LETTER: Who appointed us to run the world?

Wow?! Someone actually got REAL information from a news source other than the corporate/government controlled big media giants that twist information??!

Thank you

Kenneth
First of all, many nations are asking the Russians to get out of georgia.
We are putting a RADAR/ANTI-missle system in Poland. To PROTECT Europe from IRANIAN missles. The Soviet Union was putting OFFESNSIVE missles in Cuba in 1962 capable of hitting most of the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. Quite a difference there.

Try watching Team America World Police. Great movie!

Don't forget that in 1962, USA was putting missles into Turkey. They were capable of hitting Moscow and western Russia. Keep the blinders on.

to to brain,

Yes I was aware we had missles in turkey before the Soviets put the missles in Cuba. But from several books & docmentries on the history channel about the Cuban missle crisis three facts need to be considered.
1. the Soviet Missle response was to JFK's Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba fiasco in 1961.
2. The missles in Turkey were obsolete by the time of the Cuban missle crisis of 1962 and were scheduled to be taken don as newer Titan & Minnuteman missle systems came available. Cant remember exactly the logistics, but I do rmember reading the Missles in turkey being old. Only those in the military in 1962 will know the truth about the capability of the missles in Turkey.
3. Moot point anyway the negotiations that settled the cuban missle crisis was settled by each side removing missles from Cuba & Turkey and a promise from the US to never invade or support an invasion of Cuba again.
But again, the missles in Cuba were OFFESNSIVE and the radar/anti missle system are DEFENSIVE to be projected to be used against the Iranians & not Russia. Besides if they aer not planning on attacking Poland or Checklosovakia, then they have nothing to fear.

why do you think 9/11 happened? countries are getting sick and tired of the united states telling them what to do, what they can have and not have, how to treat their people. we have been asking for trouble and now we have it. it will happen again only worse i'm sure. we need to mind our own business. if the people of these countries dont like the way they live, let them change things. remember that we are a sitting ducks. we will be hit again, and again. the people of this country forget real quick. we are getting lazy and the enemy is watching us and is ready, when the time is right, to pounce. so dont be suprised when it happens again.

Wow, someone else actually watches the news media outside of the United States.
BBC was reporting on Georgia's aggressions on South Ossetia before Georgia launched their large scale attack. Funny how the BBC changed their tune when the US Media started saying Russia Attacked South Ossetia.
And we use to think only communist's countries news media was loaded with propaganda.
Welcome to the USA, the land of deception where we only believe we are the land of the free.

You need to get your head out of the sand. We have been hit by terrorist attacks long before 9/11. What makes 9/11 different is that instead of the treating terrorism as a criminal act, Bush decided to treat it as it is, an act of war.

Remember the USS Cole? The two embassy bombings in Africa. The first attack on the World Trade Center. All of these happened before 9/11.

These Islamic moroons aren't attacking us because we are trying to tell them how to treat their citizens, or what to do. They want us to stop supporting Israel. They also want us to accept that their religion is better than ours and stop being Christians. What they want is what you are accusing the USA of. If you doubt what I said, maybe you should think back a few years to what Osama Bin Laden said would be his peace terms with the US, stop supporting Israel, leave the middle east and CONVERT TO ISLAM.

Are you ready to convert to Islam? Are you ready to force all our wifes, daughters and sisters wear a burqa, stop attending school and be treated like they are second class citizens? If you choose not to convert, are you prepared to pay extra taxes because you are not a Muslim (called dhimmi)? Are you prepared to be considered a liar in court just because you are not a follower of Mohammid? Are you ready to attend executions of people for such trivial crimes as drug possesion or the real "atrocity" of converting from Islam? These are all happening in Islamic countries, especially ones that follow Sharia.

Even if we continue with your head in the sand approach, how long do you think it will be before the rest of the world is Islamic and then coming over here to force their will on us. Beleive it or not, it is already coming this way. There are groups in the USA now that think we should be following Sharia Law, groups such as CAIR. There are calls to prayer 5 times a day outside of mosques in some suburbs, such as by Detroit. We even had a man charged with an "honor killing" for stabbing his daughters because they refused to obey him and acted to "western".

