7 ms·

Why We Must Act

27 points by conover 13y ago

aqme28 13y ago
First off, [1999]. Second, Why was this submitted? Was it an attempt to draw comparisons with Putin's plea for us not to bomb Syria?
- trekky1700 13y ago
  I believe so, and it did so superbly.
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    Are you saying the following? Russia : Chechnya :: USA : Syria Because that would indicate an impressive level of geographic, cultural, and political ignorance. Congratulations!
- JTon 13y ago
  Both thoughts came to my mind as well. As aside, I really enjoyed the article
ryanackley 13y ago
Chechnya is a republic of Russia. Seems legit for him to exercise some authority over it and try to keep peace there and in other parts of his own country. I assume this has been posted to highlight some contradictory stance he is taking on Syria which is a sovereign country. Chechnya to Russia is not the the same as Syria to the USA.
- trekky1700 13y ago
  In 1999, Chechnya was its own republic. It was in 1999 that Russia launched a military campaign known as the Second Chechen War and took Chechnya back as a Russian state. Civillian casualty estimates during that war range from 25,000 to 50,000. It's all very complicated, of course.
- EastLondonCoder 13y ago
  Actually in 1999 Chechnya was an independent republic
davidw 13y ago
Political, mainstream news: this is pretty much by definition something that is supposed to be off topic here.
- mpyne 13y ago
  Let's let the upvotes decide, isn't that what we've been told about that Other Topic Which Shall Not Be Named? If enough people agree with you maybe this story will be flagged into oblivion. But I think it's a very interesting riposte to Mr. Putin's essay in the NYT from this week.
temuze 13y ago
> Then, in a flash, hundreds perish in explosions at the Watergate, or at an apartment complex on Manhattan's West Side. Thousands are injured, some horribly disfigured. Panic engulfs a neighborhood, then a nation. It's remarkable that he is arguing for strong military action as a result of terrorist attacks using this hypothetical scenario, which is eerily similar to 9/11. In retrospect, he was right - we took strong military action as a result as well.
amirmansour 13y ago
Wait, if this was published in 1999, then how could he mention 9/11?
- gringofyx 13y ago
  He didn't mention 9/11 - he mentioned the WTC "bombing" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing

27 points by conover 13y ago

First off, [1999]. Second, Why was this submitted? Was it an attempt to draw comparisons with Putin's plea for us not to bomb Syria?

trekky1700 13y ago
I believe so, and it did so superbly.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  Are you saying the following? Russia : Chechnya :: USA : Syria Because that would indicate an impressive level of geographic, cultural, and political ignorance. Congratulations!
JTon 13y ago
Both thoughts came to my mind as well. As aside, I really enjoyed the article

ryanackley 13y ago

Chechnya is a republic of Russia. Seems legit for him to exercise some authority over it and try to keep peace there and in other parts of his own country. I assume this has been posted to highlight some contradictory stance he is taking on Syria which is a sovereign country. Chechnya to Russia is not the the same as Syria to the USA.

trekky1700 13y ago
In 1999, Chechnya was its own republic. It was in 1999 that Russia launched a military campaign known as the Second Chechen War and took Chechnya back as a Russian state. Civillian casualty estimates during that war range from 25,000 to 50,000. It's all very complicated, of course.
EastLondonCoder 13y ago
Actually in 1999 Chechnya was an independent republic

davidw 13y ago

Political, mainstream news: this is pretty much by definition something that is supposed to be off topic here.

mpyne 13y ago
Let's let the upvotes decide, isn't that what we've been told about that Other Topic Which Shall Not Be Named? If enough people agree with you maybe this story will be flagged into oblivion. But I think it's a very interesting riposte to Mr. Putin's essay in the NYT from this week.

temuze 13y ago

> Then, in a flash, hundreds perish in explosions at the Watergate, or at an apartment complex on Manhattan's West Side. Thousands are injured, some horribly disfigured. Panic engulfs a neighborhood, then a nation. It's remarkable that he is arguing for strong military action as a result of terrorist attacks using this hypothetical scenario, which is eerily similar to 9/11. In retrospect, he was right - we took strong military action as a result as well.

amirmansour 13y ago

Wait, if this was published in 1999, then how could he mention 9/11?

gringofyx 13y ago
He didn't mention 9/11 - he mentioned the WTC "bombing" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing