# 9/11: How We Shouldn't Have Responded **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476 "2011-09-07T05:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/21 "2011-09-07T08:51:10Z")
This article is seriously so poorly-conceived, naive, and out-and-out racist that it makes me angry to believe it exists, but I feel compelled to riff it. > [@](#): > > Ten years ago, on September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked on its own soil by agents of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. None of the hijackers were Iranian, Syrian, or Iraqi, nor were any of them “agents” of any country. I got to this point before my eyes went blurry and I felt my urge to kill rising… > [@](#): > > Everyone can remember the response of everyday, rank-and-file “moderate” Muslims: in Gaza, in Iran, in Cairo, in London, in Paris, in Indonesia, in Patterson, New Jersey, in Brooklyn, New York, in Dearborn, Michigan, celebrated, passed out candy, danced in the streets, and shouted their hatred for the U.S. This did NOT happen. I believe there were one or two incidents of people “celebrating” in Gaza, but there were most CERTAINLY not Muslims in " London, in Paris, in Indonesia, in Patterson, New Jersey, in Brooklyn, New York, in Dearborn, Michigan" dancing in the streets on 9/11 and proclaiming their hatred for America. > [@](#): > > Pakistan subsequently descended into an anarchy which continues to this day. India’s military has turned back hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis looking for refuge in India, often having to fire on crazed mobs… > Palestinians by the tens of thousands streamed for safety to Egypt, Syria and Jordan and established impromptu refugee camps. Gaza is now fully Israeli (it has since become the Israeli “Silicon Valley”), as is the West Bank. Hooray for ethnic cleansing! THAT’LL teach those Muslims to go around trying to get rid of people who aren’t like them! > [@](#): > > “Let no one claim that Islam was hijacked by terrorists. The Koran was the magic flying carpet on which the hijackers rode.” “Magic flying carpet?” Is the author even TRYING to pretend he’s not just a racist jackhole? > [@](#): > > Previously, on September 23rd, President Bush ordered the freezing of all Arab assets in U.S. banks, and the confiscation of all Arab-owned property in the U.S., which included office buildings, vacation resorts, and other real property. Yes, because that worked SO well when we confiscated Japanese assets in WWII. I could go on, but from this point on the narrative just descends into a bunch of ridiculous nonsense that treats all Muslims like a cross between the Orcs and the Borg, every man, woman, and child of which deserve to be rounded up and shot for the crime of praying differently. And nuking Mecca? SERIOUSLY? It’s like these people think geopolitics is like Warcraft, and all you have to do is destroy the enemy’s Town Hall and then you win the map. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/22 "2011-09-07T09:04:00Z")
I bet the author never kissed a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/23 "2011-09-07T10:07:01Z")
It’s probably only a month or so since a poster on this very board was arguing that Carter should have nuked Tehran in response to the hostage crisis. Because what’s killing all the hostages and millions of civilians, heating up the Cold War by nuking a country right next to the Soviet Union, inflaming Muslims everywhere, alienating all our allies and driving the price of oil through the roof during an already unstable period of oil pricing when you compare it to the ability to shout “BOOYAH! USA! USA! USA!” from the comfort of your armchair in Tulsa? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/24 "2011-09-07T10:41:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > This did NOT happen. I believe there were one or two incidents of people “celebrating” in Gaza, but there were most CERTAINLY not Muslims in " London, in Paris, in Indonesia, in Patterson, New Jersey, in Brooklyn, New York, in Dearborn, Michigan" dancing in the streets on 9/11 and proclaiming their hatred for America. And in fact there were Iranians holding candlelight vigils in sympathy. Who in this writer’s scenario would be nuked by America. Kind of symbolic. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/25 "2011-09-07T10:43:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The writer knows nothing about technology. Drones don’t operate from submarines. Those of us in the defense biz beg to differ. Not deployed yet, but we’re [working](http://www.lockheedmartin.com/how/stories/cormorant.html) on [it](http://www.robotshop.com/gorobotics/articles/robots/volans-and-sothoc-submarine-launched-uavs). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/26 "2011-09-07T11:29:59Z")
_Can_ a stealth bomber be launched from a carrier, as the author suggests? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/27 "2011-09-07T11:35:36Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Those of us in the defense biz beg to differ. Not deployed yet, but we’re [working](http://www.lockheedmartin.com/how/stories/cormorant.html) on [it](http://www.robotshop.com/gorobotics/articles/robots/volans-and-sothoc-submarine-launched-uavs). Irrelevant really, since this supposedly happens in an alternate history ten years ago, not in the future. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/28 "2011-09-07T11:43:12Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > I bet the author never kissed a girl. I bet he’s kissed a sheep, though. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/29 "2011-09-07T13:15:02Z")
