Terrorism...will I die this week?

Eight years ago I was trained in combating chemical weapons in the military. I was given a charcoal filter suit, a gas mask, and three autoinjector syringes. When I asked the instructor what the syringes were for, he replied that they were antidotes for the different kind of agents used in chemical weapons: blood, nerve, and blister. Soon after, he lowered his voice and told me that they were actually filled with mostly narcotics. Their purpose was to make the slow death slightly bearable. Flash forward to yesterday. I was sitting in my living room with my children reading Treasure Island to them, when the UnderSecretary of Defense comes on TV and says that the USA will probably be attacked this week with chemical or radiological weapons. I thought of my family cowering in our house as the gas seeped in the ventilation. It makes you think...

Let's all settle our political differences with a LAN.

I'm not cowering yet...What I said was "it makes you think". I'm not worried for myself, but my wife and children are a different story. I know you brits are supposed to have that "stiff upper lip" and all, but lounging in you living room wduring an attack...that's a bit of bravado. I read the papers about the recent ricin (spelling?) plot in the UK. It seems at least some people over there are concerned as well as me.

Anyway. Sorry about the gloomy post. I just can't talk about wingding's exploits all the time. Every once in awhile I like to throw something serious in.

Let's all settle our political differences with a LAN.

I think your concerns are fair. The fact is that we are probably closer, at least in our own minds, to the real possibility of exposure to chemical or nuclear attack. As a parent I share your concerns and it does concern me that some nations seem determined to carry the world into a state of war and uncertainty.

I want to eat your face

Let's leave Jesus out of it. He's caused enough trouble.

I want to eat your face

It's a good quote though.

In the words of the wise-

<b>Camieabz</b>

I reckon all women should be made to learn how to do an engine re-build so they can get the right to vote.

Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but it got to me this last Monday. I hope the [peep] terrorists burn in whatever place they believe is set aside for bad folks. I hope that they are sentenced to using a P75, with windows 95, and integrated video, and dailup connection in an eternal UT2 tournament.
With all the friggin resources they have and the zeal, maybe they could actually accomplish something good for their cause without blowing things up... [peep]holes...

Let's all settle our political differences with a LAN.

No, maybe our country will go kill terrorists. There's no justification for terrorism.

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The war on Irag is not to kill terrosist. It is to remove the government in Irag that supports and arms terrorist.

I aint signing nothing!!!

I have now erased about 6 lines of text trying to formulate a response...difficult stuff.

I think that years of poor US foreign policy are now catching up to this country. I am sad that the leaders of this nation seem hell-bent on war...

It's disheartening to realize all the avenues available to terrorists...water supply, food supply, air supply...too many to think about.

However, we do have to go on. When I imagine what it must be like to live in Palestine or some other war-ravaged area, I know that we've had it so easy. We are so cushioned by our position, we as a people have become complacent...and are now wide-eyed at the enormous list of possibilities for terrorist attack in this country.

I am not cowering, nor do I own a gas mask. I don't know what the answer is, I only hope that the powers of reason and logic proove to be stronger than machismo and greed and whatever else is driving us toward the brink of who knows what.




<font color=purple>"If you can put fear aside, you're unstoppable."<i>
~J Hagberg</i></font color=purple>

You should know something about Americans. No matter how much good, or how much bad we do, we don't deserve terrorism.

So...with that said. Expect us to defend ourselves.

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Expect us to make many more mistakes.

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From the BBC:

Terrorism isn't exactly America's fault. Were stuck with people in the world who follow their leaders as if they were gods (N. korea (above) and Iraq). God damn Kim Dingaling and Sadamn Insane.

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<b>My Mentor: <A HREF="http://www.mchawking.com" target="_new">Stephen Hawkings</A></b>

... or the 'proof' Powell presented.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dimms when I turn it on

-------------------------quote-------------
Know one thing though. We might not be perfect, but we're better than Germany or France. We're better than Saddam Hussein. We're not a bunch of cowards. We're not a bunch of pacifists. We might be self interested, but who isn't?

When the time comes, who's side will you be on? Who has a better record?

We've had some shady relationships. We've danced with some bad people. But we haven't danced with the devil. Sometimes you have to make alliances with those you wouldn't let date your daughter in order to beat the greater evil.

Can you blame us? Go ahead...

In the end, everyone is self interested and you'll have to decide who you think is going to improve your life, and who you think jeapordizes your life. Maybe you think the world is perfect as it is.

Make that decision and get back to me.
-----------------------quote----------------------

actually i have been following these issues for a long time!!!

