[Broly]

In America, u have to be 18 years old, or 17 (With Special Circumstances) to join the military. In the Army, u got a 9 week Basic training and a Job training program to go through that could last anywhere from 3 months to 2 or 3 years depending on your job. These terrorists though are litteraly training babies. These people are groomed from early ages to perform suicide attacks like 911. Check out the link.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

Can we as a nation combat this? Why, or why not?

[linskyjack]

Special forces, in the long run will end up doing much of the killing of Islamo Fascists. They are the best trained forces in the world.

No they cannot because violence only breeds more violence.

Stop one war and another will soon begin due to hate,poverty,death and destruction that is left behind.

[linskyjack]

Oh, I get it, we are suppose to let the Islamo-Fascists kill as many as they want and not react?

[lotuseclat79]

None of you really gets it! The so-called "War on Terror" will never go away because it can never be won - it is a problem that is best managed because it can never be solved (Paul R. Pillar in Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy). And why is that you might ask? Because Terror has always and will always be with us. When one form is defeated, another comes along as time and circumstances dictate.

First, it is not America's war to win. Terrorism has been exported all around the world in virtually every country under different guises. One particular vantage point is that its primary manifestation is that terrorism comes with both a strategy and tactics to kill not just Westerners, but to distrupt their economies. Some would even say that it is a war between the West and Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth. The true Islamic religion has been co-opted by the terrorists such as al-Qaeda.

To "win" the so-called "War on Terror" takes a gargantuan effort to win the "hearts and minds" of the faithful and true people of Islam, so that they can defeat the distortions of the terrorists and humiliate them to their own culture and people.

Why have the West not been encouraging the World's Councils of Imams to issue fatwas against al-Qaeda - i.e. bin Ladin and Zawahiri? The West needs to develop strategies in concert with those in power in the Islamic cultures to "win" the so-called "War on Terror", or at least, to better manage it from a Foreign Policy perspective.

If you talk to the Arab street, the common theme is that they believe they have a problem with U.S. Foreign Policy being two-faced. What does that mean? It means the U.S. support for Israel ignores the rightful and just claims of Palestinians.

There are many nuances, like very high unemployment in Saudi Arabia with no future in sight - amazing how different Arab cultures manage their own. Wahabism is entrenched in Saudia Arabia while in Dubai they are growing with commerce by leaps and bounds to become the financial capital of the Middle East. The cultural wars are part of the War on Terror. But that does not mean that the cultures need be destroyed, only that they are in need of reform to accommodate the needs of the people for education, jobs, and a reasonable future.

The best anyone or any nation can do is the "manage" terror threats so that the seeds of what sows terror become less influential in the future.

Broly is correct to be concerned that they "train", i.e. indoctrinate, future terrorists from a very early age.

-- Tom

[linskyjack]

Yeah, I had a bad childhood---This is utter nonsense. If Israel didn't exist, and unemployment wasn't high in Saudi Arabia, you would still have this Islamo-Fascist movement. Are you suggesting that we should understand these miscreants or are you for destroying them.

[Lost in Here]

Terrorism is a tactic. You can't 'wage war' on a tactic. As long as there are people desperate enough to employ it, it will be here.

If you don't wish for it to happen anymore you must treat the causes of desperation, a job that bullets and bombs are ill-equipped to do.

*edit grammatical error pointed out by linksysjack corrected

[linskyjack]

There people? Who are "there people"?

[WarC]

Originally Posted by Broly

These terrorists though are litteraly training babies. These people are groomed from early ages to perform suicide attacks like 911. Check out the link.

You don't think American culture churns out warriors? I think we have a very strong warrior ethos, though the far left and the PC movement in this country really really hate it.

We are "freedom fighters", we glorify the underdog and violence on someone else's behalf. We build our education systems around complex and well-funded sporting activities, where our children are taught to be loyal and represent their schools in the field, be it in soccer - football - baseball, or basketball. We glorify war, violence, and the spirit of competition through movies, documentaries, video games, and popular culture. Our best athletes are multi-millionaires and celebrities and our favorite media reflects our pentient for competition. A western kid's idea of a good time is liberating a space station on Mars from the denizens of hell in Doom 3 or fighting for the freedom of the human race in Half Life 2. To play Street Fighter or a game of football in the street!

