akhalteke

Should we invade Pakistan then? Huh. You guys are confusing as hell. Make up your minds.

Lame. Clearly we SHOULD be concerned about whether our government's actions are making us safer or not, and we SHOULD NOT rely upon the "intelligence community" to tell us the answers. Has there been a terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11? What was the pattern of terrorism on US soil before 911? Has there been any real change? 911 was preventable by many accounts but there were mistakes made by both the Clinton and Bush administrations' handling of information. Perhaps things have tightened up but did they have to include loss of liberties or would truely objective adherence to existing policies have sufficed? And if we are really chasing terrorists outside the US, find Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and present the bastard's head to the world. But "NO", there are mitigating circumstances that prevent us from entering Pakistan. Bullshit! What did Bush say when we entered Afganistan, "We will pursue these terrorists anywhere they go and regard there hosts as part of the problem" or something like that. Another lie made up by a good propogandist. It serverd a purpose, to persuade the public, but was never intended to have any real truth associated with regard to any country outside the oil states. Terrorists still play hopscotch in Pakistan while we get bombed in Afgahnistan and Iraq. Terrorism and terrorists outside our borders matter little to this administration other than to be used as a mechanism for social control. Follow the money. 1 every 7-10 years. It hasn't been 10 years yet.

Because despite the glaring missteps, they are the only ones who have any even quasi-factual data about what is going on. I agree, there needs to be more than the current band-aid that is holding it together, but it sure is better than embracing mindsets that assume that the conspiracy theories are true. I hear the one about GWB firing missiles at the twin towers all the time. C'mon people. I, of all people, should distrust the intel community but despite my misgivings and apprehensions, I still have not found a better way and will continue to anticipate at very least a restructuring of the current system. People like Kev would rather run around in foil hats and sew his own butt-hole shut to prevent the aliensfrom entering either his butt-hole or his mind. Kev: they don't want to be there anymore than the other six people in there do.

Damn right they should! Kev needs to get laid!

Damn.....Scott....how does it feel to be bitch slapped? I wouldn't know.

By this logic we MUST blame 9/11 on Bush. There were no foreign attacks under Clinton, hence Clinton made us MUCH safer than Bush? Right? My logic? My suggestion was to trust in the intelligence community rather than assume they are part of a conspiracy theory. You might want to do some research about attacks on foreign soil during Clinton's presidency again. Remember, not all US soil is in the U.S.A.

I dont think every person in the government is in some grand conspiracy. Just the top 5. Cause this is really possible. Why don't you do a little research how the government is structured, write a report and get it to me in the morning. I want it by 0500 my time, so better get busy writing kiddo!

judging by the news from Gori they really care what western states think It might have to depending on how hardlined they want to be. I doubt the Euros have the backbone though.

Huh? Are you saying that rather than actually having seasoned staff and diplomats who had the knowledge and experience to address the needed political and agency structure that hiring neophytes was a good thing? What a joke. This is one of the many flawed thought processes that lead to the inevitable failures in Iraq, the continued flushing of billions of tax dollars, and the misconstrued logic that got us there in the first place. So rather than get some staff that say, actually know something about restoring public works, it's better to hire right-wingers with no experience but believe that abortion is murder because it supposedly aligns with local traditions? Too rich. Hmm. You are right. It is much better to hire lesbian liberal no bra wearing jews to head up the reconstruction. I am sure that would be the ticket. I am using hyperbole but you must understand that these are not cultural "suggestions" but rather written in stone and blood mandates that must be upheld. Again, I am not suggesting this is the rationale they are using. Just suggesting that perhaps you all not be so quick to judge and quick to assume the worst and most unlikely and cumbersome of answers to possibly simple quesitons.

Lame. Clearly we SHOULD be concerned about whether our government's actions are making us safer or not, and we SHOULD NOT rely upon the "intelligence community" to tell us the answers. So what sources would you rather use? The Stranger? We have had no attacks on American soil since the invasion. All we have to go on is what the intelligence community tells us. Again, this seems oddly like a conspiacy theorists wet dream on this board. There are problems within the intelligence community, but that doesn't suggest a whitewash conspiracy (which would be necessary to accomplish what you are suggesting.)

This is not the reason we went in....at least it is not the reason that was told to the american public. It is this kind of thinking that scares me. Scott, the reality is, Bush rode the back of 9/11 to invade Iraq. Then they brainwashed folks like you to think it is ok because the dictator was a bastard and needed to be removed. Which is not in question. Sadam was a bastard. But Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and there were no WMD ever found. If we want to hold true to cleansing the earth of bad people....lets start at the top.....CHINA. I dont think so..... I have posted about this ad nauseum Kev. It was propaganda. OMG! Politicians using propaganda to get what they want! Say it ain't so! I may npt agree with the reasons to start the war, (or merely the purported reasons) but I am not going to assume that every person in the government is in some grand conspiracy like you. Again, we must remember Occam's Razor as Hugh brought up earlier. What is more likely to be the truth?

