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Submitted by Rob Richards on Tue, 08/22/2006 - 10:33pm.
In light of recent conversations on this blog regarding the perception of US foriegn policy in the Middle East, I want to share this clip from The Daily Show. I think whether you like or dislike The Daily Show, Aasif Mandvi's summation of the current situation in Iraq is important. Why is one act, or series of acts of violence an "opportunity" while another (9/11/01) is an act of terror?
» It has to do with perception. We perceive 9/11/01 as an attack on everything we stand for, but the violence in Iraq, and the middle east as a whole, is acceptable and will lead to something greater. We never, ever, consider what it would be like if the tables were turned. Aasif Mandvi turns those tables in this clip, if only slightly. Please watch.
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:)
Submitted by OlyCop on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 4:24am.Good humor, and interesting message. Interesting that various groups and sects in that area have been waring and feuding long before we got there, but now that we are there, we are the problem.
Like I said in the other thread, for any country to believe they can be isolationist in this time is dreaming. But if the Middle East wants us out, then lets get out, COMPLETELY. No more aid, no money, food, goods, NOTHING. If they hate us so much, See Ya!
The bottom line is the majority of people in the Middle East don't want what the Islamo-fascists bring to them, and want a more Western style life-style. The terrorists are extremists and are trying to prevent the that change all in the name of Islam.
We are the problem right
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 8:18am.The whole point is this: Imagine Olympia is in the condition Baghdad is in right now. You're a cop, you have to deal with a tremendous amount of crap every day, your job's life expectancy has plummeted. Walking down the street is life threatening. All of this began when another country swept in, claiming to be freeing us from the evils of George W. Bush. 1.)How many militias, ordinary armed citizens, etc. would take to the streets and resist? I think a lot. 2.) There would be a power grab as a new government is formed, leading to the possibility of even more violence.
If this was happening here, to us, I'm not so sure you'd feel the way you do. My attempt in posting this video was to get people to think about things in terms of the shoe being on the other foot. Did you view 9/11/01 as an opportunity? If you had just lost your wife and kids in a bombing that would not have happened had a foreign nation not reduced your country to chaos would you call that an opportunity? Can you imagine how you would feel if the leaders of the nation responsible, either directly or indirectly, for the deaths of your family talked in terms of opportunity? I can imagine I would be very much against that country and blind to any good that they may be trying to create.
People will often argue
Submitted by Phil Owen on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 9:40am.We shouldn't pull our "support", but rather redirect it. We've got to do something about Palestine; people will not accept peace so long as they are forced into ghettos surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers. We should work to assure that Palestine (Gaza, West Bank, & Golan Heights) has independence; that ALL the settlements are pulled from the West Bank, that military occupation and incursions of Gaza end, that Palestine has open borders and opportunities to trade, that civilian infrastructure is rebuilt. No treaty has offered this (the Oslo accords didn't even come close).
We should also turn control of Iraq over to the UN, and fund the bejeezus out of it.
We should also put a real effort into rebuilding Afghanistan, not just to pre-2001 conditions, but to pre-Reagan era conditions (the war between the mujahadeen and Russia wiped out the very civilized nation of Afghanistan, they once had universal education, high literacy rates, and decent healthcare). While we're at it, we could do something about the MASSIVE heroine production in Afghanistan. The people there, lacking in economic opportunities, have dramatically increased poppy cultivation, which is killing our kids. We've sorely dropped the ball in Afghanistan.
I disagree
Submitted by Norm on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 11:07am.everytime we try to do something it backfires, there's always a left and a right, yin and yang. we help one out the other gets pissed and they start fighting. If we leave the middle east we should leave it physically and financially. If we are such evil people for ever going there then let them figure it out on their own. Invite the people of Israel to stay in the US and let the whole place kill themselves and go up in flames.
Yin and yang are not
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 12:50pm.Also, I think we made a mess over there, and we should clean it up. After we clean up our mess, and our proxy mess in Israel, maybe we should stay out of there. Let's not be the messy visitors who trash your house and then leave without helping you clean it up.
Parts of a whole, yet they
Submitted by Norm on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 2:04pm."but the violence in Iraq,
Submitted by OperaGirl on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 7:16am."but the violence in Iraq, and the middle east as a whole, is acceptable and will lead to something greater"
I think it's always easier to think this way when it's something that is not affecting your daily life. 9/11 was horrible no doubt but we have it pretty darn good since we can go to a store without a fear of being blown up or having to keep our ears open for sirens warning of bombers coming or whatever.
I don't personally think
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 12:52pm.I don't think that I said
Submitted by OperaGirl on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 1:43pm.I think what you thought I
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 2:40pm.I think you think...
Submitted by OperaGirl on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 3:38pm.this is fun
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 4:46pm.A thing distinctly hard to say but harder still to do.
For they'll beat a tattoo at a quarter to two:
A rat-ta tat-tat ta tat-tat ta to-to.
And the dragon will come when he hears the drum
At a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.
This one is good too:
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts,
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts,
He thrusts his fists against the posts,
And still insists he sees the ghosts.
All I've got is Dr. Suess...
Submitted by OperaGirl on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 6:28pm.We took a look.
We saw a Nook.
On his head
he had a hook.
On his hook
he had a book.
On his book
was "How to Cook."
We saw him sit
and try to cook.
He took a look
at the book on the hook.
But a Nook can't read,
so a Nook can't cook.
SO...
what good to a Nook is hook cook book?
And my personal favorite...
When I wish to make a wish
I wave my hand with a big swish swish.
Then I say, "I wish for fish!"
And I get fish right on my dish.
So...
if you wish to wish a wish,
you may swish for fish
with my Ish wish dish.
For now
Submitted by OlyCop on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 6:48pm."we have it pretty darn good since we can go to a store without a fear of being blown up"
Is anyone else up for drinks
Submitted by Norm on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 3:16pm.For you Norm
Submitted by OlyCop on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 6:51pm.Since I'm in Walla Walla on vacation (for now), I will raise my scotch to you as I puff on my cigar. This one is for you Norm, perhaps a drink together is in our future.
Why thank you. Scotch would
Submitted by Norm on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 7:23pm.So I was SO good not to blab
Submitted by OperaGirl on Thu, 08/24/2006 - 9:20pm.This too shall pass
Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 8:23pm.(I have to somehow contribute to this thread.)
Peanut Sundrops
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 8:36pm."Beer is proof that god
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 08/23/2006 - 10:51pm.-Benjamin Franklin