I really think you need to put aside your "blame the USA" blinders and wake up to what is going on.

to fremonter,
The 9/11 atacks were performed by a group of islamic fascists or fundamentalists (take your pick-same thing) who if they had their way want the entire world to live under islamic law and all that goes with it. If your a woman who likes to driva a car?? forget it unless you have a male relative with you. Like to go to church or practice a christian demonination? never under muslim law-- death penalty.
youre kid rips off a 2$ bottle of soda from a gas station & gets caught they chop off thier hand with a big sword. A woman gets raped and they find away to punish the woman for being at the wrong place in the wrong time. Not how I want to live my life or the lives of my children. You can blame the US foreign policy for 9/11 but I will dissagree with you that over the long haul we are fighting for our freedom to live as we please. Has our foreign policy been perfect over the years? Far from it, but I choose America as it is now over the lifestyle of the muslim world any day of life. Besides in a Muslim nation placing comments on news against the government or religeos ideals would lead to arrest and/or eventual execution. Hvae a good day.

We could completely pull out of the Middle East and forsake Israel and......they still would want to kill us. The Holy War is more than about where America is strategically placed in the world. Its about our culture, freedom, lifestyle, religious tolerance....everything they hate..
remember when the president of Iran said there were no gay people in his country? In addition to the oppression of women! That's the kind of people you are dealing with.

Interesting thoughts, brains. Ever asked yourselves why the U.S. had no problems with any predominately Muslim country BEFORE a certain time in history? That certain time may differ among Muslim countries, but there is a common denominator: U.S./the West 'meddling' in their affairs, to put it mildly ('ruining their countries' would be more exact).
In the 21st century strong countries should intervene only on humanitarian grounds and never with any selfish reasons in mind (e.g. Russia in Georgia, U.S. in Iraq). To "enjoy" such freedom, we must become self-sufficient. Even Bush has figured it out - get off our addiction to oil and we solve half of our problems.

to: to fremonter,
i never said that 9-11 was the first hit. YOU need to get your facts straight. i know i am right in what i said. this country needs to mind its own business. what other countries do is none of our business. just because we dont agree with them dosent give us the right to interfere. join the military and go to vietnam or iraq or any other country and see it first hand, then you can open your big mouth about these subjects instead of just listening to and believing what the government tells you. there is a lot of things going on that you know nothing about. the bull, the lies, the deceit. wake up and get the facts. if you, or anyone else on here, had joined the service you would know exactly what i am talking about.

Brad,
The reason the US did not have as much trouble with muslim countries before a "certain time" (assuming you are pointing to the baby Bush years) will be addressed.
1. The US has had problems in the middle east long before the baby bush years. A previous poster mentioned several attacks.
2. the hatred for the west has always been there. Especially since israle was created in 1948 with Holocaust survivors. But its only been since the 1979 Ayatolla Komanei rise to power in Iran where real power to strike the west was born. It took the fall of the Soviet empire at the end of the cold war to leave a power vacume that lead to the powerfull rise of the Muslim terror networks. these networks excisted long before now, the 1972 Olympics tragedy is one example. But it was 1990s that the real growth in strength has occured to come out in time for the Bush years and the 9/11 attacks. Which were planned over 5 years before 9/11.

Brian, you assumed wrong. Bush didn't really start any new animosities, but he surely made some old ones very much worse.

Yes, "that certain time" begins 1948 for many Arab states, but certainly not for all predominately Muslim nations.
For Iranians 1953 is probably a more significant lesson. That's the year when their elected, and I should emphasize ELECTED prime minister M. Mossadegh was deposed by the U.S./U.K. alliance during the so-called operation Ajax. Reason? He nationalized Iran's oil assets. A legitimate move, considering his people were living in poverty while the Brits were sapping Iran's oil for peanuts. You could compare him with Chavez, except the disobedient leaders were much more vulnerable back then. Mossadegh was replaced with a puppet dictator (king or not), with U.S/U.K. pulling his strings. Now ask yourself - what right had this pair of colonial abusers to destroy the beginning of democracy in Iran? And come on, you know very well that the history of U.S.-Iran relations didn't start in 1979.
Isn't it sickening to watch today's events through the prism of a thorough knowledge of history? Ignorance is bliss, until it comes down on you. Hopefully it won't be in the form of another misguided oil-war, but I'm not sure. Jeez, how stupid can we be?

