Home | Community | Message Board

Cannabis Seeds - Original Sensible Seeds
This site includes paid links. Please support our sponsors.


Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Shop: Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom   Left Coast Kratom Premium Bali Kratom Powder   PhytoExtractum Maeng Da Thai Kratom Leaf Powder   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order

Jump to first unread post Pages: 1 | 2 | Next >  [ show all ]
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Three Alternative Histories
    #2545621 - 04/10/04 12:09 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY:
Washington, April 9, 2004.

A hush fell over the city as George W. Bush today became the first president of the United States ever to be removed from office by impeachment. Meeting late into the night, the Senate unanimously voted to convict Bush following a trial on his bill of impeachment from the House.

Moments after being sworn in as the 44th president, Dick Cheney said that disgraced former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice would be turned over to the Hague for trial in the International Court of Justice as a war criminal. Cheney said Washington would "firmly resist" international demands that Bush be extradited for prosecution as well.

On August 7, 2001, Bush had ordered the United States military to stage an all-out attack on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Thousands of U.S. special forces units parachuted into this neutral country, while air strikes targeted the Afghan government and its supporting military. Pentagon units seized abandoned Soviet air bases throughout Afghanistan, while establishing support bases in nearby nations such as Uzbekistan. Simultaneously, FBI agents throughout the United States staged raids in which dozens of men accused of terrorism were taken prisoner.

Reaction was swift and furious. Florida Senator Bob Graham said Bush had "brought shame to the United States with his paranoid delusions about so-called terror networks." British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the United States of "an inexcusable act of conquest in plain violation of international law." White House chief counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke immediately resigned in protest of "a disgusting exercise in over-kill."

When dozens of U.S. soldiers were slain in gun battles with fighters in the Afghan mountains, public opinion polls showed the nation overwhelmingly opposed to Bush's action. Political leaders of both parties called on Bush to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan immediately. "We are supposed to believe that attacking people in caves in some place called Tora Bora is worth the life of even one single U.S. soldier?" former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey asked.

When an off-target U.S. bomb killed scores of Afghan civilians who had taken refuge in a mosque, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar announced a global boycott of American products. The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the United States, and Washington was forced into the humiliating position of vetoing a Security Council resolution declaring America guilty of "criminal acts of aggression."

Bush justified his attack on Afghanistan, and the detention of 19 men of Arab descent who had entered the country legally, on grounds of intelligence reports suggesting an imminent, devastating attack on the United States. But no such attack ever occurred, leading to widespread ridicule of Bush's claims. Speaking before a special commission created by Congress to investigate Bush's anti-terrorism actions, former national security adviser Rice shocked and horrified listeners when she admitted, "We had no actionable warnings of any specific threat, just good reason to believe something really bad was about to happen."

The president fired Rice immediately after her admission, but this did little to quell public anger regarding the war in Afghanistan. When it was revealed that U.S. special forces were also carrying out attacks against suspected terrorist bases in Indonesia and Pakistan, fury against the United States became universal, with even Israel condemning American action as "totally unjustified."

Speaking briefly to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before a helicopter carried him out of Washington as the first-ever president removed by impeachment, Bush seemed bitter. "I was given bad advice," he insisted. "My advisers told me that unless we took decisive action, thousands of innocent Americans might die. Obviously I should not have listened."

Announcing his candidacy for the 2004 Republican presidential nomination, Senator John McCain said today that "George W. Bush was very foolish and na?ve; he didn't realize he was being pushed into this needless conflict by oil interests that wanted to seize Afghanistan to run a pipeline across it." McCain spoke at a campaign rally at the World Trade Center in New York City.

http://www.tnr.com/easterbrook.mhtml




pinky


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Anonymous

Re: An Alternative History [Re: Phred]
    #2545630 - 04/10/04 12:13 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

:yesnod:

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Yet another alternative history [Re: Phred]
    #2545778 - 04/10/04 01:40 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Mohammed Atta Trial Opens Today

Nov 20, 2001: Today the civil trial?involving Mohammed Atta began in Boston Superior Court. The trial is the first?phase of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit Mr. Atta and his colleagues have filed against American Airlines, United Airlines, and the Justice Department. Atta (a resident of Miami, Florida) was denied boarding on American Airlines flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles on the morning of September 11. Also named in the suit are Attorney General John Ashcroft, Boston?s Logan Airport, the Port Authority, and Sean Adams (the man who initially alerted airport police to Mr. Atta?s so-called "suspicious" activities).

