Obama's Thoughts on 9/11 Attackers- Page 2

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:01pm

ok, on a more serious note, the solution to this problem is not one of guns and power but one of education. just like most. when children are not taught to hate, they won't. the question then is how to survive until we get to a point where ignorance is countered with education? that's where the war comes in. but it cannot be simply war, war. there has to be more to it than just destruction of those who would destroy you or your allies.

i was struck by a somewhat simplistic note, but one that hit home at the end of the movie charlie wilson's war. after the mujaheddin - with our help and hundreds of millions in war materiel - had tossed the soviets out of afghanistan, charlie wilson was begging for just one million in order to build a school. he was laughed out of the halls of power. we're never going to get everything right, but we have to get a few more right. petraeus did that in iraq. a good strategy implemented brilliantly by our troops. one that made the troops a part of the communities.

i truly believe that our best ambassadors to the world are our military personnel. they are the one who are meeting the people in the streets and i for one am damn glad it's them and not some bureaucrat. they are out there showing people everyday that americans are not what they have been taught to hate. for every fabricated haditha there's 50 tal afars that are never reported.

the key is education. just like it is here. when people understand that the people they hate and fear are more like them than they are different, it will be harder to convince them to kill one another. but when we cannot convince people here that the glbt community is not some icky scary commune of pedophilic vampires, we've got a ways to go.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:09pm

i for one am damn glad it's them and not some bureaucrat.

You mean, like Karen Hughes, appointed by Bush to be Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs?

[DG]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:12pm

papa - not that I need convincing, but I wish those that don't 'get you' would try to wrap their heads around your last post.

That being said - "i truly believe that our best ambassadors to the world are our military personnel", is a statement that begs understanding by someone like me. I get what you're saying, but it is SUCH a slippery slope.

The "faith" issue, as PJ pointed out, is at core of so much of this. I happen to think it exists across a broad spectrum of 'beliefs'.

I just am not convinced that attempting to stomp something into the ground is viable - it seems too much like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose, to me.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:13pm

Dammit papa, stop making me agree with you. I agree with abut 90% of what you said.

Stop make me doubting myself!
Updated On: 7/14/08 at 09:13 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:14pm

To a large extent the reason they hate us has a lot to do with our support of Israel.
Ok, so now we "understand" why they want us dead. It changes nothing.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:16pm

Taz, it is not just Israel.

Bin Laden's focus were bases in Saudi Arabia, and infidels desecrating the area. Those bases have now been removed (I believe) but it is more than just Israel. It is our support of dictators who are our oil junkies.

[DG]

Posted: 7/14/08 at 9:21pm

And, the unconditional support of Israel should perhaps not be taken for granted as a 'given'. Not everything having to do with that scenario is a one-sided affair.