You are the president of the United States - what would you do?

[Athena]

So some radical muslim group just attacked your major city, and thousands of people died. How do you respond?

We've heard a lot about what should not be done; what is the right thing to do?

[dor]

Originally Posted by Athena

So some radical muslim group just attacked your major city, and thousands of people died. How do you respond?

We've heard a lot about what should not be done; what is the right thing to do?

First thing to do is ask 'why' its certainly not because 'they hate our freedoms'.

[songwriter]

I guess... aply the laws. But If I was really the president of whatever country I will resign, I don't want to be that...

[ElizaJ]

After the 9/11 attack on U.S. soil, a war should have been waged against the terrorists that attacked the U.S. The U.S. should never have invaded Iraq. That war was started by warmongers and war profiteers and no good will ever come of it.

[dor]

Originally Posted by ElizaJ

After the 9/11 attack on U.S. soil, a war should have been waged against the terrorists that attacked the U.S. The U.S. should never have invaded Iraq. That war was started by warmongers and war profiteers and no good will ever come of it.

I agree, but again, I would say 90% of Americans still have no idea as to why Bin Laden attacked, and the president basically lied about the reasons - "they hate our freedoms" is almost insulting in its stupidity.

[Shaden]

I know many people are probably going to say this, but I'd resign straight away. Presidentiality is not a good place to be. Plus I'm secretly a communist...

[ElizaJ]

They attacked the U.S. because they perceive the U.S. to be a warmonger and to foment wars for profit. So they thought they would give the U.S. a taste of their own medicine.

[gberardi]

Originally Posted by dor

First thing to do is ask 'why' its certainly not because 'they hate our freedoms'.

People did ask why. They were accused to giving aid and comfort to the enemy (the definition of treason, which is not something I think a lot of people know) for daring to say that maybe there was something that the United States could have done to prevent it other than preemptive strikes.

[dor]

Originally Posted by gberardi

People did ask why. They were accused to giving aid and comfort to the enemy (the definition of treason, which is not something I think a lot of people know) for daring to say that maybe there was something that the United States could have done to prevent it other than preemptive strikes.

If there is any traitor, it is George Bush.

They attacked the U.S. because they perceive the U.S. to be a warmonger and to foment wars for profit. So they thought they would give the U.S. a taste of their own medicine.

Why do you think 99% of Americans don't the know real reason and Bush never said the real reason and to this day most American media outlets won't say the real reason? Let's see what Bin Laden actually said:

Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' | Special reports | The Observer
While seeking Allah's help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans:

(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:

(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.

a) You attacked us in Palestine:

(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily.

(ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this.

When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) - and we make no distinction between them.

(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone.
__________________________________________
I am not saying you have to agree - but the fact that it isn't even discussed points to something fundamentally wrong and deeply disturbing.

[ElizaJ]

George Bush and Dick Cheney and friends and corporate cronies have betrayed the American people. They are all laughing all the way to the bank and that's all they care about.

[Athena]

Is extend an olive branch and tell them we forgive and love them an option?

Maybe give them a gift of a few billion to build up legitimate enterprises in their countries?

[Dharma]

Originally Posted by Athena

So some radical muslim group just attacked your major city, and thousands of people died. How do you respond?

We've heard a lot about what should not be done; what is the right thing to do?

Terrorism, in essences, make us aware of that which we don't want to be aware of. It has to come through with such shock to make us pay attention. It is also a sign of desperation.

So part of me is trying to wake me up to something that I keep pushing out of my awareness and now it is so blatant I can no longer blow it off. I am now forced to see this part of self AND RESPOND to it.

The initial response would be to support those that are effected in the city and put protection in place for other cities and targets.

The next response would depend of what happens after the attack. What do I feel, what do I know now? What was hidden from my awareness that is now out in the open. Is there new information? What do the muslims say is the reason for their attack? Once that is known, action can be taken, starting with myself.

[dor]

funny on wayne dyer's podcast he commented that the more attention we give terrorist the more power they get.

I agree to some extent, but it's also important to realize that its a reaction to specfic policies and actions by the US. Until Americans come to grips with this we're not going to get anywhere.

[placebo]

People in America are just 1/5 of world population but they are spending more than 30 percent of complete world energy. There are so many hungry mouths around the globe but Americans don't want to lower their standards. They want to drive their cars and use cheap oil, have much more money than they really need. And trying to prove them that they are wrong would be fatal for me as a president .

[Baltar]

Originally Posted by dor

Why do you think 99% of Americans don't the know real reason and Bush never said the real reason and to this day most American media outlets won't say the real reason? Let's see what Bin Laden actually said:

(Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you?
Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple:

(1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us.

a) You attacked us in Palestine:

(i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years.[B] The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; <snip>

This may be what he said, but it's not Bin Laden's real cause. His vocalized link to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is seen mostly as a PR campaign to rally support among Muslims. Actual history goes like this: during the Soviet-Afghanistan war which started in 1979, the US actively supported Bin Laden and his Mujahideen which formed the core of the resistance to the Soviet invasion.

Fast forward to 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. The Saudi royal family was very concerned that Hussein would invade Saudi Arabia. Osama Bin Laden (who by the way was born to a wealthy Saudi family) offered the royal family to provide protection from Hussein using his Mujahideen. They didn't take him very seriously and basically told him to take a hike. Now this is where it gets interesting. Wikipedia quote:

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, bin Laden offered to help defend Saudi Arabia (with 12,000 armed men) but was rebuffed by the Saudi government. Bin Laden publicly denounced his government's dependence on the U.S. military and demanded an end to the presence of foreign military bases in the country. According to reports (by the BBC and others), the 1990/91 deployment of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia in connection with the Gulf War upset Muslims because the Saudi government claims legitimacy based on their role as guardians of the sacred Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina.

After the Gulf War cease-fire agreement left Saddam Hussein remaining in power in Iraq, the ongoing presence of long-term bases for non-Muslim U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia continued to undermine the Saudi rulers' perceived legitimacy and inflamed anti-government Islamist militants, including bin Laden.

After openly criticizing the Saudi royal family for allowing the US to keep military bases on sacred Muslim soil, Bin Laden was exiled to Sudan (later, due to international pressure he was forced to move to Afghanistan). US military presence in Saudi Arabia was the real reason for why Bin Laden started attacking US targets. US military bases in Saudi Arabia were finally removed in 2003, but the damage has been long done.

The terrorist attacks by Bin Laden ultimately come down to two fatal mistakes made by the US government. First was leaving Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War. This should be clear to everyone right now considering that a second war was started anyway, during which Hussein was removed and eventually executed.

The second major mistake was leaving a military presence in Saudi Arabia. This was probably not necessary even with Saddam in power, but certainly wouldn't have been necessary if he was removed from power during the first Gulf War. I think it's very likely that Bin Laden wouldn't have become a terrorist if US troops weren't left in Saudi Arabia for so long, even if they were put there temporarily to drive Saddam out of Kuwait.

It's shocking how many mistakes the US government has made over the years by staging coups (ever wonder why Iran hates us so much?), supporting dictators (this particular link is ironically about US support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, with a great photo of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Hussein's hand), and interfering with other countries' governments in all kinds of ways. A lot of this history gets forgotten by the younger generations. Sadly, all our government tells us is that some bad guys decided to attack our country for no reason. Things are a lot more complex than that. Americans need to start learning history if they are to understand the current political world climate.

[ChefSalad]

1/5!!! Man, you're way off. We are only 300 million out of 6.5 billion. That's 1/20 of the world population. But that's not the reason we were attacked. It's because we wouldn't stop meddling in the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs in the Middle East.

And, yes, we know we're pigs. Most people just don't care. That and it's very difficult to live in the US without being an energy hog. We just don't have the mass transit infrastructure to dump cars in most cities. (Although every city with mass transit has no problems with keeping the seats filled.) That and our cities are very far from each other. It's costly to transport goods between cities.

I'm going to guess that you're European. I once had a German visit me where I live, in Michigan. Halfway through his stay, he announced that he was going to visit DisneyLand (in Florida) the next day. It took almost a half-hour for him to believe that it's a 36 hour bus ride from Michigan to Florida. New York is over 50 hours by car from Los Angeles. Contrast this to the distances between major European cities and you'll begin to see why we suck a lot more energy on moving things around.

I will say, though, that we do eat too much. It's just too easy with meat being cheaper than vegetables (seriously).

[dor]

Baltar: the first mistake was getting involved in 'passionate foriegn attachments' and forgeting that a country can 'only be trusted as far as their interests' -- as george washington warned us over 200 years ago.

are you saying our support of israel has nothing to do with it and it's just PR? you know that even the 9-11 report said our support was a factor and one of the commisioners said that israel's lobby is so powerful they were able to get it played down (but not out) and you're also ignoring what jimmy carter has said, and the bi-partisian baker commission -that our lobsided support of israel is destablizing the region? And again, why do we support it?
as for attacking iraq, so you're in support of the war? how old are you? young/old enough to serve? are you?

and where and when did this become the purpose of the US goverment and US army? What is disturbing about Bush (though it really starts with TR, accelerates with FDR and Clinton and Johson were pretty bad) is that he is operating outside the constitution - he's just more or less doing what he wants, and carrying out agendas that are extra-constitution.

[Baltar]

Originally Posted by dor

are you saying our support of israel has nothing to do with it and it's just PR? you know that even the 9-11 report said our support was a factor and one of the commisioners said that israel's lobby is so powerful they were able to get it played down (but not out) and you're also ignoring what jimmy carter has said, and the bi-partisian baker commission -that our lobsided support of israel is destablizing the region? And again, why do we support it?

I'd have to read up about all the history that leads to US support for Israel to really answer your question. But I think that the cold war played a big part. The Soviet Union supported the Arab nations, so naturally the US had to support Israel since it was the only opposition in the region.

as for attacking iraq, so you're in support of the war? how old are you? young/old enough to serve? are you?

Today I think the war was/is a huge mistake, although given the evidence that was presented when it began (weapons of mass destruction, etc.) I thought it was a good idea. However my opinion about the war isn't important. The point is that it did happen, Saddam Hussein was toppled, and if this was done during the first Gulf War then the second one would've never happened. And perhaps 9/11 would've never happened either since it's likely that the US troops would've not been kept in Saudi Arabia with Saddam Hussein removed from power (he was the only threat in the region).

[dgorila1]

How do we know "they" (Osama, muslims, whomever...) were the ones that orchastrated the 9/11 attacks and all the other "terrorist" events over the years? Check out www.infowars.com for a different perspective. Watch the movie TERRORSTORM and it will open your eyes and make you see things in a different light. All is not as it seems. Conspiracy theory......maybe.....we will never know though! But you can either be one of the sheeple with blinders on or an informed person....your choice.

[LifeFirst]

Originally Posted by Athena

So some radical muslim group just attacked your major city, and thousands of people died. How do you respond?

"Get me Jack Bauer....NOW."

[billybrads]

Everything is exactly as it is meant to be...
If we are to embrace this in our lives, must'nt we embrace it for our countries, our wars, our politics

To say we should have never gone into Iraq is probably an understatement, but we are there now, we have created total chaos. With the country the way it is right now I would probably support sending troops to stablize it at this point. That's where reality gets complicated, for me.

In any case I also believe the first question asked after 9/11 should have been why did they do this. And of course 'they hate our freedoms' is an answer for a simpleton and someone with a limited understanding of human behavior, but isn't that exactly what George Bush is.

Yea, a lot of companies are making a lot of money over war, but I don't necessarily think George Bush was lieing when he told the American public that they attacked us, because they hate out freedom. I think he actually believed this himself.

I can still remember the day it happened and how uncomfortable I felt amongst all the brew ha ha, kick their ass, nuke em mentality, talk, and rah rah patriotism. I understood though that these people are operating under the parameters they think our correct, but it is really just a shame that they don't see things from a more human perspective.

The problem isn't that George Bush brainwashed the ignorant masses, it is that George Bush is part of the brainswashed ignorant masses. This isn't Plato's Republic, the philosophers aren't kings. The people elect leaders that reflect their values, so what we get is mediocrity.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Baltar

I'd have to read up about all the history that leads to US support for Israel to really answer your question.

i suggest you do that here is a good place to start (not the smearing and name calling that comes from the Pro Israel groups - their only response) Walt and Measheimer were the two most respected profs in the US - one had to give up his chair at harvard for this - self evident proof of 'the lobby':

LRB | John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt : The Israel Lobby
The Israel lobby debate

In March the London Review of Books published John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's essay 'The Israel Lobby'. The response to the article prompted the LRB to hold a debate under the heading 'The Israel lobby: does it have too much influence on American foreign policy?'.
The New York Review of Books: The Storm over the Israel Lobby
Not since Foreign Affairs magazine published Samuel Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations?" in 1993 has an academic essay detonated with such force as "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy," by professors John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Published in the March 23, 2006, issue of the London Review of Books and posted as a "working paper" on the Kennedy School's Web site, the report has been debated in the coffeehouses of Cairo and in the editorial offices of Haaretz. It's been called "smelly" (Christopher Hitchens), "nutty" (Max Boot), "conspiratorial" (the Anti-Defamation League), "oddly amateurish" (the Forward), and "brave" (Philip Weiss in The Nation). It's prompted intense speculation over why The New York Times has given it so little attention and why The Atlantic Monthly, which originally commissioned the essay, rejected it.

[bylto]

Talk to the so-called enemies. Drop the "we don't negotiate with terrorists" line. It starts with talking. I'm from the north of Ireland where our war was ended when people finally decided to sit down and talk to eachother. I know this is the only way for a fact. FORCE BEGETS FORCE - It will never end. There might be a lull for a while but it will arise again.

I know Jesus' recommendation to 'Love our enemies' is often easier said than done but it's the only way that brings lasting peace. Thanks

Mark

[smallstar]

Cheers,

I wonder where the 'good old days' diplomacy has gone. In the 15th-19th century, when wars were fought, they usually lasted until the outcome was clear. After that, the losing side yielded and gave up a region, sometimes even receiving a fairly decent monetary compensation. After that, both sides were relatively happy - one for having won, the other for being spared.

The occupation of Iraq was quite an opposite example to that. How could they ever think that the country could retain stability after all existing power structures had been destroyed, and after the leaders had been made into martyrs? A 'good old days' diplomat would, after invading Iraq, probably have confederationalized the system at the most, giving more power to existing regional leaders, divide et impera, letting Kurdistan to go officially its own way, even bribing Saddam into cooperation by retaining him as the ruler of Tikrit. That would have accomplished the main problem (eliminated the military threat and the suspected WMD). After that, the puppet government would have plenty of time to slowly introduce democratic-Western values into the system.

[dor]

Originally Posted by smallstar

Cheers,

The occupation of Iraq was quite an opposite example to that. How could they ever think that the country could retain stability after all existing power structures had been destroyed, and after the leaders had been made into martyrs?.

idealogy maketh fools of us all the neocon's embraced Fukiyama's "end of history' thesis- long after he even disowned it (basically - if you spread democracy all problems would be solved and borders would dissolve and we'd all be one happy family.

not the first time it's happened and unfortunately, not the last.

[placebo]

Yeah, i took calculator and i see what percentage of 6.5 bilion is 300mil.
American economy was born on car industry. Everything was build so megalomanic that will force people to buy more cars. Also it is a luxury for a kid in highschool or college to own a car. And in America that is normal. You can't change habbits of one society, especially when they are force no.1 in the world.
We should combine socialism with capitalism (Swedish model). It is too cruel that some people(minority) are becoming richer while their neighbours are starving. Just a littlle more sensitivity can do miracles in America

[Mr.Mustache]

When Al-quada (I hope I spelled it right) attacked america and succeded we found out just how dangerous they were. Bush made the right choice going after bin laden. However, Saddam Hussein showed few signs of danger and I personally didn't feel like my rights were threatened but Bush jumps head first in Iraq wasting our tax dollars on someone who wasn't a danger at all. WMDs were not found.

Now is the time to set everything straight in Iraq and head home. We do this by setting a series of goals set within a certain time period and we don't leave until all the goals are reached.

[Antiventurecapital]

Originally Posted by placebo

People in America are just 1/5 of world population but they are spending more than 30 percent of complete world energy. There are so many hungry mouths around the globe but Americans don't want to lower their standards. They want to drive their cars and use cheap oil, have much more money than they really need. And trying to prove them that they are wrong would be fatal for me as a president .

Americans are only 5% of the world's population not 20 and we consume 25 to 30% of global resources.

[songwriter]

Well, I said some things... but as things as just like they are and there's no other possible pasts. If I was the president of America now... I would be George W. Bush, so I would do the same because I would be him.

[Nicketas]

Originally Posted by Athena

So some radical muslim group just attacked your major city, and thousands of people died. How do you respond?

We've heard a lot about what should not be done; what is the right thing to do?

This has happened in the U.S. before, but with pirates/guerillas instead of arabs. The only thing that is different and shocking about 9/11 is that two big buildings fell down. Death is tragic either way you look at it.

The solution to such a problem already exists.

Marquis of Reprisal.

A constitutional doctrine that authorizes targeting ONLY those directly responsible for the attack.

You arrest or kill those responsible.