Melon said:
- Anti-American sentiment is going to levels worthy of "The Onion." Yes, we blew up our own buildings and brought down our own planes, so we could own all the world's oil and establish a "Gap" in every Islamic temple. Never mind, of course, that America has been researching hydrogen fuel cell technology that would make us probably no longer need foreign oil in another decade...so I'm sure we would get yelled at for that as well.
I don't know whether this rant (no offense meant) responds to what you really believe since I don't find it to be much in line with your next posts. I certainly don't agree with this paranoid campaign many Americans are adhering to regarding "anti-Americanism". The fact that people don't agree with US foreign policy or future actions the US government plans to undertake doesn't necessarily make them anti-American. In fact many of them are actually American! People may be anti-Bush or anti-imperialist in any case, but it's plainly ludicrous to make out of such opposition a case of being the victims of the rest of the world's hate excluding naturally the Islamic fundamentalist part of it. I fully agree with Anthony on this one.
Re hydrogen fuel cell technology and other alternative energies research. I understand that their financing on part of the present US administration has suffered drastic cutbacks if it wasn't cut off altogether. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? On the other hand, no I don't think the US would be yelled at for it since besides putting an end to conflicts arisen because of oil control it would also reduce pollution on our already battered planet.
- Leftism has proved completely ineffectual in dealing with terrorism, which has always looked disdainfully upon intellectualism and pacifism--bulwarks of leftism. Something indeed tells me that intellectualism and pacifism will not dismantle Al-Qaeda, no more than intellectualism and pacifism will not dismantle the Christian Coalition. In fact, it only seemingly fuels the fanaticism further. I guess as long as Al-Qaeda doesn't strike anything else but America--since they "clearly" deserve it, according to Canadian opinion polls--then America should just shut up and take it?
What do you exactly mean by leftism? Communism? The US intellectual left - Chomsky et al? I fail to see in which actual cases "leftism has proved to be completely ineffectual against terrorism". That I know of the US were never ruled by "leftists" unless Democrats are considered to be such. On the other hand pacifism is not certainly a bulwark of leftism. Left-wing ideologists have always been pro-revolution whatever the forms, unless you mean John Holloway and his recent concept of anti-revolution breeded during his experience in Chiapas. If you mean opposition to US interventionism in the foreign front (anti-imperialism), that's something else, but that can hardly be called pacifism. In any case it hasn't given much of chance as to conclude that it has proved to be ineffective.
While I agree that pacifism (true one - in the Gandhian sense - not anti-imperialism) and intellectualism can't contribute much towards doing away with terrorism I don't see how they "fuel fanaticism further". It must also be said that while root solutions (removing causes) have never been given a chance, the retaliation or "we're gonna get 'em" approach which have been conversely widely tried out, i. e. military actions in the Israeli style not to mention the recent war in Afghanistan have also proved to be completely ineffective.
Does this mean that the US or Israel have to sit back and take it?
No, but nobody in their right senses can really believe that killing bin Laden and dismantling Al-Qaeda will put an end to the terrorist threat from Islamic fundamentalists. I mean that the chosen approach won't help to achieve the goal of doing away with terrorists. This is because this approach relies exclusively in the removal of the effect rather than the cause. In fact it's the result what's being pondered and not the reasons why such events happened in the first place. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda did not perpetrate the 9/11 attacks
because they are "madmen who hate the US for no reason". They did not do it either beacuse they resent past American policy in the Middle East and much less because they give a damn for their people's welfare. However they use such arguments which are those that make them widely supported in the Middle East to enforce their own agenda consistent in wiping out the opposition to establish their own theocratic system.
The real problem is however the widespread support they get from their own people which is what really fuels the existence of such groups both with manpower readily available to join their ranks and in general with facilitated operativity (lots of people ready to hide them, provide them with food supplies, etc). The question is why do people get to the point of supporting such extremist tactics and the ideology that goes with it. The answer is fairly simple: not certainly because they are all fanatics nor because Islamism preaches violence, but rather because these people are victims of real grievances which stem from extreme living conditions, years of oppression and of claims being ignored, most of the time caused by foreign aggressive policies originated in the west.
If something isn't done to actually remove such grievances there is no hope of doing away with terrorism and this has nothing to do with intellectualism but rather with common sense.
I'm certainly aware that terrorism won't disappear automatically if local people have access to better living conditions, education, etc or their claims are responded to, but rather that such a scenario will make them much less prone to support terrorist cells and even willing to get rid of them altogether. That will undoubtedly make the task of hunting down terrorists and punishing them as they deserve much easier to carry out. Wars and raids against individual terrorist cells may temporarily knock them out of the game, but if the causes of resentment which are the ones that encourage the massive support to such groups continue to exist, it won't be long before new similar organisations spring up.
I agree with 99 percent Anthony said in this thread 
