What do you suggest?

Post #10,454 by Another Scott 9/25/01 2:43:58 AM Reply	What do you suggest? At risk of repeating myself... The US's first priority is tracking down the people responsible for the 9/11 attacks as quickly as possible and making sure they can't do similar things in the future. We apparently don't have agents in that organization. They're apparently well hidden (as we've been after them for many years). We need intelligence help, logistics help (to reach land-locked areas), political help, and military help. How do you find out who and where they are but by dealing with people who know more about them than we do? What do you think the US should do given the assumed first priority above? It's easy to criticize in the abstract, but things will only change if there are alternatives that the people in authority can agree upon. Cheers, Scott.
Post #10,457 by bluke 9/25/01 2:51:42 AM Reply	People and regimes don't change overnight Iran has been very anti-American and supportive of terrorists since the revolution in 1979. How much help do you think they will really give? Do you think that overnight they have changed their views? Talk is cheap. Iran, Syria, etc. have realized that this is an easy way to get some American money (lifting of sanctions) etc. without really changing.
Post #10,458 by neelk 9/25/01 2:51:56 AM Reply	Re: What do you suggest? First off, I suggest listening to the CIA, which has been saying VERY VERY loudly that they don't need to hire mass murderers and torturers in order to do their jobs. This is something I honestly never expected to see -- the CIA is complaining that its democratically-elected overseers is too concerned with getting the job done to respect human rights properly. This is so backwards in so many ways.
Post #10,459 by bluke 9/25/01 2:59:12 AM 9/25/01 3:10:36 AM Reply	Pakistan as an example The US imposed sanctions on Pakistan for 1. testing nuclear weapons 2. for the military overthrowing the civilian governement. Bush lifted those sanctions this past week. Has civilian rule returned? Have they given up their nukes? Lifting the sanctions was a bribe in return for support against Afghanistan. What are the long term implications of this kind of policy? Pakistan is now ruled by a military government that overthrew the elected civilian government. It is very clear that a large percentage of Pakistanis want to have nothing to do with any American campaign against Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Propping up the military government is not the answer, it will only make things worse. At some point, like in Iran the government will be overthrown and the new government will be very anti-American because the US propped up the previous dictator. This has happened time and time again. The US talks alot about freedom and democracy but when push comes to shove the US supports dictators and helps them stay in power because it thinks that those dictators serve US interests. This was one of the big mistakes of the Cold War period and is being repeated again. Edited by bluke Sept. 25, 2001, 03:10:36 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #10,461 by Another Scott 9/25/01 3:18:34 AM Reply	That doesn't answer the question. What should the US do?
Post #10,484 by tuberculosis 9/26/01 3:12:10 AM Reply	Carpet bomb all the Afghan settlements with Food, Cheap Radios (the wind-up kind) tuned to the VOA, Medicine, Literature on Democracy, and offers for rewards for help in bringing the world criminal to justice. Catapult the common people into the 20th century and empower them. Give them the warm fuzzies about the USA. Who's your buddy? Who's your friend? Its Uncle Sam isn't it. The most vicious weapon the US has against totalitarian regimes and nutty fundamentalists is our culture. Oh yeah, no bibles.
Post #10,489 by Another Scott 9/26/01 3:50:54 AM Reply	But the Afghan people aren't the problem. bin Laden's cadres aren't the Afghan people - they're fanatical ethnic Arabs and other fanatical people who aren't from Afghanistan. While helping the Afghan people is something we certainly need to do, it's not going to stop the terrorists we know are out there. They'll have to move out of Afghanistan if the US is successful, but many/most of them are scattered around the world already ("cells in 60 countries"). I don't think it's a solution to the immediate problem. Cheers, Scott.
Post #10,510 by tuberculosis 9/26/01 5:56:45 AM Reply	No, they are part of the solution If you want to know about someone, ask their neighbors. The locals are more likely to know where these guys are operating and presumably some of them will get greedy for goodies and turn the guy in. It happens.
Post #10,628 by marlowe 9/27/01 1:17:53 AM Reply	I have my doubts about that. Even so, give `em a try (nomsg [link\|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html\|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html]

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