lathams loose lips, page-14

ff1

First of please refer to ALL my original post and not just a selected portion

Yes I believe that there needs to be the use of political and diplomatic force to correct the legitimate greivances which bred many of the fanatics in the first place..."

And I agree that the true fanatics just like the war mongering narrow minded biggots here probably will never be reasoned with.

But I also stated in my original post that military, law enforcement and legal actions needs to be used against these fanatics that can not be reasoned with - it is my opinion that not all muslims ( though some clearly are) that are prepared to take up the fight are doing so out of fanatical religious beliefs but because they have legitimate greivances.

Even some of Bin Ladens grievances with the west are legitimate, though he would probably never compromise on those that are not negotiation therefore would not be an option in dealing with him.

This does not mean while using military and other force to deal with the likes of Bin Laden the legitiamte grievances should not and can not at the same time be dealt with in a political or diplomatic way.

What I am saying is all avenues need to be used to their full extent if we are going to win the so called war on terrorism.

Not all live in Islamic dictatorships and of those that do not all of those are fundamental Islamic dictatorships. Some of these can be negotiated with, Gaddafi, Syrai, Iran, Saudi Arabia are all countries that vary degrees of success has been achieved through the use of diplomatic and political force.

As for the rest of what you view as a cause of the problem I agree with some and also disagree

- An unequitable distribution of oil wealth between the leadership, and the people.

Many of the Arab countries (not all) already do this including Iraq pre first gulf war and sanctions

- A fundamental belief that the Koran is god's word, literally.

Ruling a country on a fundamental religious belief is a dangerous problem regardless of the religion, Israel, The US and the current gaining of power by evangilistic groups.

- An educational system that discourages individual thought and expression.

Agree

- Dictatorships.

Dictatorships are not automatically a bad thing - depends on the dictator. there are many eductated and informed views that some countries will operate better under a dictatorship than democracy.


These factors can not be changed from outside. Fundamental change needs to take place within - an age of awakening for Islam.

I agree that these factors that do need to be changed can not be changed from the outside - Why are we trying doing this then in many cases by force???????


The US are trying to speed up this process by attempting to bring democracy to Iraq. Sure, there are significant costs in the immediate term, and little visible benifits. But will this be the status quo in 15/20 years from now?

Again if these things can not be changed from the outside it contradicts what the US is doing in Iraq. To date the efforts have only re-enforced the radical views of the west by muslims something that has more chances of getting worse than better.

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