Originally posted by Sledgehammer:
I have to agree with Michael.
The people who have been killed my the American bombs in Kossovo, Vietnam and Iraq were innocent. Just like the people who were going to their jobs in Manhattan yesterday. INNOCENT.
Nope, sorry, WORLD of difference here.
The U.S., if you recall, actually TRIED to stay out of Kossovo as much as possible. And what happened? The people there were infuriated that the U.S. didn't step in to help! The people also cried that rest of Europe wasn't helping. And eventually, the U.S. was dragged in. The people of South Korea asked for U.S. help. The people of Kuwait asked for U.S. help against Iraq. In other words, each time the U.S. was asked to assist - they just didn't leap in destroying innocent lives.
Furthermore, the U.S. employed traditional war tactics. They tried their best to limit civilian casualties (especially in the Gulf War, where U.S. soldiers often put their own lives at stake in order to protect the innocent people of Kuwait). Missle attacks were not random bombings, but rather pinpoint attacks on key areas.
In contrast, this attack against the U.S. did not take civilian life under consideration at all - in fact, it was just the opposite. It seemed that the terrorists almost enjoyed destroying the lives of innocent people (as evidence by the fact that the terrorists actually announced to the people on the planes that they were all going to die). There was no country they were assisting here. Rather, these terrorists were acting on their own personal, selfish beliefs. And their leader is clearly shameless - not only has he not come forward to take credit for these awful attacks (most likely fearing his life being the coward he is) but it is now believed he tricked his followers into doing these horrible actions.
Therefore, please don't confuse the two events. Yes, I will readily admit that the U.S. often interferes with foreign politics and has done some unscupulous activities (why does the Reagan-era keep leaping to mind?). However, even then, those tactics were in the name of war, not a terrorist, unannounced attack. Heck, even the IRA frequently announces their attacks in advance to help limit civilian casualties.