i don't think you being an idiot is up for debate. but if you could drop in saddam hussein, osama bin laden, and bud adams i think you would really take this thread to the next level.
Are you kidding? Do you read the news? Brace yourself for complete and total PWN3RSHIP: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/national/main5583794.shtml Sen. Joe Lieberman's call came as word surfaced that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan apparently attended the same mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, at a time when a radical imam preached there.
Your post would be a good example of trolling. Remember, when you have to resort to personal insults, you've lost any kind of argument.
That's it? you label the mosque and it's members extremist because two of the hijackers in 2001 happen to go there? What would the current members have done about Maj Hasan? Has he made his intentions known inside the mosque? We have a thread about Israeli government's policies. While you change the topic and talk about how the VA massacre is somewhat the fault of Muslims praying in a mosque as a whole. I won't hesitate to call out a troll and bigot if I see one.
are you r****ded? You think they knew? Hasaan: I'm going to kill a bunch of my fellow service men Others: Ok w.e What kind of ignorant wombat are you?
Forgive me, I am playing into derailing this thread, something you probably would like. All in all, there will never be peace there, and we as U.S citizens should not mingle in these matters, as goes for our government.
Texxx, in honour of your derailing skills... do you agree with me that the Lord's Resistance Army is representative of Christians? I honestly have a very low opinion of organized religion in general. And that includes (in fact focuses on) the extremist interpretation of Islam, which I think is the worst ideology out there. but to see people trying to stir angry **** about it just pisses me off to no end.
What are you talking about? How am I trying to "stir angry ****"? I think there should be more self policing, yet we're met with people who are pissed that somebody had the gall to even make the suggestion.
should all churches, mosques, and synagogues implement self-policing? or only mosques because all mass murderers are muslims?
the fact is israel is a bully. they won't give into anything nor anyone's request. they aren't going anywhere. the fact that the U.S. is SO involved in the middle east bothers me as well. i understand the oil, and the money, but it isn't our problem. there are internal problems within the country that needs more focus than whether israel is fine or not. isreal has the military, they'll destroy anyone in the middle east, especially if we're involved in any way.
China and India are examples of what Israel's future audience will be. One that doesn't give as much of a damn what happened during the 20th century/WWII. 6 millions Jews being horribly killed is more scary/sympathetic in America and more so with the Judeo-Christian ties. Places like India had ~12million killed during Partition. China scores more than that throughout WWII, The Civil War, and the Communist Revolution. Israel's moral existence may be safe now, but the Carte Blanche and virtual power with which it acts is laughable especially in the face of the simple analysis that it is a shrewd tiny country using a dumb ox of a power called the US to carry out its foreign policy.
I'll refer you to the book by Mearsheimer and Walt as well, "The Israel Lobby and US foreign policy". The US can absolutely push Israel. It has done so in the past like the 1956 Suez War where it told GB, France and Israel to leave Egypt under threat of cutting off aid (to Israel). Israel has no bargaining power especially with the oil scenario that you posted. I've done almost 3 years of research on energy/oil+nat gas and just recently delved into the special relationship b/w the US and Israel. The picture you posted above is an illusion. Israel only has real power and influence in the immediate eastern Mediterranean region only, one with little or zero oil importance. Central Asia and Iran will be the next big places where oil will be important. As a result, Israel's supposed strategic position dwindles even more.
Read the book "The Israel Lobby and US FOreign Policy" by Mearsheimer and Walt. All that you are asking and could know about this issue is in that book. I'll give you the gist about what they, and ultimately I too especially after their book convinced me now, believe: "American politicians are deferential to the political power of the Israel lobby, a loose coalition of people and organizations that actively promote US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction. The Israel lobby and neoconservatives in America have successfully convinced many Americans that US and Israeli interests are identical. They are not. The lobby is not a cabal or conspiracy or anything of the sort. It is engaged in the same good old-fashioned interest group politics like the NRA. Israel may have been an asset during the Cold War, it is now increasingly a strategic liability since it fuels America's terrorism problem and makes it harder to address other problems in the Middle East. Unconditional support complicates foreign relations with all other countries too. The costs of backing up Israel have risen while benefits have declined. Israel has not been a reliable proxy safe guarding US interests in the region. Israel only has real influence in the eastern Mediterranean, a region not vital to US oil interests. ANd even in the eastern Mediterranean, it has done a poor job of enforcing "Pax Americana". Invading Lebanon in 1982 directly led to Hezbollah's creation which killed 250 Americans in the attack on their brracks. Israel in unable to contribute to US access to Persian Gulf oil. Despite the vaunted military power and nuclear capability, Israel rejected to engage in aything beyond the country's immediate defense, especially during the 19080s against the USSR. According to one Pentagon official, Israel's strategic value has always been grotesquely exaggerated." It is not in any position to bargain anything. They bring nothing to the table as far as US interests are concerned. For the 21st century, that means dealing with scarcity in global energy supplies. US aid and assistance should be used as was in the past during the Suez Crisis.