On the morning of 9/11, Mr. Adams claims?to have?had an altercation with Atta in the parking garage of Logan Airport. After words were exchanged, a frazzled Atta ran off to catch his flight to Los Angeles, where he was to attend a work-related meeting. The port police then searched Mr. Atta?s rental car and found several documents (in Arabic) referencing the?World Trade Center in New York, along with Mr. Atta's will. Authorities then prevented Mr. Atta and his entourage from boarding their LA-bound flight, causing severe emotional trauma to the group. American Airlines clerk Cindy Keller also contacted port police that morning, after the men (all of Middle Eastern ethnicity) purchased their one-way tickets with cash. After being alerted to this so-called?"suspicious" activity (and hearing Mr. Adams? story) the Port Authority called the FBI and notified them they would be taking Atta and his colleagues into custody for questioning.

After being detained for several hours, Atta was eventually released, but he and his colleagues had already missed their flight and had been humilated by the?experience. The ACLU and CAIR are fully behind the lawsuit, accusing authorities of blatant racial profiling. "This is just another example of the Bush Administration creating an atmosphere of divisiveness and hatred in this country. Bush?s fear-mongering is out of control, and innocent people have been hurt" said CAIR spokesman Abraham Cooper. "Furthermore, we?ve now learned that Mr. Atta has several hours of flight training under his belt, which would have made him an ideal passenger on that flight if something unforeseen had happened to the pilot."

In their defense, Logan Airport spokesman Jeff Sullivan said that the port police did everything by the book. However, when Sullivan noted that the would-be passengers were carrying box cutters when they were stopped by port police, Mr. Atta?s attorney pointed out that box cutters are NOT prohibited on U.S. airlines.

On Capitol Hill, congressional Democrats have continued their calls for Attorney General John Ashcroft to step down. "This behavior is outrageous," cried Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. "Mr. Ashcroft has done nothing but fan the flames of fear and hatred against the Muslim community, and it?s time he either stepped down or was fired." DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe has taken it a step further, calling for President Bush?s impeachment. "Bush?s declaration of war on the peaceful American Muslim community is just another trick to take people?s attention away from this horrible recession, a recession which we all know was caused by Bush well before he set foot in office."

The civil?trial is expected to take several weeks (after which, depending on the findings, Mr. Adams and port police may face criminal charges). Meanwhile, President Bush?s handling of the economy, combined with his opposition to stem cell research has now pushed his approval ratings to an all-time low. Only 42% surveyed said Bush was doing a "good" or "adequate" job as President.


(C) 2004, Parallel Universe Cooper for President http://www.cooperforpresident.com/id125.html




pinky


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineEchoVortex
(hard) member
Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 859
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
Re: An Alternative History [Re: Phred]
    #2545832 - 04/10/04 02:13 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

I'm glad to see that you've finally discovered your true talent: posting fantasies that are totally detached from reality.

If you want to continue in this obscene pastime of making excuses for Bush's failure to protect my city from attack, go ahead. You only discredit yourself.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineBaby_Hitler
Errorist
 User Gallery

Folding@home Statistics
Registered: 03/06/02
Posts: 27,634
Loc: To the limit!
Last seen: 5 hours, 32 minutes
Re: An Alternative History [Re: EchoVortex]
    #2545882 - 04/10/04 02:40 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Thank you for contributing to the weakness that caused the deaths of thousands of your fellow citizens.


--------------------
"America: Fuck yeah!" -- Alexthegreat

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”  -- Thomas Jefferson

The greatest sin of mankind is ignorance.

The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally. --Salena Zeto (9/23/16)

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Re: An Alternative History [Re: EchoVortex]
    #2545886 - 04/10/04 02:41 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Reduced to personal attacks, are we? Kinda prickly, these days, it seems.

