They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

The radicals of the world have NO idea if what they are messing with, NONE!! We are in a war, a war that has NO effect on our daily lives, our pocketbooks, nothing! They are fighting for their lives

We only spend 3 % on defense, thats THREE PERCENT! In WWII we spent 10 times this ammount, in fact we spent so much we are still using bombs left over from that war!! There may have a couple of new electronic gadgets attached, but our bombs were produced over 60 years ago!!!! Add to this our capability using atomic bombs and related devices and you have overwhelming power that cannot be defeated. What if we were to resume production of war equipment at the WWII level?? We could destroy every single inch of the world 5 times over, and never have to resort to atomic devices!!!!

Yet they still fk with us. They poke us with sticks. Someday we will get really annoyed and strike back. THEY really need to keep this in mind.

Just how do we convey this fact to them without destroying half the world? Or do we have to follow thru?

The sane people on their side need to convince their people that they will lose if they continue down the path they have chosen. If they do not, they will be destroyed, along with a lot of innocents.

The left needs to use this information to help stop them, it will not stop us, they will not stop us. In fact the left usually gets totally out of control and is ultimately responsible for the total destruction of the enemy, they are either ON or OFF, they are incapable of seeing the grey shades that us conservatives see.

That concrete house is good for you.

The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force. The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one. The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.

The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it. Universal education is the most corroding and disintegrating poison that liberalism has ever invented for its own destruction. The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.

What good fortune for governments that the people do not think. Who says I am not under the special protection of God?

Don't get me wrong here...I'm all for destroying half the world. But I think you are mistaken...I think the Taliban understands USA politics very well. More so than those who support Pelosi, Kennedy, et al.

Some people have a different perspective on purpose and life/death. Some cultures and societies need to be ruled with an iron hand while others can make better social choices. The middlebeast cultures work best as distant traders. Those cultures/religions do not work well in close proximity of each other. Even the Euro-Christian societies rarely get along but the various Islamic religions… fa-git-about it.

It is going to require some serious, thorough communication and self-examination. Their religion is so strongly rooted in the way they think because it provides then comfort and solace in a very troubled and dangerous land.

The only way they will calm down and consider reason is if life becomes less of a hassle. That means less danger and more hope for the future. Bombing them into yesterday will only keep them there. I am not suggesting buying them all big screens, bags of Doritos and leather loveseats. It is not the people as much as it is their leaders. There has to be a better way and I am not so sure anymore that killing them is it.

al-Zawahir says constantly to force the Americans to run away.

Pelosi says Iraq is not a war to win but a situation to manage.



Pelosi never mentioned where to run away to.

straightjacket time, dude.

Librium works wonders.

Well said, Ron

Jack's in his underground bunker listening to Wagner. ;)

Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

Yes. And yet, with some basic flight training and a couple of box cutters they manage to bring us down.

And what do we do in response to this? What - spend 500 million liberating a bunch of sandmonkeys who don't appreciate our good will.

Why do you think she wants the 757-200, she wants to be able to run far and fast and leave the rest of us hanging, no shlt!!!!

Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

What do you mean "we" here? You are not an American, and do not live in America. Go and play with a kangaroo.

When was the last time you were in Iraq, or even in the Middle East? I spent over 5 months there last year, and about the same amount of time there in 2005. Know the people and area very well. Please tell us your experience in this area.

Peloisi is a joke and when the terrorists stage another attack on the US she will run and hide in the bunker somewhere. Then we may finally get the OK to nuke Tehran and possibly Mecca. These people understand only one thing, and thats force.

Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

Suffice it to say you're just a touch inaccurate above. Here's the real picture, typical of a militaristic empire.
http://images20.fotki.com/v382/photo...pieFY07-vi.jpg
Source: Where your income tax money really goes

Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

Where do you get this *****?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/summarytables.html

At quick glance, it looks like in 2006 the US spent close to a quarter of the overall expenditures on defense. This isn't a biased source, this is data from the US gov't.

Johnny's playroom
Is a bunker filled with sand
He's become a third world man

Smoky Sunday
He's been mobilized since dawn
Now he's crouching on the lawn
He's a third world man

Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guy

I saw the fireworks
I believed that I was dreaming
Till the neighbors came out screaming
He's a third world man

Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guys

When he's crying out
I just sing that Ghana Rondo
E l'era del terzo mondo
He's a third world man

Lies, damn lies and statistics:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171134170.gif

I'll get newer stuff if you want, but, as a percentage of the GDP...you pick your metric.

According to the link I posted, in FY06 the US gov't spent $2.655 trillion (2655 billion) in total. Of that, 410 billion was on defense. That's just under 16%. Sorry, I was a little over saying close to a quarter, but that's way more than 3%.

Lets not get bogged down in statistics, and focus on whats really the issue here: snowmans need for medication.

Snowman is correct. Obviously he was (accurately) referring to the percentage of GNP or GDP (not of overall spending)which is the typical and the only practical way to express military spending. Many countries spend much more as a percentage of GDP.

Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

This is bull$hit racism. Go away.

