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Originally Posted by mrnoodle

You're applying "critical thinking" but completely disregarding the realities that are occurring on your doorstep. How nice that ALL 1.3 billion muslims don't want us dead. I'm sure ALL Germans didn't want us dead in WWII. Yet they all suffered as a result of war. A war, interestingly enough, that we had no stake in -- what the hell do we care about Poland, anyway? So I suppose, using you and Radar's interpretation of things, we were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents, and the fact that Nazism was eliminated as a world power doesn't come close to justifying our actions.

There was that little "Pearl Harbor" thing. And that "Germany declared war on the US right after Pearl Harbor" thing. A lot of Americans _didn't_ give a rat's ass about Poland until after they themselves had been attacked, and quite frankly, if Germany hadn't declared war on us, a lot of Americans would've been satisfied to take out the Japanese and let Europe settle its own affairs.

Now tell me how Saddam Hussein was within lightyears of Adolf Hitler.

Of course, 60 years later we find ourselves again standing between the Jews and another bunch of wackos, which I must admit gives me a bit of a gagging feeling in my throat. However, they have fired upon us, and we should be concentrating on eliminating the muslim extremism that caused them to do so.

Take out the word "muslim" and I'm on board with you.

Here's a question: is al-Qaeda's primary motivation political or religious? Was 9/11 a strike against Christian America in the name of Allah, or was it a terrorist act in the name of specific political demands? The evidence points overwhelmingly to the latter.

Apply Occam's Razor. Which is the simplest explanation?

If Islam is such an inherently violent and xenophobic religion that its adherents may feel compelled to strike out violently against non-believers, if the calling to promote Allah and subdue all others is that strong... then why is 9/11 an aberration in American history rather than a recurring event?

Why did so many Americans think of terrorism as "something that happens Over There" on 9/11, rather than an everpresent threat? You can't say that our security was strong and vigilant for decades before 9/11, because it wasn't. You can't say that there were no Muslims living in or with access to the United States for decades before 9/11, because there were. So when you take Bin Laden and al-Qaeda out of the equation, why _haven't_ other Muslims heard the call and struck at America, The Great Satan, the most powerful Christian-dominated nation on the planet repeatedly in the name of spiritual conquest?

Is Bin Laden spiritually driven to the point of obliterating Christian America, or is he more interested in getting the United States' economic, military and political fingers out of the Middle Eastern pie? Which makes more sense, that this is a true religious jihad (with Bin Laden and his followers the only ones devout and wise enough to interpret the Koran correctly and be called to significant action), or that this is Bin Laden's way of trying to force US interests out of Saudi Arabia, out of Iraq, out of what he considers to be Palestinian land through violent terrorism?

Are there religious overtones? Of course. Bin Laden uses religious language in his speeches. So does Dubya. Is Dubya a raving evangelist? Both know that Joe Average is (sadly) more likely to buy into religion-themed arguments than sophisticated political arguments. It's an easy card to play. A lot of people hear "God/Allah wishes this" and portions of their brains shut off; it's such a _convenient_ self-justification for actions. Is much of their hatred for Israel religiously grounded? Of course. But much of America's _support_ for Israel has similar roots, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how a Christian-dominated nation plunking a new Jewish nation down on traditionally-Arabic land, no matter how laudable the reasons for doing so, could create some long-term grudges and prejudices.

There is a difference between "taking it in the ass from anyone and everyone" and responding to those responsible for terrorism instead of allowing it to escalate into a larger war. This is not some religious cage match, Christianity vs. Islam best of three falls to determine who's the World Deity Champion. This is terrorism by a distinct minority that _welcomes_ overreaction by its target, because that's the best recruiting tool they could ask for. "See? That's what I'm ON about! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"