1) you are not better than france and germany. in fact i think you are worse. yes germany was the main vilain in world war 2 and i agree that during that time they were the "evil" on this planet.

you said who posses the biggest threat to me. well honestly the US posses the biggest threat to me. provocative action with North korea (could end in me getting hurt) foreign policys are hurting me economically.

a war WILL NOT help me/benifit me/protect me in any way. it may make US citizens feel safe but i am feeling less safe because of US agretion than i was on 9/11.

in fact 9/11 was no shock to me, i had been expecting an attack for years. (and yes an airplane attack was one of the things i was expecting)

for years i have been against US foreign policys because they are so one sided. and they only protet the interests of the US. ok i didn't have a huge problem when Bill was inbut when George got in i became very scared for peoples lives.

did you realise that Georges entire possy (his G's/buddies/party) have been against Iraq and have been planning attacks since the 1990's. well bloody great he is trying to prove a point to the world and has.

you asked me who i feel safer with, well i don't feel safe with ossama and i don't feel safe with saddam, i certainly don't feel safe with North Korea. but honestly i feel the most threatend by the United States.

in recent years how many countrys have been invaded by another. and you will see that the majority of those were invaded by the US.

i belive the facts of the movie BOWLING FOR COLUBINE because i have heard many of those facts before.

my father who is usually on the US side when it comes to things (90%) of the time. also feels that the US posses the largest threat to world safety and peace right now. (this suprised me because i expected him to agree with the US on it)

we are a very logical family and have yet to be shown any real proof that the US should attack Iraq. i am 100% against the war. i was about 60% against the war on afganistan. and was thinking on 9/11 that the US had trodden on so many toes that i couldn't belive they didn't see it coming.

p.s. thinking you are better than france and germany is so RUDE. that is the exact attitude i don't like. (you are more dangerous and have killed more people in wars since WWII than germany and japan ever did during both world wars.

i am definatly not supporting your enemys (everyone) but i am certainly not supporting the US with its SELFISH UNILATERAL ACTION.

it will not give me a single advantage for the US to attack IRAQ it will only advantage the US by opening up the OIL for US control. IT IS AN INVASION not defence.

p.s. there is no such thing as terrorisim in my mind.
it is simply a new form of military action that uses the flaws in security to spend the least amount of money for the most effect. it would be futile to attack the US head on as the US has more money than everyone so can just buy its way through a war, why fight stupid????

and yep i'm ready for all the disagreement to this as you want to throw at me because i stand by my convictions 100% and can back them up with solid logic and evidence!!!!!

LOL
fair enough!!!!

The only thing that worries me is that, if by invading Iraq, you encourage and cause terrorism here in the US or Canada...then damn you all for supporting it!!
That is the type of gung-ho, self-righteous response I would expect to get from Americans...but we can't do much about it...
We were all raised a certain way, brainwashed if you will, by our country and government, no matter how much we argue about this, Americans will still support this, while the rest of the world will condemn it...we need to find middle ground here and it seems to me that this is what the UN is trying to provide. When the US tries to play God and say "
We're going to act on our own no matter what!"...that is when I start being afraid...
It is no secret that the US are the only ones to have used the A-Bomb...they are also responsible for countless civilien casualties...(so are other countries...but thanks to American mass media, they make you look like monsters)

I'm a little curious here, Dlhuck and the others who seem to support this issue, do you have any military background of some sort?? If you're from the US.

"Hey!! Who's that hiding behind the bush??!...Well Wingding of course!"

It all comes down to WHY was the US attacked on 9/11??
The US must have messed up BIG TIME somewhere in time...
What ticks me off the most is that after the US has destroyed an area, they sheepishly go back and say "oh well, we'll offer you some blankets and provide shelter for you..." BS if you ask me, don't mess up in the first place and you won't have to back paddle your way back to "safety"
Like I said, the US is fueled by fear and propaganda...that is the only thing you see on American news channels...I can't blame you for taking that position...
Right now, Bush is blinded by his burning desire to get even (daddy is probably close by whispering in his ear)...
Why is it that so many countries are so reluctant to start war with Iraq...why is it that Bush's approval ratings are gradually stumbling down...its because people are waking up and realizing that what he's doing is not in the best interest of the people...but what can I say, its the kind of judgement you can expect from a C student who cheated his way up to the top...I'm sure if you have a closer look at Bush, you'll see a few puppet strings sticking out...now who is the puppet master??? Daddy? Daddy's friends that just "happen" to be in the oil industry (surprise surprise!!)?? I'm not sure...but I can tell you one thing, its certainly not the US citizens, and thats who it SHOULD be...a democracy isn't it?? A farce if you ask me...

"Hey!! Who's that hiding behind the bush??!...Well Wingding of course!"

