- I'll agree with one official statement regarding the
war on terrorism, is will be a long, protracted fight.
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- We will be fighting an enemy we have never faced before.
Ourselves.
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- Presently, we have barely begun to examine why we were
attacked, though others in the world are quick to point it out. Human nature
being what it is, we will avoid this task as long as possible, until it
becomes obvious that only a thorough examination of the causes will end
this war.
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- Presently, we are in the throes of revenge, anger, hate,
and a host of other emotions that will impede our rational faculties. We
say we were attacked because we are hated and envied for our wealth and
freedom. Oddly, the number one suspect is a multi-millionaire. And countries
with a higher per capita income and equal or greater freedoms do not fear
attack. I think it safe to say this is not why we were attacked. It is
a canard whose purpose is to hold at bay any true examinations of the problem
and to gain emotional support for more lead way in government action.
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- The answer to why we were attacked is at once both simple
and complicated. It is the result of political system as difficult to profile
as the melting pot population of this country. Yet it is as simple as understanding
the fact that no one suffers an injustice forever.
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- Many readers will swell with anger at the idea of America
having a role in the cause of this attack. But without objective examination,
we will not enable ourselves to control our own destiny. We will be at
the mercy of our unguided emotions and victims of those who control our
foreign policy for special interests; not the interests of our nation as
a whole.
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- Information, facts and reason and a return to the founding,
constitutional principals of this country will cure us of misplaced trusts
in the media and our government's foreign policy. But it is a Herculean
task. From toddlers on we are indoctrinated into the team spirit that prohibits
self-examination of the game. Noam Chomsky and the rest of the greasers
who cut the prep rallies are to be shunned for their gauche social introspection.
Winning is the only thing. And it is measured only in terms of today's
score. Victors need not concern themselves with repercussions from a vanquished
enemy.
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- Then the rules changed.
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- Now we are fighting an enemy that will not take no for
an answer. These zealots who want to dictate our foreign policy are not
willing to stand in line to give millions of dollars to our politicians
for their special interests. And there will be no signing of a treaty to
end this war. We personify the enemy as a band of fanatics intent on destroying
us, as indeed they are, but they will be replaced if the reasons for their
attacks are not rooted out as thoroughly as the perpetrators. Most disturbing
to us are those characteristics we cannot identify with. A strong, if not
perverted, belief in an afterlife makes for a dangerous adversary. This
is all the more reason to realize the true path to peace, even if that
means seeing our own naked selves in the process. Honesty can seem intolerable
at times, but we cannot afford to avert our attention from the truth. Our
country is at stake.
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- We have a long history of behavior that has led to foreign
policy blunders. Fact of the matter is, for all our talk, we don 't much
care for free markets if we can 't hedgemony our bets. This is only a facet
of the many reasons for foreign policy problems, but it is a major one.
Whether it is bananas, sugar, rubber, drugs or oil, we like to make sure
we have a steady supply at a good price. USMC General Smedley Butler's
30 year career leading campaigns around the world was portrayed in his
autobiography titled "War is a Racket" in which he told how in
the end he realized the fight was not for democracy but for Wall Street
and the banks. Things have not changed in the seventy some years since
he retired. The Cold War reinvigorated our imperialistic drive. Either
covertly or publicly we have become the control freak of the world. Do
we do more harm than good? Does the end justify the means?
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- What kind of people do we want to be? We have left a
wake of innocents beyond the pale. What kind of pragmatic argument can
be made for 250,000 civilians during the Gulf war, where we committed war
crimes by targeting social infrastructures irrelevant to the task of liberating
the monarchy of Kuwait: an oxymoronic, fool's errand that belied the financial
reasons for the war.
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- Many prefer to cast off such declarations as the rave
of a misinformed misfit. But a little research beyond the mainstream will
lead to the reputable facts regarding this and other atrocities that seldom
appear in the more popular media and provide us a proper mirror with which
to view our actions. As my ole drill instructor used to say, "If the
shoe fits, wear it."
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- Our intervention in Iraq, like our dealings with Bin
Laden and other former operatives, is one of many examples of a repeating
pattern. We go in for an immediate and temporary fix, with or without installing
a puppet, and after a political shift; either we or the indigenous victims
have to rectify the problem with the resulting carnage. Marcos, Suharto,
Ho Chi Min, Pinochet, Noriega, Idi Amin, Baby Doc, the Shah of Iran; the
list is extensive. The innocent victims are innumerable.
