living With Terrorism

[semaforo]

   If you are fraid of PRISM then the terrorits have won.

[1713581355]

1713581355

[JordanL]

Out of disgust at the beheading of a British soldier in London BTC.
The police and onlookers branded me a racist! i am NOT a racist.

That tends to happen when you march with a group of open white supremacists.

are our boys not fighting to protect the innocent people of the middle east against the oppression of normal people like you and me by sharia law and fundamental Islam that really is thousands of years old old has no place in a civilized modern society.

No, no they are not. Iraq for example is now far closer to being controlled by religious fundamentalists than it was under their old secular dictator.

[JordanL]

I think people should realistically consider causes for terrorism. And on other hand look into how domestic issues could be resolved.

There isn't a way to stop it all, but many things could be done to prevent it on local level. Deal with mentally unstable, provide economy that provides work or future for young people.

And don't think you are free to murder people on other side of world.

This exactly. We need to focus on the things we can do to decrease acts of violence; political terrorism, spree shootings, all types of crimes. Turning in to a police state is not the way to go.

[Chaoskampf]

The Iraqi people lived with a decade of British and American terrorism. Over a million Iraqi's died, and their country has been completely torn apart. Why can't we call that what it is? Terror.

[solex]

The Iraqi people lived with a decade of British and American terrorism. Over a million Iraqi's died, and their country has been completely torn apart. Why can't we call that what it is? Terror.

That's called war.
When governments kill they wage war, when civilians kill it is terrorism or freedom-fighting (depending on which side of Alice in Wonderland's mirror you are standing). Of course people are right when they say that government-sponsored warfare is morally no better than terrorism, it just gets painted with the colors of patriotism and shiny brass buttons and medals to sanitize it for the public,

[hawkeye]

are our boys not fighting to protect the innocent people of the middle east against the oppression of normal people like you and me by sharia law and fundamental Islam that really is thousands of years old old has no place in a civilized modern society.

I'll tell you what the Iraq war was about.

Over the last few decades, since the end of WW2, the military has grown and grown in America.  It has become a huge part of the economy with many people deriving their income from military contractors and those contractors getting their money through military contracts which of course are paid by tax.  And yet, no-one invading or threatening to invade the homeland.  How could they with oceans either side?  Surely, then a huge part of that money could be saved?  

So, the reality is, is that the military has to be justified.  They have to fight in wars.  Any excuse can be made no matter how flimsy.  

The Iraq war is all about keeping thousands of Americans in jobs.  That's the reality of it.  That's why so many are ready and willing to swallow the propaganda.  And why the truth doesn't get out.  There is quite simply no demand for the truth so the media have little reason to supply it.

Having to reconfigure such a large part of the economy away from the military would result in a lot of short-term pain for a lot of people.  And we know in politics that never happens.  Much easier to just go shoot up a bunch of brown people and their possessions that nobody cares about anyway.  If they end up getting upset that their friends and family have been killed and their local economy destroyed and thus their opportunities in life destroyed and some end up with a grudge and some proportion of them decide to take it out on those who inflicted it by committing terrorist acts...  well... so much the better for the military and security industry.

EDIT: I can think of another institution that is thousands of years old and has no place in a civilized society. 

[ktttn]

are our boys not fighting to protect the innocent people of the middle east against the oppression of normal people like you and me by sharia law and fundamental Islam that really is thousands of years old old has no place in a civilized modern society.

I'll tell you what the Iraq war was about.

Over the last few decades, since the end of WW2, the military has grown and grown in America.  It has become a huge part of the economy with many people deriving their income from military contractors and those contractors getting their money through military contracts which of course are paid by tax.  And yet, no-one invading or threatening to invade the homeland.  How could they with oceans either side?  Surely, then a huge part of that money could be saved?  

So, the reality is, is that the military has to be justified.  They have to fight in wars.  Any excuse can be made no matter how flimsy.  

The Iraq war is all about keeping thousands of Americans in jobs.  That's the reality of it.  That's why so many are ready and willing to swallow the propaganda.  And why the truth doesn't get out.  There is quite simply no demand for the truth so the media have little reason to supply it.

Having to reconfigure such a large part of the economy away from the military would result in a lot of short-term pain for a lot of people.  And we know in politics that never happens.  Much easier to just go shoot up a bunch of brown people and their possessions that nobody cares about anyway.  If they end up getting upset that their friends and family have been killed and their local economy destroyed and thus their opportunities in life destroyed and some end up with a grudge and some proportion of them decide to take it out on those who inflicted it by committing terrorist acts...  well... so much the better for the military and security industry.