Re: Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

You noticed that Victor took the SS Nazi deaths head that he was using as an avitar off of his profile a few weeks ago. Guess it gave his true outlook on anyone who was not a "white arian member" away to too many people.

Doubt that he will go away but its a wishful thought at times.

Re: Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

Force has certainly worked well so far - hope you are calmer in the cockpit than you are on the typewriter.

Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

Sandmonkeys? Come one man, I'm not the most PC guy in the world, but thats not needed. Moreover, you would have actually had a point, but the point is lost when you turn it into a racial slur.

Ok, granted I'm not an economist, but why is that the only practical way of looking at it? If you look at spending as a whole vs GDP, the US spent less than 20% of its GDP in 06. In terms of figuring out how the US gov't spends its money, comparing it to gdp is useless. I can see using budget vs. gdp for comparing different nations, but Snowman's original post seemed to indicate the US was spending very little on defense, when in fact the opposite is true.

If we look at defense spending as a portion of total gov't revenue for 06, it's 17% (the gov't ran a $248 billion deficit in 06).

Re: Re: Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

you're wasting your time with these kind of people....

they are brainwashed Bush supporters, still believing that Iraq is (and was) the front on the "war on terrorism". a country that posed no threat to us and had the most weakened dictatorship on the planet. We certainly must be aggressive against 9/11-type bombers. But at the same time exercise caution.

I'm afraid that the percentage of GDP is a relatively meaningless figure. The percentage of the federal budget is all that matters.

That and the fact that the US government spends more on military in total than the next 26 countries added together.

That means a 90% reduction in military spending including the VA expenditures, which are in fact a cost of the military even though most don't count that, would be about right to defend America.

Well, Joe, I guess our posts passed in the internet fog - thanks for the kind comment, I do appreciate it and I respect your experience and comments - I just don't think force is the way through this craziness.

We weren't attacked by the entire Islamic religion and culture. We were attacked by a tiny, tiny, group - probably 50 or less for the 9/11 attack - maybe, what 10 or 20 thousand of determined angry zealots? No matter how foriegn or strange we find their practices - it is a successful culture that built great empires. The crazies have manipulated local tribal and regional conflicts for their own personal aggrandizement and political and economic power. Power politics is played the same way around the world - everybody, Christian, Muslim, and Jew has their friendly surrogates out in front doing things with "plausible deniability".

We made a terrible tactical blunder by attacking the zealots as if they were a real nation state. It gave them power and propaganda beyond their own ability to create. It gave them even more leverage with the locals and more respect with power centers within legitimate regional governments. It was a strategic mistake to use force in Iraq simply because it acted only as a catalyst for insurgencies. We should have stayed in Afghanistan and carefully and quietly taken down al-Queda there and in Pakistan. Anyway. Time will tell. But I think we need to change the dynamic in the region and that means less force and therefore less catalystic energy inserted into what is fundamentally an internal Islamist argument between Sunni/Shia or religious versus secular cultures.

It is not the only practical way...I posted it because apples were being sold as oranges.

The only way it makes sense at all is either in dollar figures or relative to the wealth or output of the country. We do spend very little now with respect to what we have spent during other periods or with respect to some other countries based on the relative wealth of our country. It makes no sense to compare it to revenues either...as that is purely a measure of how heavily we are taxed. This is how you normally see it expressed...for good reason.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html
.

It's a great deal more than 17%. The government doesn't count off budget items, paying for past military adventures, paying for the Veterans Administration, paying interest on student loans, paying student grants, and other expenses. Nearly one half the federal budget is for the military when you look at the big picture.

snowman .in the time it took you to write your post the cost of the war went up another 400+thousand

Comparing military expenditures to the wealth of the country is only used by those attempting to prove a lie. The true military expenditures should be expressed as a percentage of the federal budget OR in real dollars to compare it to the expenditures of other countries.

Any other expression of military spending is less than worthless.

Another meaningless figure. What is North Korea's military expendtitures expressed as a percentage of GDP?

I bet the starving peasants would not think the metric meaningless.

I have expressed in past posts my dismay with duplicative spending in the military budget. In a sane world, I would love to see huge cuts in military spending.

You are correct if you are attempting to demonstrate the size of your military, not if you are attempting to demonstrate the relative cost of the military to the taxpayer...as Snowman was.

That there is a military budget in North Korea at all is meaningful. Who would invade them? Other than Bush II?

Quote:

I have expressed in past posts my dismay with duplicative spending in the military budget. In a sane world, I would love to see huge cuts in military spending.

If it were a sane world, I'd end the military altogether. Ten percent of what is spent now is a good compromise. ;)

You are being generous. Can you name anything positive that the Arab-Muslim culture has created in the past 500 years?

Re: Re: Re: Re: They have NO idea of what they are messing with
 

(psst psst Joe, ignore button bro, works wonders,SmileWavy )

I know this is a joke, but how about algebra, the number and concept of zero, backgammon, polo, glyphs, and our numbering system. Oh and they did some wild stuff with astronomy. And some crazy stuff in Spain we like to call "Mediterranean architecture and flamenco." Not to mention coffee.

Any of that in the past 500 years?

My bad. It is a completely worthless and useless culture. Oh, wait. I know, OPEC!