient entity, how do you know that you're not the one with the twisted outlook? Because you know you're not? That's not good enough: they also know they're not twisted.

What this means is that invading them will get you nowhere, because from their general perspective you're not saving them, you're spitting on their culture. You may kill the terrorists of today, but in the process you're fueling the terrorists of tomorrow. As long as the cultural missunderstanding between both sides continues this problem will remain in one form or another. If you take away all their weapons they'll find another way to strike back. You're setting things up so the only option is exterminating them all, and that's not gonna happen.

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I never judged the entire religion or culture.



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Anyway, yes, there is appearantly something in the Muslim religion or culture that encourages their followers to blow up dance clubs, school buses, and hospitals.



You're judging the entire religion or culture.

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Unless they all happen to get the ideas randomly.



Again: does this mean there's something that encourages violence in our culture because we have crazy fucks too? You're judging them by their worst exponents, when ours are just as bad.

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Doesn't sound like he's so innocent then. Not at all different than the Germans who were secretly happy that the Nazis were killing all over Europe (but were "horrified" when they "discovered" the concentration camps) or all the collaborators the dirty Soviets had.



If you found out Saddam's Iraq was accidentally blown off the face of the earth, wouldn't you feel the tiniest bit of satisfaction? That feeling that maybe they're getting what they deserved. That Sam Kinison monologue about Chernobyl. That conversation with your mom, "Did you hear about it?" "Yeah... It's a shame..." "Yeah..." "They had it coming, though..." "Oh, yeah... But still... Horrible..." "Yeah..."

That's the feeling I'm talking about. The same general feeling in pre-WWII Germany: they were bummed out after being beaten in WWI, they resented the countries that constantly shoved their loss in their faces through their many restrictions, so normal people like you and me, most of which had nothing to do with WWI, started following a nutjob simply because everyone else was doing it. They didn't happen to get their ideas randomly, as you say, and it's improbable that a whole generation of psychos happened to be born at the same time. We may say we wouldn't act the same way if we were in their situation, but we don't really know do we?

This is part of the reason why I don't like Bush: he seems like the kind of leader that could only be elected out of disquiet.

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I think communicating and teaching is important, too. A lot of that is being done. We've built schools, hospitals, and given the Iraqi people a better chance at freedom and democracy than their own glorious leader and his asshole kids ever did.



This is a personal opinion, but I think they see all that as condescending. "Hey kids, you can't take care of ourselves, so here comes Uncle Sam to teach you how it's done!" Just my perception.

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Those people are punished by the law, and generally ostracized, and are not given the martyr/hero treatment.



Doesn't stop 'em from coming up more and more often. The fact remains that western culture, too, breeds violent psychos. Also, as I said, I don't think that in general they're openly idolized (remember that Arab Nation doesn't equal Terrorist Nation), it's more of an unspoken feeling. Kinda like what happened in some social circles after the Columbine shootings... some angsty teens thought those psycho kids were the coolest fuckers ever.