And what makes you so sure I haven't joined the military. You think that because I am pro-kicking Islamic butt that there is no way I haven't served?

You're so right, what other countries do is none of our business. That is, until what they do affects our friends and allies. Using your reasoning, we shouldn't have fought on the side of the Allies during WWII, we should have only fought Japan.

I still say you need to get your head out of the sand. It's people like you that give terrorist leaders the belief that they can win this war of ideology.

to: to fremonter;
why did we go to vietnam? why are we in iraq? why did we go to korea? ww2 was ok because we were attacked by japan. we went to the other so called wars because this country made alot of money doing it. please dont say i am wrong because i am right. i got that straight from a navy admiral as well as a few other high ranking officers. people in this country, in general, have no clue whats going on. i also will tell you that we are slowly going down the toilet. why? japan for instance, they took our technology, which we foolishy gave them, and have passed us up in manufacturing. their products are far more superior than the garbage we make in this country. other countries are doing the same thing. we need to straighten up our own country before we can worry about any other country. answer me this. why is it that countries in the far east for instance dont have the crime or corruption that we have? why is it that their people have much more loyalty and dont disrespect others like we do? the reason other countries hate us is because of what i said before. we keep interferring in their business, and telling them how to run their country. they are sick of it and we are gonna pay for it again and again. wake up and realize that our politicians are nothing but a bunch of liars, crooks, thieves, and just general morons. and people like you live for their words and believe everything that they say.

Try watching Rambo III its a great movie! John Rambo teamed up to help the Afghanistans vs the Russians!!

To Brad,
I am fully aware that we had diplomatic relations with Iran long before 1979.
Secondly, the "puppet" king (the Sha of Iran) that you refer to, was more to have a pro-western ally in the Arab world as opposed to most Arab nations which were more pro-Soviet in thier dealings.I dont condone him being a dictator so to speak, but its not the first time the US has dealt with dictators in order for help in the Cold war. Keep in mind that General francisco Franco was leader for life of Spain for decades after WWII. He was helped into power by Hitler in the late 1930's Spanish Civil War and was left in power when Spain joined NATO after WWII. Remember the Cold war was going on and that was alost as much as a factor in the middle east as the oil and the existence of israle as a nation.
to fremonter,
You aer well aware of NATO and its importance during the cold war against the Soviet Union and the WARSAW Pact. In Asia the US had an alliance similiar to NATO called SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization) which promised US military & economic support in an attack on a member nation from Communist or other forces. South Korea and South Viet Nam were among the nations in this organization. This was rarely brought up during the 60's & 70s
debates on whether or not we should have been there in the first place, but the bottom line is this: We were just as obligated by treaty to defend South Korea and South Viet Nam as much as we would have been obligated to defend West Germany or Great Britian from an attack by WARSAW or Soviet forces in Europe. Thats why we were over there. Any other reasons conspiracy theorists come up with is besides the point. Anyway have a good day.

BTW Brad.
Yes, we propped up the Sha of Iran before his overthrow in 1979 by the Ayatollah. But let me ask you this: Considering that I have heard & read that the massive rise in Muslim fanatiscism since 1979 and all that goes with it, (Hammas, AlQueda, the rise of the Taliban after Afganistan overthrew the pro-communist gov in Afganiistan in 1980), and has been traced origionally back to Iran and the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, would you agree that we & the world would have been far better off if the Sha and his government had stayed in power?

Brian
One thing to remember..

