# What mainstream media won't say: The fatal flaw in President Bush's "War on Terror". **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 9, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552 "2003-09-09T16:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/21 "2003-09-09T19:04:13Z")
Rereading this, I declare it really is the stupidest OP I’ve read for a long while. I mean, regardless of the contention that Bush is full o’shite, I’m all like Hello?!? Logic?!? All penguins live in the Antarctic… all penguins are birds… therefore all birds live in the Antarctic! Stands to reason, doesn’t it! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![stick\_monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@stick\_monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stick_monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/22 "2003-09-09T19:44:56Z")
Or my new favorite logic argument. : : God is Love : : Love is Blind : : Ray Charles is Blind : : Therefore: : : Ray Charles is God. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/23 "2003-09-09T20:24:12Z")
**GOM** , that kind of blunt assertion tactic may work over at the _Parlor_, but you should know after 600 posts that it won’t fly here. Same goes with cites from WorriedNutsDaily. You might as well be quoting from the Bob Jones University school newsletter as far as objectivity goes. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/24 "2003-09-09T20:43:33Z")
Hey, Dopers! I am here to assure everyone that the SECRET ORGANIZATION OF INTERNATIONAL IGNORANCE FIGHTERS[sup]TM[/sup] is rapidly approaching its goals of mobilization by the end of the year. Next year, we shall engage in massive purges/liquidations/pogroms against everyone who disagrees with Cecil, ever. Yes, that’s right, you faithful Dopers. We are in a position to eradiacate ignorance once and for all. We shall kill everyone who ever had a disagreement with us, the True Scotsman Dopers, not those infidel apostate 1920’s-Style “Death Rays” who encourage un-Doper-like behaviors of “tolerance” and “intillectual engagement.” Soon, I assure you, we shall defeat our enemies, Cecil willing. One more thing. I speak for all Dopers. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/25 "2003-09-09T20:46:03Z")
> [@](#): > > From **stick monkey** > : : God is Love > : : Love is Blind > : : Ray Charles is Blind > : : Therefore: > : : Ray Charles is God. Actually, Mr Charles played a godlike figure named “Julius” in a poor 80s film about this woman who thought she was selling her soul to get ahead in the soybean futures market. I forget the name. Needless to say, the film’s particulars were quite forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/26 "2003-09-09T21:53:13Z")
The movie was “Limit Up”. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/27 "2003-09-09T22:41:24Z")
I admit it. I am the Ayatollah SPOOFE, and we have been secretly planning to oust non-Muslims for years, in the name of Allah. We have planted insurgent agents at convenience stores across Great Satan, and any second now we will use our Muslim Control Ship in orbit to transit a signal that will instigate all Muslims, worldwide, to attack. Your only Christian hope is to hop into your royal starfighters and try to blow up the ship… but our shields are too strong! Muhammed is with us! Resistance is futile! And when come back, bring pie! ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/28 "2003-09-09T23:13:38Z")
GOM, if God told you to hijack a plane and crash it into a building, would you do it? Would it be any more evil than hacking apart Amalekite babies? ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/29 "2003-09-09T23:16:15Z")
I have never heard anything so ridiculous. On _Match Game_, Brett Sommers is the _second_ panelist! Not the fifth! ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/30 "2003-09-09T23:19:37Z")
Since you know the truth, **GOM** , perhaps you’d care to share it with the class in specificity. There are ~1 billion people on the planet who claim to follow Islam, give or take a couple hundred million. How many of them are violent? How many have to be killed? I understand if you have to make a rough estimate for each of those numbers. And damn you, **Hamlet**. I had successfully eradicated my schoolboy sick-day memories of Match Game, and now they’re back. You will pay! ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/31 "2003-09-09T23:24:38Z")
To find people who advocate genocide, one need go no further than a _certain_ Christian message board. Christianity is a violent, warlike religion. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/32 "2003-09-09T23:38:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\* How many have to be killed? > \*\* Whoah- did GOM actually suggest that kind of extermination? Because I don’t think I saw anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/33 "2003-09-09T23:50:04Z")
I made those separate questions and included a request for an estimate for each of them for a reason. We’re gonna kill some perople who claim to follow Islam, **Ben**. We’re doing it now, and we’re gonna be doing it for a decade. This is a _good_ thing. Specifically, we’re out to kill or otherwise defeat those people who intend violence against civilians, whether they be in American office buildings or Iraqi mosques. I think, and most people think, that the number is tiny – maybe as low as the single-digit thousands. The OP seems to be opining that Islam generally is a violent religion and that the Bush administration and the press are covering up the propensity to violence. One reasonable inference is that he believes that the total number of people who have to be defeated is much, much larger than is currently believed. Thus my questions. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/34 "2003-09-10T00:02:51Z")
> [@](#): > > How many of them are violent? All of them. Every single one, a mindless killing machine, programmed from youth to exterminate anything and everything non-Muslim. That’s why there’s so much unity between different Muslim sects and nations. Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_Mexico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@Roger\_Mexico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_Mexico)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/35 "2003-09-10T02:04:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GOM \* > \*\*Fascinating… > > hmmm > > Let’s see. Can you spot the lie? > > 1. Islam is a peace-loving religion. > > 2. The God of the Bible and the God of the Qur’an are the same. > > 3. We are not at war with Islam. > > 4. Terrorists like Osama bin Laden have corrupted their religion. > > 5. Islam doesn’t promote the killing of innocent women and children. > > 6. Al-Qaeda is a fringe group of radical extremists. > > 7. Arabs will be satisfied with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. > > 8. Our politicians and the media tell us the truth. > > 9. The world is safer now than it has ever been. > > * * * > > Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. > > - Jesus - > \*\* The lie is: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth doesn’t set you free, the truth makes you go crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/36 "2003-09-10T02:11:42Z")
I wonder where Bush will retaliate if Al Qaeda does get another stunt … then we can see the Israeli - Palestinian reciprocal revenges soap opera in a global scale. As for Islam and Christianity… both are very violent. ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/37 "2003-09-10T14:36:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMC \* > \*\* > > By your reasoning, Christians are all a bunch of folks who dance jigs on the graves of dead gay people. Phelps certainly thinks he speaks for all “true” Christians. \*\* No. That is exactly opposite from my reasoning. Who is Phelps? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/38 "2003-09-10T14:47:16Z")
Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, creator of the currently down website God Hates Fags, the man who picketed Mister Rogers’s funeral because Rogers wasn’t anti-gay enough, the man who picketed the gay high school in NYC, the man whose website (when it was working) carried a page that ticked off the days that Matthew Shepard has been in Hell, the man whose website had a Princess Diana page immediately after her death that called her some horrible names. Phelps is one of the more famous anti-gay allegedly-Christian loonies… ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/39 "2003-09-10T14:50:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stick monkey \* > \*\*Or my new favorite logic argument. > > : : God is Love > : : Love is Blind > : : Ray Charles is Blind > : : Therefore: > : : Ray Charles is God. \*\* He’s the best! Isn’t he? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552/40 "2003-09-10T14:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jayjay \* > \*\* > > Phelps is one of the more famous anti-gay allegedly-Christian loonies… \*\* Then he’s an idiot. Thank you for using the qualifier “allegedly”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-media-wont-say-the-fatal-flaw-in-president-bushs-war-on-terror/200552.md?page=3)