Evolving writes:
I guess you missed this statement, "I'm sure there are a few more things I've missed, but an intelligent threat reduction strategy would include all of these."
As it happens, I am in favor of the US taking all those steps. You have been here long enough to know that I have advocated most of them myself in past posts.
But I was hoping to see from you something which addressed some of the questions I had asked afoaf --
Quote: You have no way of knowing whether eliminating terrorists produces more. There is no evidence either way. But assuming it does, what's the answer? Should those who are attacked by terrorists make no response? If the American government had sat on their hands post 9-11, would there have been no more terrorist attacks? Bali would not have happened, for example?
To say that striking back at terrorist organizations produces more of them is to say that to striking back at thieves, murderers and rapists produces more. And so sorry but responding to an attack is not "bullying". Would America have gone chasing bin Laden in Afghanistan if there had been no attack on the WTC and Pentagon? Nope.
Perhaps if the US had behaved impeccably in the past, and never instituted any of the points you mentioned in your list, then bin Laden would not have attacked. But as you yourself have argued in this forum, absent a time machine, there is no way to undo the past.
My question was not "why do terrorists do what they do," it was, "how do we deal with them?"
Your response implied that part of the way to deal with them was to withdraw from the global stage (a view I have advocated here myself, as previously noted), in the hopes that they will turn their attentions elsewhere. That's all well and good. But do you believe there no other steps which should prudently be taken?
1) Do you think having that U.S. troops stationed around the globe in 120 - 160 countries can be conducive to making enemies? (yes or no)
Of course it can.
Do you think having those troops in those countries can be conducive to making allies? With the exceptions of Iraq and Iran and Cuba, I'm having a hard time thinking which of those garrisons are there contrary to the wishes of those countries.
2) Do you think the U.S. giving monetary and military training and support to regimes which suppress and torture their own people is conducive to making enemies? (yes or no)
Certainly. Do you believe "enemy" is equivalent to "terrorist"?
Do you believe if the US were to stop giving such support to said countries terrorists would leave the US alone?
3) Would you say that by the U.S. giving monetary support and selling arms to Israel that we are more likely to make friends or enemies among the Muslim and non-Jewish Semitic peoples?
More likely to make enemies.
Do you believe that if the US ceased selling arms to Israel terrorists would leave the US alone?
4) Do you think that by the U.S. giving military aid to other countries under the intention of 'fighting the drug war,' aid which is used to destroy the livelihood of impoverished people in 2nd & 3rd world countries, prompts those people to consider the U.S. as their friend or as their enemy?
I imagine those who grow the coca and the poppies consider the US their enemy. Which of those people are terrorists?
Do you believe that if the US were to were to cease handing out money to countries to destroy the crops, terrorists would leave the US alone?
5) Do you think having agents of the U.S. federal government in foreign countries engaged in activities against the resident population prompts those people to consider the U.S. as their friend or as their enemy?
Since this appears to be an extension of the last question, same answer.
6) Do you think that having the U.S. government promote U.S. based businesses overseas with us taxpayer subsidies is a good idea, taking into consideration that these business are seen by some non-U.S. people as a threat to their culture, their businesses and their way of life?
Is it a good idea? No. You know already the only uses I consider legitimate for taxpayer money.
Do you believe that if only US private companies (as opposed to US government) could advertise their goods, terrorists would leave the US alone? Do you believe that the other countries which engage in exactly the same practices are inciting terrorists to act against them? If not, why not?
Do those who lose a sale to a US product become terrorists?
7) Do you think if U.S. imposed tariffs cause the demise of a foreign business, that the former employees might feel bitter towards the U.S.?
Probably. Is such a person likely to become a terrorist? How many American workers who have lost their jobs due to protectionist policies by countries such as Japan have committed acts of terror against Japan?
Do you believe that if the US were to drop all tariffs, terrorists would leave the US alone?
8) Do you think that bombs dropped on civilians by U.S. armed forces are more likely to lead to the surviving friends, relatives and neighbors to look upon the U.S. as a friend or an enemy?
Depends. How many bombs were dropped by US armed forces on France, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Japan? Do the surviving friends, relatives and neighbors in those countries see the US as a friend or an enemy? Does the Iraqi family who had seven relatives "disappear" during Hussein's reign consider the US a friend or an enemy?
9) Is it better to avoid making enemies...
If possible, it is better to avoid making enemies. Which dealings with other countries can we know to a certainty won't piss off some people at some point down the road? As just one example, in retrospect, no one should have helped the Afghanis repel the Soviets.
And how about economic dealings? As an example, there are one hell of a lot of countries pissed off at the ship-building subsidies engaged in by the Scandinavian countries. When can we expect a terrorist attack on Norway?
Be realistic. In a world where any country in the world has the potential to trade with any other country in the world, some action taken sometime by someone will piss off somebody else. It's inevitable.
...or is it better to conduct yourself in a manner which will make enemies who will attack innocent people and then spend huge sums of money fighting the enemies you've made while losing additional lives in the process?
So every country must defend itself by itself from aggressors both internal and external? No country may ever for any reason ally itself with another?
Do you believe that if the US were to renounce all military alliances, terrorists would leave the US alone?
pinky
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