Politics: J'accuse!

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Not Me
"Kerrey prefaced his questioning by telling Rice that he thinks the war on terrorism is really a war on radical Islam and that military action under way in Iraq is "dangerously off-track" and that it would lead to civil war."

It was his comments on the war on terrorism being a war on radical islam followed by his comments about Iraq being "dangerously off-track" that made me think that he had some sort of problem with the US going after radical islam (a religious group whose goal is the destruction of the US).

So you based your comments on a report of what he said instead of the reading a single line from the very link you posted? Weird.

He said the war on terrorism is really a war on radical Islam. Do you disagree? I don't think so. It's your own feeling that what a Dem says must be wrong that's driving you to read into that statement the line "and that's not good."

The war in Iraq is dangerously off-track not because it constitutes a war on radical Islam, but because we are now seeing Iraq become more welcoming to radical Islam than it was before, among other reasons.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Perhaps that he prefer that we wage war on radical Islam, which is a broader problem than simply terrorism. What occurs in the mosques in Saudi Arabia is not terrorism, it's the radical Islam that feeds terrorism.

In other words, killing Osama isn't enough. It's an excellent beginning, but it attacks the weed and not the roots.

Dude - I don't know why we are discussing this anymore. His comments at the hearing came across as something different from what he wrote in his editorial. At the hearing, he was talking about Christian armies in Muslim nations and how we were dangerously off track in Iraq and about how the war on terrorism was really a war against radical islam. That all came across to me as him having some sort of problem about us going after radical islam. He should be more careful about wording things if he meant something else. It wasn't at all clear to me from what he said at the hearing that it was A-OK with him that we go after radical islam.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
Dude - I don't know why we are discussing this anymore.

We're having fun beating you up because you posted something silly and are continuing to criticize Kerrey -- whom you now realize you agree with -- for not being "more careful about wording things" rather than admit that you said something stupid and didn't bother to check the sources you yourself linked to. As the Bush Administration is learning, it is sometimes better just to admit you fucked up and moved on.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
So you based your comments on a report of what he said instead of the reading a single line from the very link you posted? Weird.

He said the war on terrorism is really a war on radical Islam. Do you disagree? I don't think so. It's your own feeling that what a Dem says must be wrong that's driving you to read into that statement the line "and that's not good."

The war in Iraq is dangerously off-track not because it constitutes a war on radical Islam, but because we are now seeing Iraq become more welcoming to radical Islam than it was before, among other reasons.

Here is the direct quote, which to me he focuses so much on the religion and then intermingles that with his belief that wht is going on in Iraq is fucked up. Why the comment about the Christians in a Muslim nation?:

I believe, first of all, that we underestimate that this war on terrorism is really a war against radical Islam. Terrorism is a tactic. It's not a war itself.

Secondly, let me say that I don't think we understand how the Muslim world views us, and I'm terribly worried that the military tactics in Iraq are going to do a number of things, and they're all bad. One is...

(APPLAUSE)

No, please don't - please do not do that. Do not applaud.

I think we're going to end up with civil war if we continue down the military operation strategies that we have in place. I say that sincerely as someone that supported the war in the first place.

Let me say, secondly, that I don't know how it could be otherwise, given the way that we're able to see these military operations, even the restrictions that are imposed upon the press, that this doesn't provide an opportunity for al-Qaida to have increasing success at recruiting people to attack the United States.

It worries me. And I wanted to make that declaration. You needn't comment on it, but as I said, I'm not going to have an opportunity to talk to you this closely.

And I wanted to tell you that I think the military operations are dangerously off track. And it's largely a U.S. Army - 125,000 out of 145,000 - largely a Christian army in a Muslim nation. So I take that on board for what it's worth.

Yeah, that is just crystal clear that he actually meant what he wrote in the WSJ article.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
Here is the direct quote, which to me he focuses so much on the religion and then intermingles that with his belief that wht is going on in Iraq is fucked up.

You got me! I was wrong about the order of the points! But it was worth it just to get you to look at the transcript.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
We're having fun beating you up

I don't feel beaten up at all. I feel like I am arguing with morons who cannot read. I have been very clear and the fact that I have to keep repeating what I am saying to you shows your lack of reading comprehension.

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
because you posted something silly

Wasn't silly at all. The guy poorly chose his words and didn't convey his points clearly. He has no one to blame but himself if people walked away with a different message from what he intended to convey.

As for admitting things, I stated from the beginning that I hadn't read the WSJ article and once I read it, I stated that his views are in line with mine. Compare that to how the Dems on this board behave.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
You got me! I was wrong about the order of the points! But it was worth it just to get you to look at the transcript.

I have looked at the transcript several times since I made my original post. Everytime I read it, I become even more convinced that his message was garbled. If you read his WSJ editorial before you read/heard his comments at the hearing, I might have walked away with a different impression. But that just makes my point for me - what he said at the hearing wasn't clear. It came across to me as being an indictment of a Christian nation going after islamic terrorists and removing a dictator from oppressing an islamic people. That is his fault for not being clear. Lots of people who read the papers and watch TV news didn't read his editorial. He should be cognizant of that and be more careful of how he says things.

[Not Me]

This is what Islam Online took away from Kerrey's comments:

http://www.islam-online.net/English/...rticle03.shtml

Bob Kerrey, a member of a bipartisan commission investigating the9 /11 attacks, told U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice Thursday that the American administration should reconsider what "a Christian American army" was doing "in a Muslim country.

What Kerrey said came across to me (and apparently to muslims, too, who are now using his words to support their claims that the US is doing something wrong) as being very focused on the fact that we were going after muslims.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Me
Yeah and Bush lied.

And Clarke was out of the loop.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Me
He does appear to be criticizing unnamed anti-Bush protesters in that post that is 3 months old. I will search for posts from the Dems on this board that criticize named Dems and get back to you when I find them.

Check for my posts on Clinton.

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
After we're done with the war on terrorism, can we have a war on cruelty? And deception?

Hold your horses! We're not done with the WAR ON DRUGS yet!

S_A_M

eta: stp -- T.S.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Not Me
I don't feel beaten up at all. I feel like I am arguing with morons who cannot read. I have been very clear and the fact that I have to keep repeating what I am saying to you shows your lack of reading comprehension.

What a bizarre role-reversal, isn't it, sugar-britches?

S_A_M

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Hold your horses! We're not done with the WAR ON DRUGS yet!

S_A_M

eta: stp -- T.S.

Ty, you know that I am the guy who hits the elevator button every time, even if the light is already on.

Happy Easter to All! (and a belated Happy Passover!)

S_A_M

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Ty, you know that I am the guy who hits the elevator button every time, even if the light is already on.

Happy Easter to All! (and a belated Happy Passover!)

S_A_M

Beating horses until long after they're dead seems to be par for the course around here the last few days. I think it's because no one wants to talk about Iraq.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man sugar-britches?

Assmollusk.