# Osama Asks for Truce - what is our response? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 19, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685 "2006-01-19T18:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/61 "2006-01-19T22:49:25Z")
> [@Linear Crack](#): > > Sure it would be nice if everyone went home and played nice, but for all we know “truce” can be the trigger word for sleeper cells in the U.S. to go on the move. > -LC Somebody better warn the Nuclear power plants in case of a remote controlled meltdown. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/62 "2006-01-19T23:00:22Z")
> [@Gringo\_Miami](#): > > Cite please? The Casablance Conference said that the ONLY grounds for ending the war was “Unconditional Surrender” [Casablanca Conference Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_conference) > > FDR set the terms and Truman carried them out. > > One of the reasons for my OP in this thread is that I think GWB should make a clear, indisuptable statement, now, that the only appropriate fate for Bin Laden, Zawahiri and others is either death or trial - and the venue for the trial should be the US Courthouse in Lower Manhattan. That is as close to “unconditional surrender” as I can think of in this context. well gee whiz–sounds like the return of the criminal justice paradigm that served us so well before the commander in chief decided he needed a war as a fashion accessory. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/63 "2006-01-19T23:14:00Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Again, Jordan’s support for Bin Laden has collapsed since that poll (see my first cite). But Jordan wasn’t a much of a problem for the US. Sure, Zarqawi is “from” Jordan, but remember that he is ethinically a Palestinian. My point remains-- the hotbeds of al Qaeda recruiting are still hotbeds. They may have worn out their welcome in Iraq, but then they weren’t welcome there before we invaded, so net/net we’re no better off then before the invasion even if the Iraqis kick them completely out. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/64 "2006-01-19T23:16:15Z")
> [@Gringo\_Miami](#): > > Today, according to CNN and other news sources - Osama Bin Laden has offered a truce to the US [ENTIRE CNN STORY](http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/19/binladen.tape/index.html) > > I quote part of the article: > > How would you answer this if you were President? > > My answer - No truce. Frankly, I was originally very supportive of the war, and in recent months had begun to waver, being very much reminde of Viet Nam. I did not go completely against the war in my feelings, but the trend was there. Now, after this statement, my support for the war is refreshed. I have arrived to the conclusion that Al-qeada does want the US to stay in Iraq as it diverts resourses to hunt them were their leaders are, IIRC, the foreign rebels in Iraq are only a very tiny part of the insurrection. I think many of the local insurgents are just happy to claim many of their actions are coming from the big boogieman. > [@Gringo\_Miami](#): > > If he is mentioning truce, (assuming it is really Bin Laden) then he must be hurting, and we must be on a very effective path! his intent is to make our resolve stronger and remain boggled down in Iraq. I am afraid the current administration will follow the designs of the bastard. > [@Gringo\_Miami](#): > > What is YOUR opinion? That we should never forget that Iraq was not a part of the war on terror, only Osama and the administration would like it to remain that way. Oh, and as I supported the invasion of Afghanistan, the answer to his truce offer is: \*\*\*To the 3rd rated sith lord wannabe: Nuts. Sincerely, the United States of America.\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/65 "2006-01-19T23:16:25Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > This is a fair point, and one worth considering. Offering a truce before a major attack is a good PR move - it makes him look magnanimous. it might be more than just pr He speaks extensively of the polls and Bush’s mischaracterization of them Speaking from the belly of the blue beast, I am prepared to venture a guess that the Golden Gate is in no peril from ‘Sama–Thanks, Bill O’ Reilly you stupid shit. I think we should send 'sama a google sat. shot of your office, asshole. (Like O’reilly excoriating San Fran and giving 'sama carte blanche was going to increase OUR risk. ---
**Author:** ![Gringo\_Miami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@Gringo\_Miami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gringo_Miami)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/66 "2006-01-19T23:23:14Z")
> [@alaricthegoth](#): > > well gee whiz–sounds like the return of the criminal justice paradigm that served us so well before the commander in chief decided he needed a war as a fashion accessory. that statement is as clear as mud… care to elucidate? I truly have no idea what you are trying to say. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/67 "2006-01-19T23:29:03Z")
i’ll make a few more shots in the dark. It will not be the new york subway, or any subway–it will not be poor people It will probably (duh) be Texas. Maybe houston, refineries? Pipes? not oil, natural gas(bigger bang.,)Conveniently, the petrochemical industry for reasons that need no elaboration, has largely escaped the hardening recommended by the 9/1 1 commission report card (actually, the card itself is probably a pretty good roadmap for what to expect.) it will not be trivial (don’t want to step on your own 9/11 lines) ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/68 "2006-01-19T23:33:53Z")