Sorry, but once I read the line about “the United States was attacked on its own soil by agents of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq…” it was abundantly clear there wasn’t much point in reading further. No doubt there are idiots who are willing to buy what the author is selling, but, well, they’re idiots. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/30 "2011-09-07T13:40:42Z")
Dear Sirs: I have never heard of _Capitalism Magazine_ before, but I assure you that if I \*did have \*a subscription, I would demand that you cancel it _IMMEDIATELY_! Warmest Regards, **V. Turnip** (Ret’d) ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/31 "2011-09-07T13:56:28Z")
Sadly, this is the standard Conservo-porn I have been hearing espoused by my Reagan-head FIL for the last decade. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/32 "2011-09-07T16:06:46Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Those of us in the defense biz beg to differ. Not deployed yet, but we’re [working](http://www.lockheedmartin.com/how/stories/cormorant.html) on [it](http://www.robotshop.com/gorobotics/articles/robots/volans-and-sothoc-submarine-launched-uavs). > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Irrelevant really, since this supposedly happens in an alternate history ten years ago, not in the future. The important thing is, they’ve started along the road of revenge! One hopes they are concurrently developing nukes for these drones as well. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/33 "2011-09-07T16:57:01Z")
I don’t really care about the author, but who on Earth accepted to publish such idiocies?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/34 "2011-09-07T17:14:12Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Irrelevant really, since this supposedly happens in an alternate history ten years ago, not in the future. Yeah, but in that alternate history we wouldn’t have NAMBY-PAMBY LIBERAL WIMPS telling us not to build AWESOME NUCLEAR DRONES. So military technology would naturally have moved orders of magnitude faster. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/35 "2011-09-07T17:16:17Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I don’t really care about the author, but who on Earth accepted to publish such idiocies?😕 Someone who emphasizes profitable pandering to a market demographic above good taste. So, pretty much anybody in commercial media. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/36 "2011-09-07T17:23:59Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Sadly, this is the standard Conservo-porn I have been hearing espoused by my Reagan-head FIL for the last decade. No, this isn’t standard conservo-porn. This is conservo-tentacle-scheiss-porn. This is the stuff that makes Dick Cheney say “What the fuck is wrong with you dude?” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/37 "2011-09-07T17:24:21Z")
Man, The simple writing in that was so bad, never mind the ideas. The author purports to be a novelist too. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/38 "2011-09-07T17:48:01Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What I find particularly amusing is that this comes from an Objectivist periodical, who are all about the supremacy of reason. :dubious: Suuuuuuure it is. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/39 "2011-09-07T17:57:00Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Sorry, but once I read the line about “the United States was attacked on its own soil by agents of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq…” it was abundantly clear there wasn’t much point in reading further. > > No doubt there are idiots who are willing to buy what the author is selling, but, well, they’re idiots. Idiots who vote; that’s what’s scary. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476/40 "2011-09-07T19:06:19Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > [http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/war-peace/sept-11th/6557-our-post-9-11-world-a-ten-year-retrospective.html#disqus\_thread](http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/war-peace/sept-11th/6557-our-post-9-11-world-a-ten-year-retrospective.html#disqus_thread) > > This “alternate world” is really an ode to gratuitous nuclear mass murder, and rabid, illogical Islamophobia. In fact one wonders whether it is a parody of neocon attitudes to the post-911 world but it is deadly serious in arguing that if we had simply bombed Mecca the Muslims would give up in fear for lack of divine judgement. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: What I find particularly amusing is that this comes from an Objectivist periodical, who are all about the supremacy of reason. :dubious: We should have nuked every other country in the world. There are muslim sects living in London too. That can not be allowed. We could have solved the problem once and for all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/9-11-how-we-shouldnt-have-responded/595476.md?page=3)