You and I disagree on many things, EchoVortex, but it saddens me to see your focus change from at least attempting to address the substance of what is posted to instead denigrating the one who posts them. Definitely not up to your past efforts.

Writing "alternate histories" is a time-honored practice. While I agree the second one is not up to the standards of the first (a little over-the-top in terms of public reaction to the lawsuit, for one), I didn't find either of them an unreasonable extrapolation of events that could follow the pre-emptive actions described, i.e. an attempt to capture bin Laden prior to 9-11 or the detention of Atta prior to his boarding the plane.

I'm sure I'm not the only reader of this forum who would be interested in seeing your usual masterly demonstration of how the events outlined in those essays are fantasies totally detached from the political reality which existed in the US prior to September 11, 2001.

pinky


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineEchoVortex
(hard) member
Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 859
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
Re: An Alternative History [Re: Phred]
    #2545951 - 04/10/04 04:07 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

I'm only willing to waste so much time on this nonsense, so I'll limit my comments to the first scenario, the one you consider more plausible.

Dick Cheney said that disgraced former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice would be turned over to the Hague for trial in the International Court of Justice as a war criminal

Dick Cheney turning over a former national security adviser to the International Court of Justice?  This alone should signal to you that the author is either clueless or simply writing this in jest.  This administration refuses to allow even common US soldiers to be tried by the ICJ.  Absurd.

On August 7, 2001, Bush had ordered the United States military to stage an all-out attack on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan.

Considering that the hijackers were already in the United States on that date, what good exactly would invading Afghanistan have done?  The PDB for Aug. 6th states clearly that cells are active within the US and a hijacking is high on their to-do list.  So Bush reads this and goes, "I've got it!  Let's invade Afghanistan tomorrow!!!" :nut:

Secondly, he cannot do that kind of thing without Congressional authorization.

Simultaneously, FBI agents throughout the United States staged raids in which dozens of men accused of terrorism were taken prisoner.

This kind of thing had happened before 9/11 without the kind of reaction described in the article.

Reaction was swift and furious. Florida Senator Bob Graham said Bush had "brought shame to the United States with his paranoid delusions about so-called terror networks." British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the United States of "an inexcusable act of conquest in plain violation of international law." White House chief counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke immediately resigned in protest of "a disgusting exercise in over-kill."

And I suppose Gregg Easterbrook is a mind-reader that he can put specific words into specific peoples' mouths?

When dozens of U.S. soldiers were slain in gun battles with fighters in the Afghan mountains, public opinion polls showed the nation overwhelmingly opposed to Bush's action

Dozens of US soldiers are being slain right now in a war which has nothing to do with 9/11.  The nation has yet to be overwhelmingly opposed to Bush's action.

When an off-target U.S. bomb killed scores of Afghan civilians who had taken refuge in a mosque, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Aznar announced a global boycott of American products. The United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the United States, and Washington was forced into the humiliating position of vetoing a Security Council resolution declaring America guilty of "criminal acts of aggression."

Off-target US bombs have killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians, and yet none of the events predicted here have occurred.  By the way, how is it possible for the Spanish Prime Minister to announce a "global boycott" of American products?  Has he suddenly become "King of the World" in this alternate history?  Easterbrook must have been drunk when he was writing this.

former national security adviser Rice shocked and horrified listeners when she admitted, "We had no actionable warnings of any specific threat, just good reason to believe something really bad was about to happen."

The Aug. 6 PDB which has been declassified shows a specific hijacking threat.  It doesn't have to say "oh, yeah, they're planning to hijack these four flights on September 11th"  for it to be specific enough to be actionable, and no, that action had nothing to do with invading Afghanstan.  Specific actions: alert the FAA, put airports and airlines on highest security status, increase the number of air marshals, have fighters ready to scramble, and launch a manhunt for the suspects, many of whom were already on various watchlists.  None of these actions would have caused an uproar, except for one additional measure that would have also been helpful: freezing suspicious Saudi-controlled bank accounts in the States.

