Replies to post #1448 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[sylvester80]

Bush's current policies aren't the answer to the fundamental problem that existed BEFORE 9/11 and exists even more so AFTER 9/11.

Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash. put it best:

"We've got to ask, why is this man (bin Laden) so popular around the world?" Murray was quoted as saying in The (Vancouver) Columbian newspaper. "Why are people so supportive of him in many countries that are riddled with poverty?"

Murray said the answer may be unpopular, but worth considering.

"He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that."

She added: "How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that, rather than just being the people who are going to bomb Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"

"A Defense Department fact sheet indicated bin Laden had imported heavy equipment to build roads, tunnels, hospitals and storage facilities in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation and in connection with the establishment of paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mark Burgess, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a nonpartisan group that tracks defense issues, said bin Laden spent five years in Sudan using his own money to fund a number of infrastructure projects for the government.

"He and his organization have been involved in various welfare-type projects and charitable work," Burgess said.

Michael Swetnam, a terrorism expert who co-wrote a book on bin Laden and al-Qaida, told The Associated Press that the terrorist leader has been on a mission to build schools, roads and even homes for widows of those killed in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan."

[sarai]

Brainless, You could actually use New Jersey as an example.

I believe the 19 highjackers were from (living in) NJ. The 1993 WTC bombing was planned, openly in a Jersey City mosque by the blind sheik. As you know, there is a large Arab population living in No.Jersey. Is it the "hub" of terrorist planning in the US? It could be.... Certainly, some people from NJ have engaged in some really atrocious behavior.

So why not "lockdown" NJ? Have the US Army "occupy" NJ, impose a curfew, and imprison us in our own homes? After all, lots of terrorists are from NJ. If you restrict freedom and movement of the whole, you also restrict freedom and movement of a few. This way, people from NJ will be forced to go to law enforcement and tell them what they know. And citizens from NJ will have to elect better officials to deal with illegal emigration and related law enforcement. Under house arrest and military rule, we will police ourselves and the world will be a better place. Sounds like a plan.....

Arabs are an economic force in New Jersey too. I don't know of a service station or convenience store that is not Arab owned and/or operated. Under military occupation, we will stop supporting those business, and strip the Arab population of economic viability in New Jersey....

Personally, I think Israelis and Palestinians both need to elect better leaders, as do Americans. Israelis are reacting to gut level fear. How could they not? But I think the actions of the Israeli Gov, while crippling the terrorist network, is fueling hatred, and longerterm, that is not a good thing to do. And the Osama-types are holding the Palestinian plight up to further their anti-Western agenda....Not that the other Arab nations have been particularly kind to Palestinians, and it's not like Palestinian Christians wouldn't be murdered and tortured in other Arab countries, but with fundamentalist, you can check your "logic" at the door. The reality is, the extremists are using the Palestinian cause to further their own agenda.