The Middle East may be full of young religious fanatics, but the United States is full of young kids who can run a mile in six minutes or bench press 300 pounds or throw a football 60 yards or shoot a deer from half a mile away!

Soon we'll take over "soccer", and when we win a World Cup - Who's gonna stop us then!?

Muslim fanatics - Psssh!

[linskyjack]

You had it going good until you said "soon we will take over soccer" Soccer is an elegant game and scoring is low. It's not an American thing nor will it ever be.

[WarC]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Soccer is an elegant game and scoring is low. It's not an American thing nor will it ever be.

LOL

yeah, you might be right there.

[pyritechips]

You don't think American culture churns out warriors? I think we have a very strong warrior ethos, though the far left and the PC movement in this country really really hate it.

We are "freedom fighters", we glorify the underdog and violence on someone else's behalf. We build our education systems around complex and well-funded sporting activities, where our children are taught to be loyal and represent their schools in the field, be it in soccer - football - baseball, or basketball. We glorify war, violence, and the spirit of competition through movies, documentaries, video games, and popular culture. Our best athletes are multi-millionaires and celebrities and our favorite media reflects our pentient for competition. A western kid's idea of a good time is liberating a space station on Mars from the denizens of hell in Doom 3 or fighting for the freedom of the human race in Half Life 2. To play Street Fighter or a game of football in the street!

I've trying to write a post like that for years!

Thank you.

[Fidelista]

Originally Posted by Broly

In America, u have to be 18 years old, or 17 (With Special Circumstances) to join the military. In the Army, u got a 9 week Basic training and a Job training program to go through that could last anywhere from 3 months to 2 or 3 years depending on your job. These terrorists though are litteraly training babies. These people are groomed from early ages to perform suicide attacks like 911. Check out the link.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/...ain/index.html

Can we as a nation combat this? Why, or why not?

Can America win the war on terror ? . Of course we can ! we always have .
Winning means we prevail Broly , not that terror ceases .
It will always be with us ,always has, here and everywhere else . Always someone who seeks change with weapons without support of the people, and using them as victims . It need not be just Radical Islam , it can come from many directions .
Trick is , removing the source of recruitment -- the source of conflict , or least not making it popular {this takes wisdom} .
Along with that , quick deadly force , kill on sight , wherever.
Linksy is most correct IMO , has a realistic military view . No occupations , no divisions being moved here and there .
Good human intel --special forces , deal with them as murderous criminals .
We simply cannot ignore attacks on our citizens , nation , we have to be brutal , low key , and effective --kill them .
This is sustainable --unlike what our moron President has embarked on .
Sustainable military effort , and a effort to prevent recruitment/spread is the smart way IMO.
The war on terror will never be over , and we can't let it destroy us -- the terrorist can't by his own means , only we can do that.
He can kill us at times , but never defeat us .
The idea that we can win the war on terror, no more killing , no more enemies , IE a "end", is not realistic >f

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

Yeah, I had a bad childhood---This is utter nonsense. If Israel didn't exist, and unemployment wasn't high in Saudi Arabia, you would still have this Islamo-Fascist movement. Are you suggesting that we should understand these miscreants or are you for destroying them.

One thing is for sure - your bad childhood has produced a very hypocritical "adolt"! Your certainty that a so-called "Islamo-Fascist" movement would exist under the pre-conditions you state represents an extremely narrow-minded and unintelligent point-of-view. The choices you would consider would only exacerbate any real hope of resolving the issues in the future.

-- Tom

[Mulderator]

In a more "macro" sense, it is really a war for freedom against those that wish to take our freedoms away. People have always had to fight for freedom from the dawn of time. There has never been a time of peace. I suspect that we will need to fight for our freedoms for many years to come. I think some day, we will evolve past the need for wars as technology makes it obsolete (at least I hope so). However, that day is probably at least a hundred years away and probably longer (at best our grandchildren may see a day of peace in the world). As long as there remain free nations--then we are winning.