re: The Effect of War on TelecomAs usual, the world whines while Uncle Sam does the dirty work. Funny how when the shit hits the fan everyone runs to us to bail them out.
------------------ There is a country that has:
1) Developed weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them. 2) Started a war against one of its neighbors in the past few years. 3) Supported the Taliban financially, militarily and diplomatically. And had to have its intel assets rescued from Afganistan during the fall of the taliban. 4) Supports terrorism 5) Supported Osama bin laden and his organization. 6) Has provided shelter for the terrorists since they were expelled from Afganistan.
Its not Iraq, its Pakistan. We prepare to fight wars against countries like Iraq and North Korea while ignoring pakistan, the active helper of america's enemies and Saudi Arabia whose nationals are the financial and ideological backers of fundementalism and terrorism.
re: The Effect of War on Telecom "Peace - through superior firepower"
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I think that's about the most igronant thing I've ever read, eyesright, you must be GWB in a rather unconvincing disguise? You only need to look as far as Israel to see that being the owner of the biggest gun does f*ck all to promote peace, and an awfull lot toward breeding resentment and consequently terrorists.
Appologies for the length of this post, but the bulk of it, below, is a letter written to The Observer, a British newspaper, concerning the whole Iraq situation and how utterly flawed the justifications for it are. For those of you that know of the comedy series Monty Python, the letter was written by Terry Jones, and is quite amusing in places, despite the topic. Enjoy...
Dear Sir,
I'm really excited by George Bush's latest reason for bombing Iraq: he's running out of patience. And so am I! For some time now I've been really p*ssed off with Mr Johnson, who lives a couple of doors down the street. Well, him and Mr Patel, who runs the health food shop. They both give me queer looks, and I'm sure Mr Johnson is planning something nasty for me, but so far I haven't been able to discover what. I've been round to his place a few times to see what he's up to, but he's got everything well hidden. That's how devious he is. As for Mr Patel, don't ask me how I know, I just know - from very good sources -that he is, in reality, a Mass Murderer. I have leafleted the street telling them that if we don't act first, he'll pick us off one by one. Some of my neighbours say, if I've got proof, why don't I go to the police? But that's simply ridiculous. The police will say that they need evidence of a crime with which to charge my neighbours. They'll come up with endless red tape and quibbling about the rights and wrongs of a pre-emptive strike and all the while Mr Johnson will be finalising his plans to do terrible things to me, while Mr Patel will be secretly murdering people. Since I'm the only one in the street with a decent range of automatic firearms, I reckon it's up to me to keep the peace. But until recently that's been a little difficult. Now, however, George W. Bush has made it clear that all I need to do is run out of patience, and then I can wade in and do whatever I want! And let's face it, Mr Bush's carefully thought-out policy towards Iraq is the only way to bring about international peace and security. The one certain way to stop Muslim fundamentalist suicide bombers targeting the US or the UK is to bomb a few Muslim countries that have never threatened us. That's why I want to blow up Mr Johnson's garage and kill his wife and children. Strike first! That'll teach him a lesson. Then he'll leave us in peace and stop peering at me in that totally unacceptable way. Mr Bush makes it clear that all he needs to know before bombing Iraq is that Saddam is a really nasty man and that he has weapons of mass destruction - even if no one can find them. I'm certain I've just as much justification for killing Mr Johnson's wife and children as Mr Bush has for bombing Iraq. Mr Bush's long-term aim is to make the world a safer place by eliminating 'rogue states' and 'terrorism'. It's such a clever long-term aim because how can you ever know when you've achieved it? How will Mr Bush know when he's wiped out all terrorists? When every single terrorist is dead? But then a terrorist is only a terrorist once he's committed an act of terror. What about would-be terrorists? These are the ones you really want to eliminate, since most of the known terrorists, being suicide bombers, have already eliminated themselves. Perhaps Mr Bush needs to wipe out everyone who could possibly be a future terrorist? Maybe he can't be sure he's achieved his objective until every Muslim fundamentalist is dead? But then some moderate Muslims might convert to fundamentalism. Maybe the only really safe thing to do would be for Mr Bush to eliminate all Muslims? It's the same in my street. Mr Johnson and Mr Patel are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dozens of other people in the street who I don't like and who - quite frankly - look at me in odd ways. No one will be really safe until I've wiped them all out. My wife says I might be going too far but I tell her I'm simply using the same logic as the President of the United States. That shuts her up. Like Mr Bush, I've run out of patience, and if that's a good enough reason for the President, it's good enough for me. I'm going to give the whole street two weeks - no, 10 days - to come out in the open and hand over all aliens and interplanetary hijackers, galactic outlaws and interstellar terrorist masterminds, and if they don't hand them over nicely and say 'Thank you', I'm going to bomb the entire s treet to kingdom come. It's just as sane as what George W. Bush is proposing - and, in contrast to what he's intending, my policy will destroy only one street.