> [@Gringo\_Miami](#): > > that statement is as clear as mud… care to elucidate? I truly have no idea what you are trying to say. fair enough–I was implicating the ongoing pissing match (here and in the wider world) between the lynchers and the law’n’orders. Bush more or less chose up a lynch mob(the “this is war you are with us or against us and we’re calling the close ones against you”. It is a methodology which renders its practitioner uniquely susceptible to manipulation by the politically savvy guerilla, as has been our fate thus far. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/69 "2006-01-19T23:38:06Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > He’s a wanted criminal, who murdered almost 3000 people on American soil. You don’t make truces with wanted murderers, you hunt them down and bring them to justice. That’s exactly what I think. That bastard needs to serve 3000 life sentences in the worst prison in the US. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/70 "2006-01-19T23:44:01Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > That’s exactly what I think. That bastard needs to serve 3000 life sentences in the worst prison in the US. No, that’s too good for him. He should spend 3000 life sentences in solitary confinement in a noiseless room with a constant level of dim light, with tepid water and bland food shoved under the door on occasion. About once a week he gets moved into an identical adjacent cell while the first one is hosed down. He never sees or hears another human being for the rest of his hopefully long natural life. If he goes crazy or hurts himself banging his head on the floor, tough noogies. Only when the secret hidden camera confirms that he is actually permanently dead do the doors open. At that point he is secretly cremated and his ashes disposed of in the sewer. Oh, and the exact location of the cell and the state of his health is never, ever mentioned again. For practical purposes he vanishes from the earth. But then, I’m not in charge of these things. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/71 "2006-01-19T23:54:59Z")
Why is it that people assume that Osama bin Laden is a liar because he’s a terrorist. That his word isn’t good. I think that’s a big assumption. It goes well with the American Cognitive Dissonance that allows them to think that they are innocent victims while declaring their God given right to drive a mockup of a miiltary vehicle that gets 7 miles per gallon. I actually think that if this letter is really from Osama bin Laden, and if we were willing to take him seriously, and he did come out of hiding to sign something, that we could probably trust his word. Of course, he’s only one man, and terrorists don’t have a centralized power structure, so all he can do is promise that HE won’t attack us anymore. I dunno, I am willing to believe Osama is a standup guy who is very honestly fighting for what he believes in. What he believes in happens to be detrimental to us, but that’s neither here nor there. Erek ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/72 "2006-01-19T23:56:21Z")
That being said, no one is going to even contemplate it seriously, so it’s really irrelevant. Erek ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/73 "2006-01-19T23:59:11Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Why is it that people assume that Osama bin Laden is a liar because he’s a terrorist. That his word isn’t good. I think that’s a big assumption. It goes well with the American Cognitive Dissonance that allows them to think that they are innocent victims while declaring their God given right to drive a mockup of a miiltary vehicle that gets 7 miles per gallon. > > I actually think that if this letter is really from Osama bin Laden, and if we were willing to take him seriously, and he did come out of hiding to sign something, that we could probably trust his word. Of course, he’s only one man, and terrorists don’t have a centralized power structure, so all he can do is promise that HE won’t attack us anymore. > > I dunno, I am willing to believe Osama is a standup guy who is very honestly fighting for what he believes in. What he believes in happens to be detrimental to us, but that’s neither here nor there. > > Erek First of all, I don’t drive an SUV or a Hummer. Second, he didn’t write a letter. He was on a video tape. Third, well, I can’t say the rest of what I think because this is the wrong forum for that type of thing. Let’s just say that OBL is the farthest thing from a “standup guy” that I can imagine. “Standup guys” don’t go around murdering people in cold blood. “Standup guys” don’t cut the throats of journalists. ---
**Author:** ![David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_God_of_Frogs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/74 "2006-01-20T00:05:28Z")
> [@sam stone](#): > > Scroll down to that bottom of that page, and look at the table titled, “Confidence in Osama Bin Laden”. You’ll note that the only two countries where it rose were Pakistan and Jordan. Since this poll was taken, opinion of Bin Laden has collapsed in Jordan, due to Zarqawi’s ill-advised bombing of a muslim wedding there (see my first link). I was going to say, Pakistan is only a couple of times bigger than the country that attacked us, and has nukes, and has demonstrated a willingness to sell them to God-knows-who. If we were going to go anyplace after Afghanistan, it should have been there, if we could get enough of a coalition together. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/75 "2006-01-20T00:07:57Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > First of all, I don’t drive an SUV or a Hummer. > > Second, he didn’t write a letter. He was on a video tape. > > Third, well, I can’t say the rest of what I think because this is the wrong forum for that type of thing. Let’s just say that OBL is the farthest thing from a “standup guy” that I can imagine. “Standup guys” don’t go around murdering people in cold blood. “Standup guys” don’t cut the throats of journalists. No they just take lobbyist kickbacks and invent phony moral justifications to invade a country and steal it’s resources. ---
