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Rumsfeld Fears U.S. Losing Long-Term Fight Against Terrorism

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Rocketman95, Jun 7, 2004.

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  1. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    http://www.suntimes.com/output/terror/cst-nws-rums06.html

    BY ROBERT BURNS

    SINGAPORE -- The United States and its allies are winning some battles in the terrorism war but may be losing the broader struggle against Islamic extremism that is terrorism's source, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday.

    The troubling unknown, he said, is whether the extremists -- whom he termed ''zealots and despots'' bent on destroying the global system of nation-states -- are turning out newly trained terrorists faster than the United States can capture or kill them.

    ''It's quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this,'' Rumsfeld said at an international security conference.

    His remarks showed a level of concern about the long-term direction of the U.S.-led global fight against terrorism that Rumsfeld rarely addresses in public.

    The Pentagon chief usually lauds the efforts of U.S. troops, denounces terrorist networks and urges other countries to join the effort to stop terrorist acts.

    Saturday, he went further, saying that while terrorists must be confronted, the bigger problem is the extremist Islamic ideology that produces them.

    ''What you have is a civil war in that religion where a small minority are trying to hijack it,'' he said.

    Later Saturday, in Bangladesh, Rumsfeld discussed that South Asian nation's possible interest in sending peacekeepers to Iraq after an interim government in Baghdad takes political control June 30.

    After meeting with Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan in Dhaka, the capital, Rumsfeld told reporters the two had spoken about Iraq and Afghanistan but not the specifics of peacekeeping in those countries. Rumsfeld also had talks with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and senior generals.

    U.S. defense secretaries rarely visit Bangladesh, but Rumsfeld wanted to draw attention to the mostly Muslim nation as a model of the moderate Islamic country that denounces terrorism. While thousands of anti-American protesters took to the streets of Dhaka on Friday, there was no sign of hostility when Rumsfeld's entourage drove through the capital Saturday.
     
    #1 Rocketman95, Jun 7, 2004
  2. rimrocker

    rimrocker Member

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    OK, so he says this. And so he wrote a memo a while back saying the same thing and going off about how we have no metrics to figure this thing out. Why then hasn't our policy changed? If Rummy recognizes it (along with the everybody on the planet not blinded by the right), why don't we change? This administration is incomprehensible to me.
     
    #2 rimrocker, Jun 7, 2004
  3. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    "Do you not understand our policy? Absolutely. Do I not understand it myself sometimes? Maybe so. But the fact that this is understood between us shouldn't prevent us from reaching an understanding regarding the policy. There are agreed upon agreements and agreements that are arrived at after the reasonable parties agree to an outcome, and that outcome might not be agreeable to a great many of us. But you have to understand, and disagree if you must, that nobody ever said, or even agreed, that this policy would be understood by everybody. "
     
    #3 SamFisher, Jun 7, 2004
  4. Mulder

    Mulder Member

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    at least this an example of a known unknown...
     
    #4 Mulder, Jun 7, 2004
  5. Space Ghost

    Space Ghost Member

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    The right isn't blinded by it. They choose to support, instead of pointing fingers and complain everyone is doing a bad job.

    What is Kerry going to do...? "oops, our bad. Sorry what Bush did. we will be leaving right away"
     
    #5 Space Ghost, Jun 7, 2004
  6. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Shame on Donald Rumsfeld for bashing then.

    President Bush: Steady leadership in times of change

    ''It's quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this" Donald Rumsfeld

    Whoops. Karen Hughes just had a coronary.
     
    #6 SamFisher, Jun 7, 2004
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2004
  7. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    How do you feel about Rumsfeld, then?
     
    #7 Rocketman95, Jun 7, 2004
  8. DCkid

    DCkid Member

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    ''It's quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this,'' Rumsfeld said at an international security conference.

    That was it? That was the only quote? Surely there had to be more to it than that for them to declare "Rumsfeld fears U.S. losing long-term fight against terror." It's things like this that leads some to believe the media leans slightly to the left.

    Also, he was speaking at an international security conference. Seems to me like the quote would have been directed at the entire international community not having a coherent approach, which would be perfectly true. I seriously doubt he's referring to America's approach.

    I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a misleading article.
     
    #8 DCkid, Jun 8, 2004
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2004
  9. gwayneco

    gwayneco Contributing Member

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    That's actually not what he meant.
    From http://www.thatliberalmedia.com/
     
    #9 gwayneco, Jun 12, 2004
  10. gwayneco

    gwayneco Contributing Member

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    Of course, no media bias to see here, so move along folks.
     
    #10 gwayneco, Jun 12, 2004
  11. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    I feel that Rumsfeld's quote was taken completly out of context, as you can see.
     
    #11 ima_drummer2k, Jun 12, 2004
  12. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Member

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    Kerry will be funding the crap out of the intelligence services and then using special forces for covert operations to take the f***ers out once the intelligence services identify them.
     
    #12 GladiatoRowdy, Jun 12, 2004
  13. bamaslammer

    bamaslammer Member

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    He CLAIMS that he will do that. I'm still waiting for Clinton's middle class tax cut. :rolleyes: But we have only the past to realize that Democrats typically slash spending of a defensive nature. The Democrats under that stupid liberal b*stard Frank Church, whose hearings largely emasculated the CIA and left us vulnerable, ripped the CIA apart, burdening it with all of these regulations that seriously compromised its ability to get its job done. Hopefully Frank is stewing in the deepest, darkest pit of hell right now.
     
    #13 bamaslammer, Jun 12, 2004
  14. real_egal

    real_egal Member

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    Please correct me if I am wrong. Didn't US become the sole super power in the world during his terms? I guess it had nothing to do with Clinton, but then again, probably his "slashing spending of a defensive nature" did not harm US either. I start to wondering whether you work in the defensive industry:)
     
    #14 real_egal, Jun 12, 2004
  15. GladiatoRowdy

    GladiatoRowdy Member

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    Yeah, and Bush CLAIMED that "by far the vast majority of my tax cut will go to the lower half." But you don't seem to be holding that against him. In fact, if you based your opinion of Bush on his campaign promises, you would be livid with him.

    Yeah, instead he balanced the budget for the first time since Reagan wrote us deep into the red. That is MUCH worse than running $500 billion deficits in back to back years.

    As the Bushies have been so fond of saying, 9/11 changed everything. We have no idea how a Democratic President will fight the War on Terror in a post-9/11 world. I say it is the perfect time to find out, ESPECIALLY given the way Kerry has said he will fight said war. I think his approach is FAR more logical and well thought out.

    This seems to be your problem. You fix on the things some "liberal" did and simply attack. Your closed mind will be your undoing, I guarantee it.
     
    #15 GladiatoRowdy, Jun 12, 2004
  16. GreenVegan76

    GreenVegan76 Member

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    If Kerry's elected and he *DOESN'T* slash the most bloated "defense" budget in the world -- one that's bigger than the next NINETEEN COUNTRIES COMBINED -- I'll vote against his irresponible ass in 2008.

    If we had leaders who sought to avoid war instead of provoking it, we wouldn't need to spend half of every tax dollar on "defense."
     
    #16 GreenVegan76, Jun 12, 2004
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