re: The Effect of War on TelecomIraq's got oil man, not North Korea... don't you know that by now ?
---------- >Its not Iraq, its Pakistan. We prepare >to fight wars against countries like Iraq >and North Korea while ignoring pakistan, the >active helper of america's enemies and Saudi >Arabia whose nationals are the financial and >ideological backers of fundementalism and >terrorism.
re: The Effect of War on Telecomthis war is not about Iraq's oil per se. It's about the CONTROL of oil in that region. There is a big distinction here. Japan's industry will collapse in a week, if shippments of oil are stopped. The European governments are also faced with the same danger. So, what we are actually seeing is 2 separate wars. One against Iraq, and its threat to the mid-east Oil supply, and the other against economic powers such as the European Community, Japan and perhaps China in the future. The war against Iraq is relatively straight forward. The "competitive situation" that exists today against the EU and japan is a different story. After all, if one government controls the middle east, then that same government controls the lifeline of the major economies of the world.
I've heard some mis-informed people saying that Iraq is a threat to us, because of their WMD. If this were a war against WMD, then we would be going after N.Korea. If it were about terrorism, we would be going after Syria and Iran.
I always enjoyed Terry Jones (and the Pythons) humor.
"Peace through superior firepower" means that nothing is gained through weakness. If you possess the means to defend yourself - and others - in the face of aggression, the likelyhood of the aggression occuring goes way down.
The State of Israel exsists through UN charter establishing it's right as a nation. This right - in spite of numerous UN resolutions - is not recognized by it's neighbors. The Israelis are not so naive as to run to the UN and whine, "Hit them with another resolution!", they enforce their right to exist by the weight of their ability to defend themselves - "peace through superior firepower".
As an American, I find it interesting that the last time that Europeans got their panties in a wad like this was when Reagan deployed Pershing missiles in Germany in the early '80s, which was began the final chapter in the Cold War, and led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and Communism. No small wonder that the nations making up the Vilnius Group - which has supported the United States in it's actions - didn't protest the deployment of the Pershings then, and recognize that action against a brutal dicatator like Saddam will only serve to improve our collective security.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile--hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
"The Americans will always do the right thing - after they have exhausted all the alternatives." - Sir Winston Churchill
re: The Effect of War on TelecomOK you guys. What started out as a spelling/grammar error quickly became a soapbox for emotions regarding Wore (er, uh, war). I think emotional elevations are inevitable, but also that rational logic is perhaps more effective (er, uh, affective?).
re: The Effect of War on TelecomWant a sure-fire way to fund the war/decrease the deficit (your choice)? Have the U.S. claim all the monetary debt that it is owed by the rest of the world.
re: The Effect of War on Telecom>OK you guys. What started out as a spelling/grammar error quickly became a soapbox for emotions regarding Wore (er, uh, war).
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There is a country that has:
1) Developed weapons of mass destruction and
the means to deliver them.
2) Started a war against one of its neighbors in
the past few years.
3) Supported the Taliban financially, militarily
and diplomatically. And had to have its intel
assets rescued from Afganistan during the
fall of the taliban.
4) Supports terrorism
5) Supported Osama bin laden and his organization.
6) Has provided shelter for the terrorists
since they were expelled from Afganistan.
Its not Iraq, its Pakistan. We prepare
to fight wars against countries like Iraq
and North Korea while ignoring pakistan, the
active helper of america's enemies and Saudi
Arabia whose nationals are the financial and
ideological backers of fundementalism and
terrorism.