Quote:

Wonder Boy said:
As I've said elsewhere, the Washington Post reported that 30 to 50 percent of the populations of every muslim nation are boycotting U.S. goods and services, despite their own leaders saying this will not hurt the U.S. economy, it will only damage their own economies.


i've said repeatedly its a fucked up part of the world. Mainly due to its history and the cultivation of oppressive governments.

Quote:

As Patrick Buchanan reported, the collective 22 Arab nations have a combined GNP that does not even equal the GNP of Spain.

It is precisely this kind of radical, repressive, unstable and hostile culture that exists in these Arab and other muslim nations that stalls their economies and discourages development and foreign investment.

And in the case of Palestinians, all the foreign aid given to them should have given the Palestinians an economy and lifestyle comparable to that of neighboring Israel, but instead they divert it all to war, and pay the price for it. Which they blame on the U.S. and Israel.


here's where i think diplomacy is better used. work the people, encourage change through them and the government will have no choice. As long as we don't withdraw support as Bush sr. did in 1991.

Quote:

Once again, rather than adress the issues I've raised, you've diverted the discussion to a personal attack on me.


well you advocate a lot of violence and death and then turn around and say i hate america and want to hug terrorists.

Quote:

I don't "hate" Muslims. Based on the fanaticism of their religious beliefs, I view muslims with caution and distrust. As I've said in previous topics, even in the Saudi Arabia, the heart of Islam, the epicenter of Wahabist missionaries and the ideology of Islamist Jihad, TIME maagazine reported that 50% of the population despises Sharia law and would like to see it abolished in their nation. Even as Kuwait and other nations move toward adopting it.


that's actually pretty interesting. i would appreciate a link so i can read the article myself.

Quote:

I'd say that about 50% of the muslim world, give or take, are somewhat friendly toward the U.S., and non-violent. These are the people who are tipping off the U.S. and other nations of the pending terrorist attacks of their more fanatical muslim brethren.


what we need to do is look at those two halves and really study them. understand what causes one to go one way and the other to feel the other way.
much like how the use of FBI profilers such as John Douglas were able to determine what separates a psycopath from a normal person. once we know for certain the causes then we can cut off those causes and prevent terrorist recruitment.
As i've always said our cowboy tactics bush is using play more into bin laden's hands. because bush has made us the enemy bin laden claimed we were and, in fact, given credence to his claims we wanted to invade the middle east and destroy islam.

Quote:

As I've said in other topics, I've dated two muslim women, one from Iran (named Nargus), and one from Morocco (Sanaa). I have a friend who served in the Iraqi army in the Iran/Iraq war (Khaivan), my physician is a muslim from India, with an affection for Gold Key Disney comics. Not all muslims are fanatics, violent and evil.


i never saw that. every post of yours i've read on this has said that all muslims have the desire to undermine other religions.
i can certainly appreciate this view you're expressing here and will give your posts a closer read since its not all...anger and violence.

Quote:

But again, among the true believers, well indoctrinated in the Koran teachings, there is a trend toward violence, or at the very least, of endorsement of Islamic violence.


but the inquisitions and witch trials were true believers who could do bible quotes.
i think there's actually a biblical quote about the devil using scripture. also these extremists follow the word but not the spirit of their faith.
like technically the harming of innocents is forbidden. so bin laden said in the 1980's that anyone who wasn't involved in their fight was guilty.
also jihad is a broad term meaning a great personal struggle. a muslim friend i had a few years back explained that he was taught it meant working towards a pure spirit and life. the violence is supposed to be specifically if one's country is invaded, but bin laden and the like have twisted it to say that we're a threat to them. and by invading we "justify" that claim and become literal invaders.

Quote:

I don't "need someone to hate".
Again, I never had an unkind thought about muslims until September 11, 2001. I didn't see any other group as a threat to the U.S. since the end of the Cold War in 1991.


could've fooled me, wb. i mean the first post i read of yours talked about how liberals hate america and want to see it fall. then you justify torture.
and on the torture note. the people in government who have been in war like john mccain and colin powell say it doesn't work. the ones like bush and cheny who avoided vietnam think it would. i'm more inclined to believe the soldiers on what works.

Quote:

I could have believed that the attacks on 9-11 were by a few isolated extremists, until I saw video footage of tens of thousands Cheering in the streets of Ramallag and other parts of the West Bank and Gaza. That was the point I began to see that Muslim fanaticism was more widespread.


well first off, the chinese also celebrated but that got largely ignored. i never even heard about it until last week's 5th anniversary coverage in the paper.
also, consider mob rule. consider the fact that its the other side of the world and far removed from the direct effects of the violence. and consider that we got all excited when we went to war.
also, i'm skeptical of the footage. remember when the statue of saddam fell? there was the crowd of people and it looked like all of baghdad was there to welcome us?
well i heard last year that the army had to gather and pay people to basically act in that because the real fervent U.S. supporters were so small and the bulk of the population was used to keeping its head down and not getting involved.
who knows what to believe.

Bow ties are coool.