[Rhodes22-list] Terrorism vs. Radical Islam

[brad haslett]

Roger,

   -I think the key is to bring up the standard of
living & increase opportunities in the Islamic world. 
This will get rid of the root cause for terrorism-

Nail on head!

As Bush pointed out to the UN last week, we have
looked the other way from oppression in the name of
stability and stability never came.  The House of Saud
and most of the other Arab leaders have lived in
luxury beyond imigination while their citizens lived
in squalor.  To fend off a take-over and loss of power
if not life, they have allowed and sometimes
encouraged radical Islamic growth to take the heat off
them.  As I pointed out in an earlier post, we have
ignored the problems in the Arab world since at least
the early seventies in the interest of keeping the oil
flowing.

I understand in theory at least what the goal is in
Iraq and its affect on the region.  There are lots of
problems but what are the other solutions?

Brad Haslett
"CoraShen"

--- Roger Pihlaja <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:

> Brad,
> 
> OK, but Islam was also the shining light of
> civilization & culture for
> nearly 500 years after the fall of the Roman empire,
> so it's not as if Islam
> caused these people to become stupid.  While there
> is a radical Islamic sect
> as you've indicated, the vast majority of Islam
> advocates peace.  Consider
> the violence let loose upon the Islamic world by
> supposedly peaceful
> Christians during the crusades.  Does that mean that
> Chistianity advocates
> violence?  I think the key is to bring up the
> standard of living & increase
> opportunities in the Islamic world.  This will get
> rid of the root cause for
> terrorism.  But, how we get from the current
> instability & chaos to the
> vision is a matter for debate.
> 
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 6:37 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Terrorism vs. Radical
> Islam
> 
> 
> > Roger,
> >
> > You forgot to mention that all those
> accomplishments
> > took place prior to the rise of Islam.  I could
> care
> > less how many times people pray, to whom, or in
> what
> > direction, I'm an agnostic, but when your religion
> > tells you to kill all who don't believe as you,
> > there's a problem.
> >
> > The leaders of that area, Saudi Arabia being the
> > worst, could care less what happens to the
> millions of
> > their citizens.  (I used to train with the Saudi
> Air
> > pilots, Americans, and have heard all their
> stories
> > about the flights to LAX to re-whore the harem. 
> In
> > fact, I saw a Saudi 747 parked at the private
> terminal
> > in LAX last week.  Hmmm.)  Anyway, I digress.
> >
> > Iraq has the best chance of any nation in the
> region
> > to join the modern world.  They have an educated
> > middle class, and the wealth (oil) to build a
> > self-governing society.  It won't be easy and it
> will
> > require our help.  The Shah of Iran, despite his
> > faults, oversaw rapidly improving conditions for
> his
> > population. They haven't progressed much under the
> > Mullahs unless you count a nuclear bomb progress.
> > (Another story for another day - a good friend of
> mine
> > at work was the roommate of the son of the Shah at
> > Reese AFB in Texas.  His return to Iran and
> eventual
> > citizenship in the USA is a heartwarming immigrant
> > story.  Again, I digress.)
> >
> > If, and this is a huge IF, Iraq can become a
> stable
> > and peaceful nation in the region with rising
> > prosperity for its citizens, it will provide a
> > catalyst for other governments to become more
> moderate
> > and raise their own standard of living. Taking a
> > chance on dying and perhaps the 40 to 60 virgins
> > (whatever) not being there won't seem nearly as
> > attractive when you can enjoy some of the comforts
> the
> > 21st century, running water for example.
> >
> > The war was declared on us a long time ago.  We
> > ignored the first twenty attacks.  Now that one
> has
> > happened on our own soil and killed 3000 innocent
> US
> > citizens, what are we doing?  Debating how to
> fight a
> > more sensitive war and asking why the French
> aren't
> > returning us a favor.  Huh?  You'll notice France
> > isn't taking any chances with them.  Have you
> followed
> > the news on how they are treating their own
> > substantial Muslim population?
> >
> > Brad Haslett
> > "CoraShen"
> >
> > --- Roger Pihlaja <cen09402 at centurytel.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Guys, I hear what you are saying about the
> attitudes
> > > of Muslims on the street towards the United
> States.
> > > But, I have a hard time declaring this a war
> against
> > > Islam.
> > >
> > > We're talking about the Fertile Crescent here,
> the
> > > cradle of civilization.  The folks in this area
> of
> > > the world were building great engineering
> marvels
> > > like the Ziggurat Pyramids, aqueducts, the
> Hanging
> > > Gardens of Babylon, & living in big cities when
> my
> > > ancestors in northern Europe were barely out of
> the
> > > stone age living in thatched huts.  These folks
> have
> > > a culture that goes back several millennia &
> gave us
> > > some of the 1st known written languages, the
> legal
> > > code of Hamurabi, as well as great literature
> such
> > > as the epic of Gilgamish.  To think that these
> > > people with their long tradition of engineering
> > > excellence, creativity, & scholarship would not
> be
> > > able to produce their own chemical & biological
> > > weapons given the amount of time & resources
> > > available is ridiculous at the very least &
> tends to
> > > smell like some sort of racial bias.  Anyone who
> > > discounts their capability does so at their own
> > > peril.
> > >
> > > I think a lot of our problems with the Muslim
> world
> > > stem from our relationship with Israel & with a
> > > general frustration with the continuing
> bloodshed &
> > > chaos in the region.  Whether it's fixable is
> not
> > > clear at this point.
> > >
> > > Roger Pihlaja
> > > S/V Dynamic Equilbrium
> > >
> __________________________________________________
> > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> > > www.rhodes22.org/list
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
> > http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> >
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> www.rhodes22.org/list
> 



		
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com