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With the slight twist that if we didn't have all this secrecy going on we might not have engaged in the kind of behavior that made people decide it was worth fo

With the slight twist that if we didn't have all this secrecy going on we might not have engaged in the kind of behavior that made people decide it was worth forfeiting their very lives to strike at us.

drivingmenuts 16y ago
With all due respect, the current problems with terrorism have roots that go much deeper than the recent activities of our government(s). A lot of, if not most of, the current tension in the Middle East dates back to just after WWII, when someone decided it would be a good idea to stick all the people that no one wanted (but wouldn't come right out and say it) in the middle of a bunch of people who were ill-prepared to absorb them (and didn't particularly want them, either). That pretty much paved the road to our current little slice of Middle Eastern hell.
- Daishiman 16y ago
  The conflict with Israel is just a tiny fraction of the issues behind the Middle East problems. Much more substantial were the efforts of the US government to overthrow moderate regimes for hardlines who would support them, as well the UK's efforts to deliberately screw up the decolonization efforts by drawing up national boundaries with no regards to the inhabitants' will. It's complex, but it's ridiculously easy to see where things were wrong, and you don't need the hindsight either.
  - jbooth 16y ago
    Thanks. Don't leave out France, either, inventors of the dumbest system of government possibly in world history in Lebanon, and the proximate cause of about 30 years of civil war.
    - Daishiman 16y ago
      France practically invented modern state-sponsored terrorism with what they did in Algeria.
- Semiapies 16y ago
  We actually have an interesting topic, here - no particular need to start a long, all-consuming thread by throwing out a wildly-oversimplified bit of red meat.
- iuyhgthyujik 16y ago
  The tension in the middle east dates back to when ug the cavemen decided the sun was god and zog the caveman decided the moon was god. Take any news report about the middle east and replace the names with cananites, babylonians, persions, egyptians, romans, etc - the story doesn't change. In fact if you read any books by Josephus - it sounds just like CNN (except better written)
- jacquesm 16y ago
  I'd say it goes back to the Balfour declaration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917

drivingmenuts 16y ago

With all due respect, the current problems with terrorism have roots that go much deeper than the recent activities of our government(s). A lot of, if not most of, the current tension in the Middle East dates back to just after WWII, when someone decided it would be a good idea to stick all the people that no one wanted (but wouldn't come right out and say it) in the middle of a bunch of people who were ill-prepared to absorb them (and didn't particularly want them, either). That pretty much paved the road to our current little slice of Middle Eastern hell.

Daishiman 16y ago
The conflict with Israel is just a tiny fraction of the issues behind the Middle East problems. Much more substantial were the efforts of the US government to overthrow moderate regimes for hardlines who would support them, as well the UK's efforts to deliberately screw up the decolonization efforts by drawing up national boundaries with no regards to the inhabitants' will. It's complex, but it's ridiculously easy to see where things were wrong, and you don't need the hindsight either.
- jbooth 16y ago
  Thanks. Don't leave out France, either, inventors of the dumbest system of government possibly in world history in Lebanon, and the proximate cause of about 30 years of civil war.
  - Daishiman 16y ago
    France practically invented modern state-sponsored terrorism with what they did in Algeria.
Semiapies 16y ago
We actually have an interesting topic, here - no particular need to start a long, all-consuming thread by throwing out a wildly-oversimplified bit of red meat.
iuyhgthyujik 16y ago
The tension in the middle east dates back to when ug the cavemen decided the sun was god and zog the caveman decided the moon was god. Take any news report about the middle east and replace the names with cananites, babylonians, persions, egyptians, romans, etc - the story doesn't change. In fact if you read any books by Josephus - it sounds just like CNN (except better written)
jacquesm 16y ago
I'd say it goes back to the Balfour declaration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917