The president fired Rice immediately after her admission,

Once again, totally unbelievable.  The President has never fired a single person who bore any share of the responsibility for the security failures of 9/11.  Not Ashcroft, not Rice, not Tenet, not Mueller.

When it was revealed that U.S. special forces were also carrying out attacks against suspected terrorist bases in Indonesia and Pakistan, fury against the United States became universal, with even Israel condemning American action as "totally unjustified."

Sheer and utter bullshit.  America is Israel's only friend, and Israel itself has a long history of illegal cross-border interventions.


So basically we're supposed to believe that Bush would be impeached for attacking Afghanistan by a Congress that would have had to give him authorization for that attack in the first place?  He would be impeached for sending special forces into  a country that was harboring a terrorist organization which was already known to be responsible for the first WTC bombing and the attack on the USS Cole, even though he hasn't been impeached for a full-scale invasion and occupation of a country that has no WMD and no proven links to terrorism against the US?

Like I said, total detachment from reality.  :rolleyes:

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineEchoVortex
(hard) member
Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 859
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
Re: An Alternative History [Re: Baby_Hitler]
    #2545952 - 04/10/04 04:16 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

Baby_Hitler said:
Thank you for contributing to the weakness that caused the deaths of thousands of your fellow citizens.




How's that? I didn't vote for the man who allowed it to happen.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleinfidelGOD
illusion

Registered: 04/18/02
Posts: 3,040
Loc: there
Re: An Alternative History [Re: Phred]
    #2545955 - 04/10/04 04:26 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11
"I know that there was no single thing that might have prevented that attack"
- Condoleezza Rice on 9/11

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleXlea321
Stranger
Registered: 02/25/01
Posts: 9,134
Re: An Alternative History [Re: EchoVortex]
    #2546024 - 04/10/04 06:14 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Dick Cheney turning over a former national security adviser to the International Court of Justice? This alone should signal to you that the author is either clueless or simply writing this in jest. This administration refuses to allow even common US soldiers to be tried by the ICJ. Absurd.

That's the point at which I realised the author needed psychiatric help too.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflineDivided_Sky
Ten ThousandThings

Registered: 11/02/03
Posts: 3,171
Loc: The Shining Void
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
Re: An Alternative History [Re: Xlea321]
    #2547426 - 04/10/04 10:17 PM (19 years, 11 months ago)

This is the alternate universe where they all have beards and sashes right?


--------------------
1. "After an hour I wasn't feeling anything so I decided to take another..."
2. "We were feeling pretty good so we decided to smoke a few bowls..."
3. "I had to be real quiet because my parents were asleep upstairs..."

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2547532 - 04/10/04 10:48 PM (19 years, 11 months ago)

In a parallel universe called 'what if.'
Kathleen Parker

NEW YORK - President-elect John F. Kerry's rise to the nation's highest office came as little surprise following almost four years of remonstrations against President George W. Bush for his bizarre attack on the defenseless people of Afghanistan.

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, was the right man for a nation outraged by the Bush administration's pre-emptive war, which, it now seems clear, was based on highly speculative intelligence that Saudi Arabian-born terrorist Osama bin Laden was planning an attack on the United States.

Absent absolute proof of such an imminent attack, Bush's Sept. 10 bombing of Afghanistan earned him international condemnation and, in all likelihood, an indictment in coming weeks. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, appearing last night on "Larry King Live," said the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal likely would bring charges of genocide against Bush.

Bush also faces federal charges at home for his baseless arrest of 19 foreign nationals, many of them native Saudis, whose "crime" was attending American flight schools. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has joined the American Civil Liberties Union in a joint suit against both Bush and former Attorney General John Ashcroft, charging racial profiling, unlawful arrest and illegal search and seizure.

Kerry's campaign mantra - "You go to war because you have to, not because you want to" - clearly resonated with Americans as they tried to make sense of Bush's Sept. 10 attack on Afghanistan. Neither the president, nor national security adviser Condoleezza Rice convincingly defended their actions during the recent "9-10 Commission" hearings, which Congress ordered in response to public outcry.

The commission's purpose was to try to determine what compelled the president to launch a war against Afghanistan. What kind of intelligence suggested that such an act was justified?

