http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/opinion/sunday/death-at-guantanamo-bay.html?_r=0 Just a reminder this kind of stuff happens and is part if the reason why "they hate us" or at least distrusts the US government- and why a stupid movie sparked widespread protests. There are things that this country does to Arabs and Muslims that you do not need to be a fanatic to get mad about.
Yeah, that was a good try by the Obama administration to close gitmo. Too bad the congress and GOP blocked it.
How did the GOP block it when the Dems had a filibuster proof majority and control of the House during Obama's first two years? And I don't really remember the debate around this, but would it have been possible (even if it had been poor politics) to close the facility by executive order?
Nice try reversing the roles of attacker and defender. So they didn't hate the USA before Gitmo? Remind me...did Gitmo exist before 9/11?
Remember the US was sponsoring rather brutal regimes in the region before 9/11? Remember that many member os Al Qaeda were born out of Mubarak's prison? These are, of coourse, no excuse for killing thousands at the WTC, just like they are no excuse for killing Ambassador Stevens. But they do tend to turn public opinion in Egypt against the US. It is one thing to have a negative opinion of the US and a whole different thing to resort to killing.
Agreed. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And there will always be individual lunatics in any large group. But what's worrying is that too many have such a negative opinion that they actually think violence and murder are somehow justified, excused or at least "understandable".
What then hell were we supposed to do? Undercut what for 30+ years was our second best ally in the region, an ally which co-existed peacefully with our best ally in the region in order to support the Muslim Brotherhood?
Keep telling yourself that, while Muslims kill more Muslims than they do non-Muslims. Keep telling yourself that while even OBL labelled over 1 billion Muslims infidels for not joining in violence against you. Keep telling yourself that while knowing that Muslims did not have any feelings towards the US before the US became interested in their countries. Keep telling yourself that while Muslims die at war for their America. While Muslims provide you the launching pads to kill other Muslims. While non-Muslims share the same sentiment for the people who did to them what you do to Muslims. While Muslims and non-Muslims increasingly get married to each other. While Muslims serve in your government. While Muslims build a community centre at the site of 9/11 to tell the extremists "We're with them". They're wallowing in victimhood. They're insecure. They hate us because we're not Muslim. They hate our freedoms. They're inherently violent. Their religion tells them to do it. All these excuses. But it's never the quantifiable things. It's never the millions of people killed. It's never the thing you dedicate half your budget to. It's never what it says in the leaks, in the congressional record, in the campaign speeches. It's never the fact that virtually all final candidates after World War II have been pro-imperialism. It's never the military bases. It's never the demonstrable support of tyrants. It's never the toppling of regimes, democratic or otherwise. It's never the arming of violent groups, for free or otherwise. It's never any of those things. It's always the ideological stuff. They hate America! They love Allahu Akbar! It's a War on Terrorism! They hate our religion, our freedoms! The Muslims and Arabs have been demolished since long before you guys were doing this. So they've seen the Ottomans doing this. They've seen the British doing this. They've seen their own tyrants doing this to them and others. They know how it goes. "But we're different" doesn't really cut it for them. But hey, nothing's going to change in our lifetimes, so why worry right? Let the kids handle it. What could possibly go wrong when Pakistan is in posession of nuclear weapons and several states have been given nuclear technology while sitting on an oppressed population. When has that ever been a problem. Won't harm Obama's legacy. Won't hurt your taxes much. So carry on, eyes closed. Hopefully, it's because you're not Muslim.
Guess there are sympathizers of war criminals like George W Bush in our ranks. Starting a war over false pretenses, wasting $4 trillion tax payer dollars to funnel it in coffers of Halliburton, and opening up secret prisons in Eastern European to torture people is a mark of a true American!
