www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall the War and the homily

Dan- may I recommend a recent book to you? It is called "Imperial Hubris", by an anonymous intelligence officer. He makes the case that the Islamists do not hate us for our democracy or our way of life but because of our policies: blind support for Israel, support for Russia, India [polytheist oppressors of Islam] and China, all who are warring against Islam. He makes the point that the Islamists view their jihad as defensive . He further makes the point that in this Jihad Osama Bin Laden is seen as a heroic figure, as a wealthy man who has sacrificed the playboy lifestyle of his many brothers to live the life of an ascetic warrior, that he indeed lives a life reminiscent of the heroes of Islamic history.
Of course, "anonymous'" answer to this quandry is unacceptable to me; an unChristian acceptance of total warfare. [You might like it, but at least you would have a more realistic idea of what the West is up against]...
Check it out, it may enlighten you far more than whatever sources you are consulting to come up with the redundant ideas you are spouting...
-Daniel

Daniel, you can't force people to read and understand history and cultural perspective.

As a bit of historical reminder: 1983-Rummy meets personally with Saddam. 12 days after, the US publically informs the world that defeat of Iraq by Iran would be "contrary to US interests" (actual State Department statement).

March, 1984-Rummy back in Baghdad. On the same day Rummy was with Saddam (March 24th) a documented gassing of Iranian soldiers occurred, while Rummy was in Baghdad.

The State Dept. officially acknowledged on March 5th that Iraq had previously used gas. Rummy still went, met, and "talked shop" with his buddy Saddam.

When Rumsfeld was considering throwing his hat into the ring for the 1988 Republican primary, one of his self-stated "successes" was the improvement and normalization of US-Iraqi relations (interview with Chicago Tribune Magazine). When Rummy was the envoy, it is well known Saddam went on a buying frenzy of US-made defense equipment, including the helicopters which were documented later by CIA reports to have been used for gas attacks on the Kurds.

Rumsfeld cannot be found to have made any statement about the use of WMD during this time.
In 1988 the White House vetoed the Senate sanctions to prevent Iraqi access to US defense technology purchasing.

But eight years later Rummy could write an "open letter" to Clinton pleading him to eliminate the "threats" caused by Saddam. He knew, because he had facilitated access to some of that technology himself.

And not to mention how it is folly to attempt to force a hypothetical type of governance on a people that has absolutely no historical, political, or cultural background in that type of governance.

The beheadings, chaos, and other acts speak for themselves for how much "better" Iraq and the Middle East is now. Destabilized if anything.