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
"Signer of the Constitution"

The fear that 9/11 produced brought us the Patriot Act, John Warner Defense Act, Real ID Act, Violent Radicalization & Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act and the list goes on and on..

It would seem to me the radical Muslims are winning as WE the people of the United States are losing the liberties our forefathers fought and gave their lives for...all for a little security.


Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.
Adolf Hitler

No, I wouldn't :). But would you agree that the world would have been far better off if we left Mussadegh alone back in 1953 and just paid a fair price for their oil?

You have to understand something - the mullahs too were against Mussadegh, after all he was a socialist. Without that idiotic operation Ajax, there would not be an Islamic republic. Iran was too conservative to convert to communism, even the CIA did not worry about that. It was all about oil.

The roots of our problems do not begin in 1979 and not every case of foreign meddling was about the Cold war, some were just plain plunder. Ajax is not just a conspiracy theory, it was one of the dumbest moves in CIA's history. Move your viewpoint from '79 to '53 and you'll see the big picture.

To fremonter:

I don't even know why I respond to your posts, maybe its from the brain cells that I loose while reading them. You say that Muslim nations hate us because we meddle in their affairs right? Well, you are wrong. These people hate us for the simple fact that we are not followers of Islam. 9/11 happened because we interfered with them? What did we interfere with in Afghanistan prior to 9/11 besides them kicking some commie butt? Your rationalization just bewilders me. Why do you compare EVERYTHING to Vietnam!? NOTHING HAS TO DO WITH VIETNAM! Ever seen the movie The Big Lebowski? You went to Vietnam, good for you, thanks for serving. Ok you say go to Iraq and see it first hand, when was the last time you were in Iraq? I bet my life you haven't stepped foot in that country. Everything you know about Iraq you've seen on T.V. Well guess what, I've been there, I've seen first hand exactly what goes on there. I've talked to the people, I've worked and sweated with the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police, I've been attacked by Saudis, Iranians, and Syrians. I watched my friend take shrapnel from an Iranian EFP (if you've stepped foot in that country you would know what it is, but you haven't so google it).

You are saying we got rich of the Afghanistan and Iraq war? You really are either 1. Delusional or 2. Completely crazy! The wars have set us back trillions of dollars! Where are you getting your stories from?

You want to believe everything you hear coming out of an Islamic nation about how nice they are and they treat everyone humanely and with respect. Go ahead and continue with your I HATE AMERICA mentality. Believe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he tells us all on national T.V. Iran doesn't have homosexuals, then you can join him in Tehran on their next round of homosexual hangings and beheadings.
Also, try to use a more intelligent word than 'moron'. I know I've mentioned that to you before, but honestly, it doesn't help your case at all!

cm,
I have never said or condoned giving up or trading rights for security. If I have show me. I have the opinion that if you aer talking about the Patriot Act you are overblowing the loss of rights. I have heard MANY people complaining about the loss of rights from it but NO ONE ccan point out any cops barging in on them in the middle of the night like a KGB agent. has anyone been arrested for complainng about BUSH on this forum? None that I have heard of.

Brian

The Patriot Act of 2001 vastly expanded the power of the Justice Department—a department of the executive branch—to gather records without court warrant.

Section 505 of the Patriot Act allows the FBI and other agencies to issues NSLs whenever the information sought is “relevant” to an investigation relating to terrorism or espionage. The act also allowed more lower-level FBI agents to approve NSLs than had been the case previously.


“The percentage of NSL requests generated from investigations of US persons [citizens and residents] increased from about 39 percent of all NSL requests in 2003 to about 53 percent of all NSL requests in 2005.” That is, US residents and citizens now constitute the majority of those targeted by NSL requests.

CM,
Assuming your stats are correct and I am not debating them yet, Your information shows in increase in "REQUESTS" for NSL searches. that does not mean EVREY one of those requests were granted and if so there was an arrest or a totall loss of constitutional rights by a US citizen. I do feel if a citizen breaks a law, he/she should be granted constituitional rights in a court of law and Due process thereoff, but I also feel our intelligence & law enforcement people need the toold to do the job w/o the buracracey and red tape that hindered agencies before the 9/11 attacks. Before the Patriot act the FBI & CIA could NOT work together b/c of the "boundries" of each sections duties and info slipped through cracks between them. That is one part of the Patriot act that no one cares to point out.

