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The war on terror has been going on for 15 years now - are there more terrorists in 2000 or 2015? Sooner or later, we will have to come to the realization that

The war on terror has been going on for 15 years now - are there more terrorists in 2000 or 2015? Sooner or later, we will have to come to the realization that terrorism cannot be eliminated by force. Stop destabilizing Arab countries, stop imperial interference in Northern Africa, and perhaps we'll see an end to this nonsense.

teleclimber 11y ago
I agree with you. Unfortunately these attacks tend to strengthen the resolve of the people who want to reshape the middle East. The other complicating factor is that not-intervening will mean sitting on our hands while civilian populations get badly treated by their governments. What to do? what to do? I don't know the answer.
rythmshifter 11y ago
I'm curious, under what logic would this stop or get any better if we allow the cancer to grow?
- littletimmy 11y ago
  By the same logic that a wound heals when you stop poking the scab. If there's any lesson from the past 15 years, it is this: state engineering does not work. Period. You cannot control it. You don't "allow" anything. You cannot stop anything. The forces are beyond your control. Americans and Europeans have to step out of the colonial mindset of trying to control the world. Then we'll have peace.
  - oldboyFX 11y ago
    Then we'll hopefully have peace, perhaps. > By the same logic that a wound heals when you stop poking the scab. Except that our governments see themselves as providing first aid to an infected wound. Infected wounds only get worse without treatment. > If there's any lesson from the past 15 years, it is this: state engineering does not work. Period. Their intention was (probably) good, execution on the other hand was less then stellar. > You cannot control it. You don't "allow" anything. You cannot stop anything. The forces are beyond your control. 1940's France would beg to disagree. The Allies in WW2 clearly stopped the Axis powers and controlled their aggression. > Americans and Europeans have to step out of the colonial mindset of trying to control the world. Agreed.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  War on Terror is causing the cancer.
  - eva1984 11y ago
    So just give up and offer your good will???
    - littletimmy 11y ago
      To be clear, "giving up" here means stop screwing with other countries. Yes, that's an outstanding strategy. While you're at it, also stop supporting terrorist regimes like Saudi Arabia.
      - sampo 11y ago
        > stop supporting terrorist regimes like Saudi Arabia. In your earlier comment you wrote: > Stop destabilizing Arab countries Isn't supporting the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia pretty much supporting stability? How can you stop supporting a dictator without a big risk of causing destabilization (as happened in Libya)? Seems like you want two logical opposities simultaneously?
        littletimmy 11y ago
        Or it means that the US has a double-standard approach where it stabilizes favorable dictatorships (Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait) and destabilizes unfavorable dictatorships (Libya, Iraq) and democracies (Egypt 60s, Iran 50s). How about getting out of other people's countries?
    - TeMPOraL 11y ago
      Yes. Treat terror attacks as any other act of organized crime. It's stupid to do otherwise, given that the very point of terrorism is to make you do anything else.
      - mercurial 11y ago
l33tbro 11y ago
Do you think tonight's actions were solely about economics and politicalstatus? Could they, and the January attacks, have also have been attributed to a specific reading of the Qur'an?
- littletimmy 11y ago
  "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions." - Karl Marx Interpretations of the Quran can be a channel for rage, but they are not the cause of it. If they were, we'd have Moroccan terrorists and Malaysian terrorists and Turkish terrorists, all of which we don't have. We have Arab/Pashtun terrorists, mainly from countries where the West interferes. Is that a coincidence?

teleclimber 11y ago

I agree with you. Unfortunately these attacks tend to strengthen the resolve of the people who want to reshape the middle East. The other complicating factor is that not-intervening will mean sitting on our hands while civilian populations get badly treated by their governments. What to do? what to do? I don't know the answer.

rythmshifter 11y ago

I'm curious, under what logic would this stop or get any better if we allow the cancer to grow?

littletimmy 11y ago
By the same logic that a wound heals when you stop poking the scab. If there's any lesson from the past 15 years, it is this: state engineering does not work. Period. You cannot control it. You don't "allow" anything. You cannot stop anything. The forces are beyond your control. Americans and Europeans have to step out of the colonial mindset of trying to control the world. Then we'll have peace.
- oldboyFX 11y ago
  Then we'll hopefully have peace, perhaps. > By the same logic that a wound heals when you stop poking the scab. Except that our governments see themselves as providing first aid to an infected wound. Infected wounds only get worse without treatment. > If there's any lesson from the past 15 years, it is this: state engineering does not work. Period. Their intention was (probably) good, execution on the other hand was less then stellar. > You cannot control it. You don't "allow" anything. You cannot stop anything. The forces are beyond your control. 1940's France would beg to disagree. The Allies in WW2 clearly stopped the Axis powers and controlled their aggression. > Americans and Europeans have to step out of the colonial mindset of trying to control the world. Agreed.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
War on Terror is causing the cancer.
- eva1984 11y ago
  So just give up and offer your good will???
  - littletimmy 11y ago
    To be clear, "giving up" here means stop screwing with other countries. Yes, that's an outstanding strategy. While you're at it, also stop supporting terrorist regimes like Saudi Arabia.
    - sampo 11y ago
      > stop supporting terrorist regimes like Saudi Arabia. In your earlier comment you wrote: > Stop destabilizing Arab countries Isn't supporting the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia pretty much supporting stability? How can you stop supporting a dictator without a big risk of causing destabilization (as happened in Libya)? Seems like you want two logical opposities simultaneously?
      - littletimmy 11y ago
        Or it means that the US has a double-standard approach where it stabilizes favorable dictatorships (Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait) and destabilizes unfavorable dictatorships (Libya, Iraq) and democracies (Egypt 60s, Iran 50s). How about getting out of other people's countries?
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    Yes. Treat terror attacks as any other act of organized crime. It's stupid to do otherwise, given that the very point of terrorism is to make you do anything else.
    - mercurial 11y ago

l33tbro 11y ago

Do you think tonight's actions were solely about economics and politicalstatus? Could they, and the January attacks, have also have been attributed to a specific reading of the Qur'an?

littletimmy 11y ago
"Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions." - Karl Marx Interpretations of the Quran can be a channel for rage, but they are not the cause of it. If they were, we'd have Moroccan terrorists and Malaysian terrorists and Turkish terrorists, all of which we don't have. We have Arab/Pashtun terrorists, mainly from countries where the West interferes. Is that a coincidence?