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- But there is a twist. Our fear of being denied a natural
resource has led to such a Machiavellian mess that we are now truly in
danger of losing access to resources. Military might will not win this
war without annihilating every last potential enemy or by killing our country
by turning it into a police state. Being a good neighbor in a world that
is a neighborhood of nations is the only way to secure a peaceful and prosperous
world.
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- Our money is as good as anyone else's is in this world.
Moslem, Jew, Christian and otherwise, everybody likes to do business. We
can argue for intervention in the name of national security, but after
September 11th, one can make a better argument against it.
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- More importantly, the taking of an innocent life that
results from behavior that should have been checked long ago is not an
act for which one can proudly wave the flag. We'll now go into Pakistan
and other places and we will do what we will do. But if we do not soon
examine the cause of blowback, we and others will suffer more losses of
life and property. Moral considerations, previously excluded in many foreign
policy decisions, have suddenly become very practical.
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- Jingoistic, blind support of our country's actions never
really was patriotic. Now it's just plain dangerous so long as it diverts
us from facing our own responsibility for our situation. We are self-sovereign
Americans, not subjects of a state or another sovereign. This is what made
us great and is now our path to maintain that greatness. We cannot leave
this nation's destiny in the hands of special interests, regardless of
any short-term financial gain we may incur, for we will surely learn there
is always a price. George Washington said it succinctly, "Beware foreign
entanglements."
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- I often heard that with freedom comes responsibility.
I must admit I never quite understood this. Seems like freedom should be
free, no strings attached. But now I think I see how this might work. It
may be that a live and let live policy is proactive. We have a responsibility
of making sure our nation lives and lets live. It is a practical and moral
choice.
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- This tragic event can give us the impetus needed to take
a good look at our actions without the rhetoric of mainstream media and
government. Only by examining why we were attacked will we be safe in the
future.
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- Comment
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- From Donnie Marlo Otto
ottoboys@lsol.net
10-13-1
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- In response to article named "War on Terroism -
War on Ourselves!"
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- I absolutely agree with every word in your article titled
"The War On Terrorism -The War On Ourselves" posted at Rense.com.
Finally someone with brains!
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- Not that there hasn't been some other good articles previously
but compared to what the mainstream media puppets for Corporate America
are saying.
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- I've always said we cannot allow Corporate America run
government. I've worked many years for large corporations and they usually
treat their employee's like a number and are quick show you their big stick
and threaten you with discipline when you disagree with their policies.
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- Corporations are just a microcosm of the now governmental
macrocosm. This must change!
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- It really is no longer capitalism what we have now, I
call it CORPORATISM!
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- Although if you look up the word capitalism in the dictionary
you'll find that it's actually an ugly and evil thing. Basically It means
to take advantage of some one whom is at a disadvantage. Whom do you think
that would be? Like the weak, the elderly, the poor, the uninformed, the
uneducated, and so on! Kick them when their down, and a sucker is born
everyday, sort of philosophy. This is nothing but Bovine Scatology!
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- Some of my friends say i'm a minority in my thinking,
but that's ok. Most people are just sheeple anyway and I don't care to
follow them. My father always said to me, "Don't be like a sheep!
If one jumps of the cliff they all will follow!" Which is exactly
what I see happening, or at least that's what the power brokers and their
oil soaked media puppets want us to believe! I personally would rather
be like a goat and help bump their asses off their high perch!
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- The media has people believing that if you are not for
their war then you are un-patriotic or un-American. a friend of mine said
that if you don't like America you should leave. Some even say you should
be prosecuted for treason for not wanting war. This has nothing to do with
loving America, you can love America and still dislike the policy makers
policies! And it is not un-patriotic to want to affect change. It is our
constitutional right to speak out and to vote for change.
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- I say, a TRUE PATRIOT is one whom would rather find the
root causes and those that supported these insane policies that got us
into this hell, and prosecute them! Those that would rather turn a blind
eye to what's been going on over the last fifty years, and just use the
big stick on those that get in our way are the true un-PATRIOTIC, un-American!
Those that seek to change our "Bill of Rights" or our "U.S.
Constitution" are traitors and should be prosecuted for treason or
expelled from this great country!
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- Our philosophers and physiologists have long told us...
"You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar!"
But our leaders still don't get it! They would rather pack a big smart
bomb and exterminate or nuke there opposition.
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- The bible says, "Blessed are the Peacemakers!"
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- I say, If you are not a peacemaker then you are a warmonger!
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- Thanks for helping me know that I am right in my thinking!
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- Donnie Marlo Otto / OttoBoys www.mp3.com/OttoBoy
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