Perhaps this had more to do with cultural adaptation or assimilation than anything else. I have no idea, but I am not as quick to cry wolf as most. You all remember that story right?

And I would suggest you broaden your reading material to include "Imperial Life in the Emerald City - Inside Iraq's Green Zone" by Rijiv Chandrasekaran. He lays out the bizzare idealogues choosen to "rebuild" Iraq - clueless and wet behind the ears, but steping to the proper tune of the right-wingers. If it weren't so sad it would be funny. Welcome to reality. The Green Zone, Baghdad, 2003: in this walled-off compound of swimming pools and luxurious amenities, Paul Bremer and his Coalition Provisional Authority set out to fashion a new, democratic Iraq. Staffed by idealistic aides chosen primarily for their views on issues such as abortion and capital punishment, the CPA spent the crucial first year of occupation pursuing goals that had little to do with the immediate needs of a postwar nation: flat taxes instead of electricity and deregulated health care instead of emergency medical supplies. In this acclaimed firsthand account, the former Baghdad bureau chief of The Washington Post gives us an intimate portrait of life inside this Oz-like bubble, which continued unaffected by the growing mayhem outside. This is a quietly devastating tale of imperial folly, and the definitive history of those early days when things went irrevocably wrong in Iraq. These things would seem a little more important if you took note of the cultural norms in Iraq. What do you think their ideas on abortion are? Capitol punishment? Have you thought about the religious (and in turn social) consequences of such activities? I have no idea what the diplomats are doing in Iraq. They don't discuss it (as well they shouldn't) the only information we get about it is from speculation of interested (and therefore biased) parties.

I'd love top hear you theory, Bill. I just figured your non-response was because you didn't have one. Certainly it is not because USA is a defender of democracy and justice...this is clear from the atrocities where US has NOT intervened. Its my opinion that saying this is a "War on Terror" is clever framing of the debate. Are we any safer from terror now? Or are just causing to be raised up a new generation of terrorists? On the other hand, it certainly a convenient way to get the masses to give up rights and freedoms. I'll post references for my previous post soon, just need to look them up again Who knows if we are safer form terror. It certainly seems so. These are questions which have answers that belong only to the intelligence community. Agruing about them or the lack of their existence is as futile as me trying to convince you that I am not brainwashed. Kev, you are an imbecile. I have more education than you will ever have, more world experience and have actually been to the places that you act like you have an intimate knowledge of. Your only rhetorts are that GWB is evil and that I am brainwashed. You may not be an idiot, but you sure don't do much for your case.

Huh. I thought you olny dug in when you were planning on staying for a while. What do I know though?

Eat shit and die ya poo stabbing pollack that's all you can come up with shelaq throat salty breath gerbil spelunker? since english is your first language maybe you should learn some vocabulary that goes beyond 3 grade. btw- what was your status in Latvia? How would one gerbil spelunk? Are you just putting random words together or are you really trying to speak the English language? At least you are trying, many of your friends don't even bother to do that. Good luck with the studies wee man.

Eat shit and die ya poo stabbing pollack that's all you can come up with shelaq throat salty breath gerbil spelunker? since english is your first language maybe you should learn some vocabulary that goes beyond 3 grade. btw- what was your status in Latvia? Latvia? Tourist. Only spent a few weeks there. Was doing other things North-East and South of there though. English is not my first language little man.

Nope. Yes I am. No I am not. Yes he is. That is TBD. No I don't No I don't. Freedom, dislocating a murderous dictator and reconstructing the destruction that was necessary to do so. My eyes are open. They open at 0500 every morning. The only thing running this presidency is the electoral college which elected him. Actually, the smart aren't getting poorer. I am not rich, just smart, and am making out fairly well as I have a well diversified investment strategy.

Eat shit and die ya poo stabbing pollack

Oh, and GGK, you are a little imp bitch.

Gregoire already stole the bones. I heard McCain is further right than his mentor Attila the Hun Good luck. He is mummified and under 1 inch glass just off red square. I saw his corpse and laughed (silently of course). It was rather comical to see that murderor bathed in red light well after the red light had left his country. Guess I didn't figure it would be back so soon. Guess joke's on me. laughing silently....oh, how brave. that was the time to show your balls bitch. btw there is only half of the syphilitic asshole left, the lower half was lost, when they moved him during WWII. Don't worry GGK, I wiped my American sweaty balls allover his nice plexiglass tomb. I wanted to drop a deuce on him, but the soldatij were comming.

Occum's Razor. Exactly.

Uhm... Sobo. I am not white. lol Thanks anyways. hahahhahaa

I am not an officer. You can call me Sergeant.

That's the tough part for him... Quiet Eddie