Brian
There was quite a bit of prior knowledge of the attacks on 9/11 and when you look at all the facts you have to wonder.
I don't simply buy the reasoning of lack of communication. Strangely enough there where allot of first time occurrences and blunders surrounding 9/11.

Speaking of fore knowledge and the lack of communication...23 minutes prior to the collapse of building 7, the BBC broadcasted that building 7 had collapsed, strangely enough you can just see the top of building 7 standing in the background behind the reporter. I bet a few people on the ground sure wished they had seen that clip so they could have moved to safer ground.

Cm. come on, I think you should go live in a few other countries and then come back here and see what you think about the patriot act and a few other things. This country is far from perfect but I think we have a better way of life than any where else in the world. I myself do not care if my phone conversations are listened to. I am not plotting anything illegal. Where else in the world can you be taken care of by the government for doing nothing? Try to remember that many people have given there life so that we can live as we do.

Its a very sad truth that the world looks to us for help...financial,military....etc etc...we have our own troubles here..we cant even control our borders...yet we try to maintain other countries borders? Cmon....Isolationism isnt a dirty word...we can be self sufficient if the many people in our country would pitch in for the greater good instead of lining there own pockets.....it will never happen and unfortunatly some day we are going to pick the wrong fight...stick our nose in wher it reallllly doesnt belong and we are going to pay for it.....its a sucky reality...but it will happen.....tell our Govt to take care of within first then look outside the borders....we have very few friends left out there maybe we should take care of them and let teh rest come begging

dl,

"Where else in the world can you be taken care of by the government for doing nothing?"

More than likely a communist/socialist country. But history has shown it does not work. The rich just get richer and the poor get poorer.


"Try to remember that many people have given there life so that we can live as we do."

I do remember that and that is exactly why I'm concerned when people like yourself would prefer to throw those freedoms away they fought and died for in exchange for a little security and a few government handouts.

Does Brian work? I know I don't...

- According to an August 2003 article in the Washington Post, President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That's 27% of his presidency spent on vacation. Although to be fair, much of this time is classified as a "working vacation."

May the real BushJr stand up

to BushJr,
Yes I have a job thank you. Many many people on some type of government assitance are depending on my tax dollars to support them legal or illegal status. Plus the usual divorce obligations I pay that most divorced dads also deal with as well. So I am employed and will do so as long as I am healthy and able to work at some type of job. And I bet I put in more hours at my job then 90% of most people living in the USA. I would bet only military personal in combat zones put in more hours then I do. Or perhaps emergency responders to natural disasters such as the hurricane Gustave now in La.
As for President Bush, I am not debating your stats that he has spent 27% of his time away from the White house on his "vacations". But you need to keep in mind that he is surrounded by technology that keeps him and his staff in touch with the real world for any communication or business in a blink of an eye. If he is fishing someplace and he gets a call from Putin for example, he takes the call. So while "on vacation" so to speak he is still on call 24/7 as president. This is no different from any president in the near past and will be the same for any future president regardless of party affiliation. Have a good labor day. And yes I am working today as well although I am using my lunch hour to check e-mail & the tribune. Chao!

Correction, it's a fact, Bush has taken more vacation time than usual and he has done it while all sorts of crucial things were going on...the guy doesn't get it and neither does Brian

Tex,
The point of my post was to simply state that Bush, as well as several presidents from the past and any president of the future will have the technology to be available 24/7 around the globe for anything that comes up. Whether the President is home in the White House or traveling someplace else he will have the ability to do his job on the spot for any need. There may be those who dont like how he may do the job, but regardless of who the president is he will be running the country home or away. That was my point Tex, and besides, in 5 months someone else will be sworn into ofice so you wont have to worry about Bushjr any more. Anyway have a good day.