The main target of the attack was bin Laden, friend to Afghanistan's brutal Taliban regime, as well as al-Qaida training camps in that war-ravaged nation. Al-Qaida, an international terrorist network, has been blamed for numerous attacks on U.S. interests, including the USS Cole bombing, which killed 17 sailors.

Even though Bush's military campaign was successful in ending the oppressive Taliban regime, bin Laden apparently escaped and al-Qaida continues to flourish.

Some intelligence sources speculate that bin Laden's operatives may be trying to secure weapons of mass destruction from Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Even though Saddam continues to send money to the families of Palestinian terrorists and is believed to have programs for developing WMD, Kerry says he is committed to containing Saddam through continued sanctions and the U.N. oil-for-food program.

In any case, experts say that intelligence about Saddam's WMD program is just as speculative as was the intelligence that prompted Bush to attack Afghanistan. The man credited with sounding the alarm on bin Laden and al-Qaida was Richard Clarke, a counterterrorism expert who has served four presidents, including Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton.

In a Jan. 25 memo to Rice, for instance, Clarke urged immediate attention to several items of national security interest: the Northern Alliance, covert aid, a significant new '02 budget authority to help fight al-Qaida and a response to the USS Cole.

At Rice's and Clarke's urging, Bush called a meeting of principals and, after "connecting the dots," decided to wage war against Afghanistan. What did the dots say? Not much, in retrospect. Apparently, the president decided to bomb a benign country on the basis of "chatter" that hinted at "something big."

With no other details on the "big," and weaving together random bits of information from a variety of questionable sources, Bush and company decided that 19 fundamentalist Muslim fanatics would fly airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon on 9-11.

Under questioning by the "9-10 Commission," Clarke denied that his memo was anything more than a historical overview with a "set of ideas and a paper, mostly." The bipartisan commission concluded, therefore, that Bush's "dot-connecting" had destroyed American credibility and subjected the United States to increasing hostility in the Arab-Muslim world.

Last week, Saddam Hussein and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat joined French and German leaders in condemning Bush and urging the American voters to cast their ballots for regime change in America. President Kerry was the clear response to that call.

In a flourish of irony and the spirit of bon vivant for which the new president is widely known, Kerry gave his acceptance speech from Windows on the World, the elegant restaurant atop the World Trade Center's Tower One.



?2004 Tribune Media Services http://www.townhall.com/columnists/kathleenparker/kp20040410.shtml

----------------------------------------------------------


pinky


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleinfidelGOD
illusion

Registered: 04/18/02
Posts: 3,040
Loc: there
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2550347 - 04/12/04 04:09 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Quote:

In a parallel universe called 'what if.'
Kathleen Parker




wow. you found three of these "alternative histories"..

you think maybe these people write this stuff as therapy?

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleXochitl
synchronicitycircuit
Registered: 07/15/03
Posts: 1,241
Loc: the brainforest
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2550823 - 04/12/04 10:19 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Kathleen Parker...lol

I see you have become so desperate to try to make an argument as to cite the "Emotional Soccer Mom" as a solid forecaster of the future.  :lol:


--------------------
As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.

-Donald Rumsfeld 2/2/02 Pentagon

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleXlea321
Stranger
Registered: 02/25/01
Posts: 9,134
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Xochitl]
    #2550917 - 04/12/04 10:54 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

:lol:

Kathleen's latest idea is to "nuke" the sunni triangle  :nut:

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Xochitl]
    #2552362 - 04/12/04 09:30 PM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Xochitl writes:

I see you have become so desperate to try to make an argument as to cite the "Emotional Soccer Mom" as a solid forecaster of the future.

Way to dodge the issue -- pure ad hominem. What if the article had been written by Christopher Hitchens? Typical strategy of those unwilling or incapable of thinking things through on their own -- attack the writer rather than what is written. That way there's no need to think.

Xochitl, lately you seem to be working yourself up into a frenzied rage over my providing some reasoned arguments. Your response is not to address the arguments, but instead to accuse me of losing credibility. It has probably not escaped the attention of the more intelligent readers here that your refusal to address the issues is not exactly a brilliant demonstration of your credibility.

pinky

p.s. -- As an aside, if you believe that writing an alternative history is forecasting the future, you need to re-examine the concept. It is not a "future", but an alternate past. "2001, a Space Odyssey" dealt with the future. "Fatherland" dealt with an alternate past.


