LOL...Clearly you and intelligence are strangers. Spain chose to treat this like a criminal act, nothing more. Much the way Clinton did prior to 911...and you see how successful that was. No intelligence was involved.....In fact, al-qaida claimed responsibility. I'll bet it was difficult to know they were the local (moron) bad guys when they started shooting at the police that came to question them and then blew themselves up..LOL..Spain had long known about these folks within their borders and of their threats, but still did not prevent the bombings. Even if they have captured all the low level folks responsible for this local action, like the US, they have not capured Bin Laden or made a dent in the overall hierarchy of al-qaida. Obviously your standard for success is much lower for everyone than the US. If you used the same standard for 911, we were much more successful.....the local guys (and ringleader) died immediately with the victims and are currently burning in hell.

You know, if the CIA and FBI had communicated together, 9/11 would have been prevented. You know that, right ? If you don`t, go buy Richard Clarke`s book. I am sure you are not a big fan of Richard Clarke, but I consider his opinion several orders of magnitude more valuable than yours. The Saudis who were taking flight lesson without the landing part had been identified by low level FBI agents. You know that, right ? I don`t even make it a Bush vs Clinton issue, it is simply a communication issue.

Aurel

18 pages later (that many pages under various topics here), Aurel ALMOST got it.

It's not a KERRY vs Bush thing. Not a Clinton vs Bush 1 thing.

It's a changed world terror thing.

Guys, I don't care how we got here. Fact is we ARE here. No one in all those pages has made any more sense than anyone else, some of the ideas are pretty laughable.

I travel all over the world on a daily basis. Those of you who have been 'safe' behind the borders of the US (and that includes the press that you are fed), have not come to the realization of HOW different this world has become yet.

Fact is, we (not just America) have to address this threat. Drastically. The terrorists have no problem with drastic. It's what they are counting on.

Either that or learn to dress our women in burkhas. And learn which compass heading Mecca is from what used to be your front yard.

Agreed! When does the blame game stop and we concentrate on stamping out the cancer of those who choose to murder innocent women and children to achieve their means. They have made it clear that they will not stop until anyone or any culture that opposes them is destroyed. It is us or them...they will not have it any other way. We can either choose to fight or die,

I am reading Richard Clarke`s book right now. What I really really enjoy in the book is to get his perspective from the very beginning of terrorism against the USA, when the US ambassy in Beirut was attacked under Reagan. I just read this paragraph that I`d like to share with you guys:

"Yazde, Yazde, this is State over. What is your satus ?"
"State, State, Yazde here. We are taking artillery fire from a ridge across the way", came the voice crackling across thousands of miles. "We could use some help from New Jersey." That was not a request for letters from back home, but rather a call for supressing fire from the US battleship riding off the coast. The Reagan administration had decided to deter further attacks by showing U.S. military muscle. Minutes later, the long guns of a World War II throwback turned east and fired their famous "shells as big as Volkswagens."
"Yazde, Yazde, are you still taking fire from that ridgeline, over."
"State, there is no rifgeline there anymore."

Nothing like a rainy sunday afternoon with a good book, whether you are a republican or a democrat ;)

Aurel

Is that really the case? Seems to me they've been saying that they'd like us to get the heck out of their business/countries...ie leave them alone. Do you really think they want to take over the US?

I'd be willing to bet that they would like us here in the States to feel what it is like to be occupied by a foreign army and the culture that goes with it.

You know, kinda like what we have done several times in our history to other cultures and nations. Yes, maybe for various reasons, both good and bad, but we here have never dealt with that here on our own soil.


Yes Todd, that is exactly what I think they want.

A whole month of appeasement and you complain it isn't working?

I don't know...how many months would you give your "friends" to quit planting bombs in your house before complaining?

Appeasement doesn't mean "friends", appeasement (actually I hate that word) is more like talking and actively encouraging to stop what they're doing. I know we agree that the terrorists and their cause aren't exactly rational. It might take more than 5 mins to sort it out.

(edit) I know that lots of people find this approach untenable. I dunno - instinct also tells me that sitting talking doesn't solve much, but I'm not sure that a sledgehammer works either.

Ronald Reagan's method of appeasing the terrorists was to give them weapons and money.

Does anyone think that we should go back to that method of responding to their demands?

According to merriam-webster it means: PACIFY, CONCILIATE; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles
Pretty acurate description in my opinion.

I said I didn't like the word (for that very reason). I am happy to agree that appeasement may not be the best way. However, I think people (including you and most politicians) use appeasement when that is not actually what is being done.

What they are actually doing is talking/negotiating etc.

I think it would be more accurate to say that the method used was to sell them weapons. It is also apparent that Reagan recognized the error of this method and vowed not to negotiate with terrorists...too bad many others did not learn the same lesson. Iran subsequently released the hostages....The weapons he gave to Libya for their terrorism exploded on delivery.