**Author:** ![Noctolator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Noctolator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noctolator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/76 "2006-01-20T00:10:39Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > First of all, I don’t drive an SUV or a Hummer. > > Second, he didn’t write a letter. He was on a video tape. > > Third, well, I can’t say the rest of what I think because this is the wrong forum for that type of thing. Let’s just say that OBL is the farthest thing from a “standup guy” that I can imagine. “Standup guys” don’t go around murdering people in cold blood. “Standup guys” don’t cut the throats of journalists. Not that I am one to rush to the defense of OBL but I think he is equivalent to the movers and shakers in our administration in every way. I don’t really classify either party as being made up of any standup guys. Though OBL is a far better performance artist, I’m not sure I’d be into his standup. ^\_\* To compare OBL and the Bush White House: Religious fanatic /check/ with policies of dubious success [check] and limited popularity within his own constituency /check/, who holds the lives of the smallfolk cheap[check], and does not share in the common conception most on this board surely do of human rights/check/, reverence for life /check/ and so on. At least, for him, freedom is not a sly war cry of shameless land grabs. They don’t want land – they want sovereignty on the land they live in – and they want it to be free of US imperialist meddling. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/77 "2006-01-20T00:11:43Z")
**Mswas** , aren’t muslem extremist are allowed, even obligated to lie to infidels in such matters to achieve their ends? Also how would this truce help us? But on another note, perhaps we can call his bluff, so to speak. Offer him a free pass, let him sign a treaty, He will never show IMHO. My response to him - bring it on, baby! Your words ring hollow, your actions have been ineffective, and to be frank, we know where you are and are using you to find other Al Quida operatives and kill them, just like your #4 man recently killed by our predator drone attack, even though your #2 man escaped that attack. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/78 "2006-01-20T00:12:20Z")
The difference here is, if a murderer doesn’t hide the fact of what he is, then his word can still be worth something. Everything that I have ever heard him say, his actions give me reasonable evidence to believe that he means it. He said he wanted to hurt America, he did hurt America. He explained why he was hurting America, and he did it well. What reason do you have to believe he’s a liar? I am not saying you should trust him, but people here have called him a liar. He feels that he is defending his people from an Imperialist aggressor that doesn’t care about him and his people. I agree with his assessment of his adversary, though I don’t think he is doing much good for his people in the end. But we’ll see what comes out in the wash. So what justification do you have to believe he’s a liar? Because he prosecuted a war? Do you really believe that? Are you really buying the propaganda about the evil enemy? The villain is just the hero for the other side bro. Anyway, I started a pit thread if you want to bash me there. [Moral Relativism in the United States Foreign Policy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354925) Erek ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/79 "2006-01-20T00:18:34Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > **Mswas** , aren’t muslem extremist are allowed, even obligated to lie to infidels in such matters to achieve their ends? Not that I’m aware of. > [@](#): > > Also how would this truce help us? It wouldn’t really. I am not advocating it. Only rolling my eyes at people judging his honesty. I don’t think they have any basis. He was pretty honest about it, he said he’d attack us and he did. > [@](#): > > But on another note, perhaps we can call his bluff, so to speak. Offer him a free pass, let him sign a treaty, He will never show IMHO. Of course he wouldn’t. Even if he did he has no jurisdictionaly authority over terrorism being decentralized like it is. > [@](#): > > My response to him - bring it on, baby! Your words ring hollow, your actions have been ineffective, and to be frank, we know where you are and are using you to find other Al Quida operatives and kill them, just like your #4 man recently killed by our predator drone attack, even though your #2 man escaped that attack. Heh Erek ---
**Author:** ![Gringo\_Miami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@Gringo\_Miami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gringo_Miami)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685/80 "2006-01-20T00:30:31Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > The difference here is, if a murderer doesn’t hide the fact of what he is, then his word can still be worth something. I do agree with you on one point. He is a murderer. A cold blooded, psychotic animal who attacks innocent people because he hears his God’s voice in his head. \ OK… if you want to accept his word… lets go back to the truce - I asked for your response if you were President… so…let’s hear it… what would you be saying to this guy when he brought you a truce? A truce (in wartime) is an invitation to negotiate. Those of us who do not take his word are perfectly willing to bring him to justice, swiftly… I am interested to hear what YOU would do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osama-asks-for-truce-what-is-our-response/340685.md?page=5)