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleXlea321
Stranger
Registered: 02/25/01
Posts: 9,134
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2553000 - 04/13/04 12:05 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

What if the article had been written by Christopher Hitchens?

What if my aunt had nuts? Would she be my uncle?

Quoting lunatics and then saying "What if someone ELSE had written it" is never going to be a reasonable position.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
OfflinePhred
Fred's son
Male

Registered: 10/18/00
Posts: 12,949
Loc: Dominican Republic
Last seen: 9 years, 2 months
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Xlea321]
    #2553107 - 04/13/04 12:37 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Alex, I had said in my post regarding infant mortality rates in the Dominican Republic that I was breaking our unspoken agreement of non response as a one-time occurrence. Do you wish to set that agreement aside?

pinky


--------------------

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleinfidelGOD
illusion

Registered: 04/18/02
Posts: 3,040
Loc: there
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2553398 - 04/13/04 04:28 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

Typical strategy of those unwilling or incapable of thinking things through on their own -- attack the writer rather than what is written. That way there's no need to think.

gee. it couldn't be that Xochitl formed his opinion of the writer based on what she has written could it? what else would he base his opinion on?

particularly if the writer writes things like this:
"I suppose it would be considered lacking in nuance to nuke the Sunni Triangle... Wouldn't it be lovely were justice so available and so simple?"

I know of at least one poster here who would agree with this strategy, so maybe she's not so crazy after all.

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
InvisibleinfidelGOD
illusion

Registered: 04/18/02
Posts: 3,040
Loc: there
Re: Three Alternative Histories [Re: Phred]
    #2553569 - 04/13/04 07:16 AM (19 years, 11 months ago)

I'm becoming a big Kathleen Parker fan :lol:

you should read some of her other articles with titles like:

"Freedom of speech means not having to listen to Howard Stern"
"You say Fallujah, I say Rambo!"
and
"Bush plan is empty pi?ata"

check out her archive:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/kathleenparker/archive.shtml

it's comedy gold! :smile:

Extras: Filter Print Post Top
Jump to top Pages: 1 | 2 | Next >  [ show all ]

Shop: Kraken Kratom Red Vein Kratom   Left Coast Kratom Premium Bali Kratom Powder   PhytoExtractum Maeng Da Thai Kratom Leaf Powder   Unfolding Nature Unfolding Nature: Being in the Implicate Order


Similar ThreadsPosterViewsRepliesLast post
* Howard Zinn - People's History
( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 all )
kotik 5,310 127 10/27/05 03:13 PM
by looner2
* Condoleezza Rice and the Plame Game Prosgeopax 2,186 15 08/01/05 10:27 PM
by afoaf
* Chavez provides alternative for a decent society
( 1 2 all )
Alex213 2,740 34 05/16/06 10:04 AM
by Redstorm
* Bush proposes alternative to N. Korea standoff
( 1 2 3 all )
Zahid 2,205 41 10/21/03 03:38 PM
by afoaf
* Condoleezza Rice blissedout 475 1 07/01/06 04:51 PM
by Penguarky Tunguin
* Condoleezza Rice about WMD threat zeronio 899 18 06/17/03 07:50 PM
by Learyfan
* The history channels "Marijuana" blacksabbathrulz 1,151 19 03/26/04 08:32 AM
by DailyPot
* Bush Administration Most Corrupt In US History
( 1 2 all )
ekomstop 3,766 34 11/01/04 12:46 AM
by Rose

Extra information
You cannot start new topics / You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled / BBCode is enabled
Moderator: Enlil, ballsalsa
1,968 topic views. 6 members, 6 guests and 43 web crawlers are browsing this forum.
[ Show Images Only | Sort by Score | Print Topic ]
Search this thread:

Copyright 1997-2024 Mind Media. Some rights reserved.

Generated in 0.03 seconds spending 0.008 seconds on 16 queries.