Thread: How to combat terrorism better

What was it Moshe Dyan said about hornets?
When you get stung by a hornet do you swat at it or burn out it's nest?

The best way to stop terrorism? Instead of watching the fear-peddlers on FOX, CNN, etc... spend a quiet afternoon reading any of the following books. Tell your friends to do the same (for those who fear being infected by liberalism, the 2nd and 3rd books on the list were written by traditional, conservative Republicans):

1.) The Transformation Of War by Martin Van Creveld: The world's preeminent expert on asymetric war, this Israeli believes that the USA will leave Iraq they way it left Vietnam (clinging to its helicopter skids). He demonstrates the lunacy of using conventional force against Third World insurgents.

2.) Imperial Hubris: Why The West Is Losing The War On Terror by Michael Scheurer: Ex-head of the Bin laden unit at the CIA writes a brilliant treatise on how we're feeding terrorism by extending our military presence in the Middle East and supporting corrupt, bunker states.

3.) Revolution: A Manifesto by Congressman Ron Paul: A brilliant book by a brilliant man, he argues forcefully that simply adhering to the US Constitution will reduce terrorist threats (this book was the #1 best seller at Amazon.com last week, so there is still hope for the American public).

4.) Dying To Win: The Strategic Logic Of Suicide Terrorism by Robert Pape: The author analyzed every instance of suicide terrorism in 25 years and proved that almost all of these people were driven by fears of encirclement by outside democracies, not by religious fervor.

Thanks for the list, FP. Always good to read opinions. Don't always agree with them, but if I don't read them, I have no ammo to use to support my disagreement.

wasn't it the tamil tigers that started suicide bombings (individual people bombs)

Originally Posted by Norton

Law enforcement - terrorist blows up an airplane hunt them down and punish them.

Is this the same pussy-liberal law enforcement getup that catches a Mexican-looking guy robbing a liqour store in Houston and isn't even allowed to ask him if he's in the country legally? You've been here too long Norty. White collar crimes rob people of million right under thie noses but they can't act because they're not allowed to ask the right questions. Individual rights and all. See where that shit gets you? Do you think run-of-the-mill law enforcement is prepared to stop or hinder the funding of terrorists within in the US? With it's 15-20 million illegal aliens?

Originally Posted by Norton

Intelligence gathering - catch them before they blow up the airplane or use the intelligence to track them down. Sharing knowledge as it relates to capturing bad guys is already common practice between nations who have a vested interest in catching the bad guys. Your assertion it is contrary to existing fact.

I assert that for every bad guy that gets caught 20 don't. And they're not trying to steal hubcaps either. And even if someone knows who the bad guys are, you think Syria or Pakistan is turning over it's list of suspected terrorists to the target states? Terrorists don't need a full-up army to operate. As demonstrated, a few well-prepared, disciplined people can turn it on and nobody will be wiser.

Your proposal is pie-in-the-sky.

Originally Posted by Texpat

Originally Posted by Norton

The "west", with our ideals and principles can do better than use force as our first option to convince others to embrace our values!

Sometimes it's tough to remember your objective is to convince them to embrace our values when they're plowing 737s into skyscrapers.

Jeez Texpat. Individual countries can't do nothing about terrorism. Simple as that. If the US of A or the UK want to do something about terrorism then they gotta realise first that they are part of international community. Terrorism is an international issue and the only way to solve is to cooperate with the international community. Unilateral military strikes are not going to take the US of A anywhere and it won't solve no problem.

IMO the US of A needs to take other countries in confidence and tell them through interactions/diplomatic channels that terrorism isn't just their problem. It's everyone's problem.

To beat terrorism:

* we need to create a community (international community) which values the good in everyone and respect the diversity of faiths.

* solve the on-going conflict in the ME.

* developed countries should reach to help third world countries in development projects.

* inter-faith discussions should be encouraged.

* and all the points I mentioned earlier.

Hmmm no post for almost 4 hours. Does it mean we have all agreed on how to combat terrorism?

Originally Posted by Raycarey

1. get US troops out of the ME--particularly iraq and SA. within 5 years ....max.

1 year max, I say. Saddam's already dead.

"Terrorism" is a form of politically motivated violence, and here to stay for as long as there are unresoved conflicts within a country or a wider region.

No amount of stormtroopers roaming the deserts of the world is going to 'eradicate' terrorism.

Originally Posted by Texpat

Law enforcement and intelligence gathering? Are you serious? Knowledge is power and not shared fully/easily by anyone under any circumstances.

Figure your plan will take about 5-10 lifetimes to achieve. Think they can hold off killing anymore of us until we get there? Maybe if we ask nicely.

Who is "they" and who is "us"?
Getting caught up in your simpleton 'logic' again there?

Is this the same pussy-liberal law enforcement getup that catches a Mexican-looking guy robbing a liqour store in Houston and isn't even allowed to ask him if he's in the country legally?

No terrorists have ever been apprehended, tried and jailed, eh?

No terrorist attacks have ever been prevented through intelligence gathering and sharing either?

Originally Posted by stroller

No terrorists have ever been apprehended, tried and jailed, eh?

Think you got the sequence a little wrong. Mostly just the first and last so far.

anyway Iraq is definitely not where terrorism will be fought and won, and Iraq is lost already, so a bit pointless at the end

Originally Posted by Norton

Originally Posted by stroller

No terrorists have ever been apprehended, tried and jailed, eh?

Think you got the sequence a little wrong. Mostly just the first and last so far.

I wasn't thinking of GITMO nor the US, but the 'rest of the world' - insignificant, I know, but it does exist and has dealt rather successfully with criminals committing acts of terrorism.

Originally Posted by chitown

I hate it when I start a thread and don't even know it

Well, one of the "new brand" of Issues stealth mods has outed himself here:

Originally Posted by sabang

This ain't the Thread to go into great detail though. Hell, I'm gonna split it.

Heh, yeh aren't we stealthy. Congrats Chi- looks like you've got a century thread.

^^yeah a century thread and still none the wiser!

Congrats to roid-boy on his century thread in Issues.

Keep it up.

^ Grow a brain Chintee

^Oh, that is too funny. Stroller hasn't told me that for a long time. Guess I'll have to get more right wing.

Grow a brain, Chinthee, this is only post #97

^Ok, I deserved that. This is post # 98. Who will raise me two?

So roidboy will get a century - never!

Well the thing is this was not my thread anyhow. One of the mods split it and made it a thread of its own. So if it is a 100 post thread, then it still was not a thread I really started.


It really does not matter to me in the least!!!!!

Look its post # 100 yippeeeeeeee