Nope. We have a paid military and I'm not a part of it. Some of my good friends and neighbors are and none of them have a problem with fighting a war if it comes to that.

I'll bring this up again. My main problem with anti-war people is that they choose to ignore the basic premise of a potential war.

As far as I can tell, here's the reason...OIL.

I did some checking and it seems that the amount of oil contracts that nations that are either against the war or for the war is staggering.

France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, China, Greece (I think I saw Greece, I could be wrong) all have massive contracts and potential contracts once the sanctions are lifted. I've run across a lot of articles in which it seems that France has been working day and night to get the sanctions lifted in return for guarentees of major oil contracts. Europe is dependent on Northern Europe for most of their petroleum, but the middle east plays a very large part as well. This includes building, maintaining, and shipping parts to the middle east. Considering that these countries are having a horrible time economically, it would be a disaster if they were to lose these contracts. Should a war happen, all contracts and future contracts promised so far would be stricken from the table.

Spain, Italy, UK, USA, as well as many others also play a part. In the case of the USA, they really don't get very much from Iraq. Most of their oil they get from Mexico, Columbia, locally, and Venezuala. The problems in venezuala recently are interesting to note though. I'm not sure if supplies have been cut short or if uncertainty has lead to higher prices. Nonetheless, if there is war, I could easily see the USA and its allies getting a good peice of the contracts. This essentially means that France, Germany and Belgium would be forced to deal directly with foreign companies with contracts with Iraq, rather than their own companies with oil in the region. It also means that Bush and his buddies would have very full pockets.

What do I think about this? To me, the WMD are the real reason for war, with oil being a side effect. France has been against every conflict in recent memory, and keep insisting that war is never productive. They've pretty much put themselves in a corner. Their aircraft carrier returned home which means that if there is war, they will not participate. Germany and Belgium are much more flexible so they'll probably jump on the bandwagon of war just for the oil. Germany's unemployment is in the 20 percentile and they can't afford to be left out.

Other reasons that keep coming up in the argument are Bush. It seems that every anti-war person I talk to brings Bush into this. Fact is that Bush has an administration though and 911 was not his doing. His doing was declaring a war on all terrorism and like I said, Iraq falls into that description.

What I don't like though, is the handling of other countries like Pakistan. I think we need to work on having a single standard instead of a double standard. Nonetheless it's important to recognize the importance of having an alliance with shady characters in order to beat the greater threat.

Bring the election, Bush Sr, or Bush's intelligence into this is just an emmotianal argument as far as I'm concerned. I believe that we have to address my first point above at all costs. The oil argument is just a reason why the security council is acting the way it is. Oil is important to everyone's economy and as far as the USA is concerned, we can't have a WMD armed madman in control of it, and as far as France is concerend, they can't lose thier contracts and future contracts in the region.

Should Saddaam come clean, I would not be for war. As it is right now though, he has not done anything.

I find it amusing that he says he's allowing spy planes over his country, but insists that we disclose their location. They aren't spy planes then dummy.

I find it interesting that he allows interviews with no minders, but the scientists all show up with tape recorders. Anyone hear what the Iraqi reasoning was for this? They said they of course wanted tape recorders with them so that they could remember what they said. LOL

It's not the inspectors jobs to find the weapons, it's iraq's responsibility to disclose them. They haven't done that. Why?

Another thing that some of you should look into is who organizes these protests. You'll probably find that interesting as well.

Simple. Most of the world is anti-semetic, the USA supports Israel, the USA is rich and people are jealous of our way of life and the influence it has on their culture, the USA supports the Saudi regime, the USA has military installations in many of the middle eastern countries, the terrorists were fundamentalists, the terrorists were sick and crazy and were aiming at symbols of our wealth, financial institutions, and at our civilians.

Look around you. Your freedom, movies, music, dance, food, technology and language are all influenced by the USA. It pretty much conflicts directly with the fundamentalist ideas of the middle east.

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When I was in college I took a critical thinking course. We spent some time discussing fallacies. You've managed to use them in every one of your posts.

We might disagree, but please learn how to critically break down and argue your points without fallacies.

I agree that this is an emotionally charged issue, but please....

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What wars?

Revolutionary war? Spanish-American War? Mexican War? War of 1812? War with Spain?

Our invasion of latin american countries during the 19th and early 20th century?

WWI? WWII? Panama? Grenada? Dominican Republic? Somalia? Former Yugoslavia? Cold War? Civil War? Indian Wars? Korea? Vietnam? Gulf War? Afghanistan? War on Terrorism?

Throw me a bone. I'm assuming that "most" refered to the list above right? Or should I throw in the Drug War?

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