I would say that RexDart’s brand of instant surrender is more than a little disproportionate.
I wonder what some people might have posted on December 8th, 1941?
Regards,
Shodan
Just our of curiousity, what make you guys think that this situation (terrorism, etc.) can adequately be described in “win/lose” terms? It seems to me like they don’t fit at all.
Oftentimes terrorism is carried out with a specific aim in mind. For example, the IRA had the goal of kicking out the British, the Hezbollah had the goal of kicking out the Israelis, the Contras had the goal of making it impossible for the Sandinistas to carry out their program, the U.S. has the goal in Iraq of removing Saddam from power, etc. Thus, in these cases, if the goal is acheived, then the terrorists have won.
Al Quaeda has the stated goal of kicking the U.S. out of Saudi Arabia. Whether they will achieve this goal, and thus “win,” remains to be seen.
Some facts about the wonderful people’s revolution in Nicaragua. It killed just as many people as the contra rebellion.
I know, you have to break some eggs to make socialist mayonaise. Those deaths were unfortunate but necessary, not like imperialistic capitalistic deaths. Those are bad.
Well lets hope that the vast majority of Americans have a great deal more courage than you are displaying. What do we do if the terrorist demands are something that we are unwilling to concede to? How do you remove the motivations for the Timothy McVeighs, Ted Kazcinskis, Dylan Harriss and Eric Klebolds of the world? Does the entire world walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting the unstable elements within society?
So why don’t you strap on a pair and lets go kill some terrorists!
The Sandinista rebellion (your website cannot even spell Sandinista correctly) was a rebellion against a corrupt and bloody dictatorship. The Sandinistas instituted a democratic government that was supported by the vast majority of Nicaraguans. In the election in 1984, with over 70% of the electorate voting, the Sandinistas won 67% of the vote. The 1984 election stands as one of the most remarkable examples of democracy in history. Under attack from a foreign power, the Sandinistas supplied free media time and electoral funds to all opposition parties, including the front group for the Contras. Nothing even remotely similar has ever occured in any western country.
The Contras, on the other hand, were nothing more than a U.S. proxy terrorist army. They wouldn’t have lasted a week in the field without massive support from the U.S.
Maybe you don’t see any difference between a popular uprising to oust a blood-soaked dictatorship and a foreign supported mercenary army attacking the civilian infrastructure, but I do.
Chumpsky, have you heard of the Soviet Union? They provided more than a little material support to the reds you love so much. That makes your people’s revolution little more than “foreign supported mercenary army.” From “my” website:
Sorry you don’t have a basic command of the facts. Fact remains: the Sand(whatever)nistas killed just as many people as the contras. Your dismissiveness when confronted with the bloodletting is not surprising. Inconvenient facts can be erased once the ‘people’ take over.
More socialist mayonaise.
Completely false.
The Sandinista revolution was an internal revolution. The Sandinistas had no help from the Soviets during the revolution. After the Sandinistas took power, and were attacked by the U.S., they attempted to obtain weapons from western powers, in particular France. But, the U.S. pressured its allies to not provide any weapons to Nicaragua, forcing the Sandinistas to go to the Soviets to obtain weapons to defend themselves against the U.S. attack.
You see, “Soviet MiG” is so much better for propaganda purposes than “French Mirage.”
Your knowledge of the Sandinista revolution is breathtaking. Sandinista comes from Sandino, a Nicaraguan hero who fought the U.S. marines in the 1920’s.
I fully support the right of oppressed peoples to overthrow their oppressors. Do you think Nicaraguans should not have overthrown Somoza?
It is simply obscene to compare the Contra attack to the Sandinista revolution.
"Well lets hope that the vast majority of Americans have a great deal more courage than you are displaying. What do we do if the terrorist demands are something that we are unwilling to concede to?"
So you are saying we should concede nothing, just to show who’s boss on the important stuff? That kind of “courage” comes from being the only superpower. As they say, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour; it may be time to realize that it is too costly to maintain such a powerful worldwide presence.
As these figures don’t show which side is doing the killing it should be blindingly obvious that they prove nothing. Nor do they include those killed by the Samoza regime before it was overthrown.