EDIT: I can think of another institution that is thousands of years old and has no place in a civilized society. 

Funfact: Electric household appliances were invented so power companies could maintain the feed of power during the day.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/how-to-build-a-toaster-from-scratch-the-ted-talk.html

Terror is a commodity.

[hawkeye]

Terror is a commodity.

Terror is only a commodity when you can force people to pay for it.  If it had to be paid for voluntarily, less people would pay, and those who did pay would have to pay a greater share of the burden to make up for it and would ultimately ask themselves why they are paying when their neighbour isn't.

[semaforo]

    Yes, I tend to agree. Terror is certainly an economic incentive, but I don't think it can properly be called a commodity. Can you imagine terror futures trading on the s and p 500?
   
    Terror is just one more means by which economic growth can continue after most markets have been saturated.
If we were just a little more creative we could use our surpluses to build university ships that sailed around the galaxy peacefullyseeking knowledge, breeding new kinds of plants that do things like sing and change colors, and build beautiful temples out of crystal. The majority prefers expensive cars, lawns in Phoenix, and securing borders from people they don't know or understand so as to have an illusion of security... who am I to blow against the wind?

[gollum]

Fear of an invisible enemy is a perfect method of controlling the population.

This method is nothing new, it has been used in several ways earlier in history.
During the 50s-80s we had the "cold war" that in reality was an invisible threat used for political reasons. Both USSR and USSA knew that they would never attack eachother but they kept playing by the cold war fear since it benefited their militaries, their careers and their pockets.

[toddtervy]

The Iraqi people lived with a decade of British and American terrorism. Over a million Iraqi's died, and their country has been completely torn apart. Why can't we call that what it is? Terror.

Pretty much.  I'm sure the Iraqi's do think of British and Americans as terrorists, and they probably also don't consider themselves terrorists.  It all depends on the viewpoint you look at it from.

[cryptasm]

The UK government has killed over 10 million people since WW2:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unpeople-Britains-Secret-Rights-Abuses/dp/0099469723

People should be more worried about state sponsored terrorism than the occasional religious nut-case who goes on a killing spree.

[Mike Christ]

People should be more worried about state sponsored terrorism than the occasional religious nut-case who goes on a killing spree.

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, often violent, especially as a means of coercion.

So basically, government.

[cryptasm]

People should be more worried about state sponsored terrorism than the occasional religious nut-case who goes on a killing spree.

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, often violent, especially as a means of coercion.

So basically, government.

Yeah they are part of the problem. Now that war's been privatised, we've got an entire global military industry dedicated to perpetual war/profits.

[alephi]

The rest of the world lived with decades of terror at the hands of Uncle Sam.  It's time the US public woke up to the real face of terrorism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeHzc1h8k7o

[justusranvier]

Yeah they are part of the problem. Now that war's been privatised, we've got an entire global military industry dedicated to perpetual war/profits.

Government is the name the most successful mafia in a particular region calls itself.

Regardless of whether or not that mafia is engaging in conflict with other mafias, they are always at war with the people unfortunate enough to live in their area of influence.

[xkeyscore89]

OP, you're absolutely right, extremist Islam is trending.  From the sectarian violence in Iraq, to AQAP (Yemen), to AQIM (Algeria), Islamist extremist in on the rise. 

[solex]

OP, you're absolutely right, extremist Islam is trending.  From the sectarian violence in Iraq, to AQAP (Yemen), to AQIM (Algeria), Islamist extremist in on the rise. 

Even when the United States faced the combined threat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan it did not find it necessary to introduce a Big Brother surveillance state spying on the intimate details of the lives of every one of its own citizens. Radical Islam is nothing compared to these earlier threats, so why tear up the Bill of Rights this time?

[xkeyscore89]

If the capabilities were available in the 1940's, rest assured the US would have absolutely utilized these tools.  

As far as current affairs are concerned, I'm not arguing the fact that the NSA's spying capabilities come in conflict with the constitution, rather I am merely stating that the NSA is above reproach, with security clearances above that of the President's.  This is definitely cause for concern, but there's really nothing congress or anyone can do about it.  As long as Ibrahim al-Asiri (Saudi elite bombmaker residing in Yemen) and Ayman al-Zawahri (al-Qaida #1) are at large, don't expect the status quo to change.

[Elwar]

Quite an experience to live in fear isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.