AhmadineBad?

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AhmadineBad?

Yesterday Barack Obama, described the Iranian president's remarks that ‘many believed that some segments within the US government orchestrated the 9/11 attack‘ as "offensive and hateful".

Perhaps the Iranian president has been reading old Scrippsnews.

Lee Hamilton, former vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also called the 9/11 commission.) led a congressionally appointed investigation which concluded that federal officials bungled their attempts to prevent, but did not participate in, the attacks by al Qaeda five years ago.

Mr Hamilton reportedly said "One out of three sounds high, but that may very well be right" when commenting on a 2006 poll that found some thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is ‘very likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them ‘because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East’

Mr Hamilton also said. "A lot of people I've encountered believe the U.S. government was involved" and "Many say the government planned the whole thing. Of course, we don't think the evidence leads that way at all."

http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll

Given that so called 'independent' commissions are usually the opposite I'll keep my doubts about who exactly was resposible for the 9/11 attack. Bearing in mind that the team of Bush, Rove, Rumsfeld and Cheney orchestrated a war and duped an oxbridge educated idiot into joining them. all of them are guilty of murder none of them will ever be charged. The Warren Commission lied to the nation when it produced their 'report' on the Kennedy assassination.
Same old story. Condemn the messenger, bury the message.
All interesting points of view, chaps, thanks! I must admit that I have wondered why all the US diplomats walked out… in protest at the ‘perceived insult’ or simply to avoid having to make a more meaningful response? So your post particularly appeals Chuck.
One may also wonder why A's translator had technical problems. ;)
Who are we conspiring against here? I think the hate eminating from Iran is preposterous. It was a very childish and immature allegation. But they could hardly point a finger at themselves. How ridiculous! Why is UN constantly a political forum? No solution to the dire needs of exposed populations.
Conspiring? Who me? Just discussing Ahmewhatsit.
Highhat, Since you think the hate emanating from Iran is preposterous... watch the second of the two videos offered on this link http://www.abctales.com/story/mangone/which-witch-project Maybe you will realise it is a two-sided emanation.
Can we really imagine secret Republican agents engineering plane hijacks with some of their own supporters as innocent passengers and flying them into some of the highest status buildings in the US, including the defence headquarters? The Republican mayor of New York lost close friends, important police and fire brigade people, as well as a large proportion of New York's fire brigade? Bush was obviously unprepared for what happened. It just doesn't ring true at all to say there was a conspiracy, very far fetched and quite ridiculous. As for the wars : does anybody really think that if some ultra fundamentalist group with guns and a die hard philosophy came to the US or the UK we should suspend all elections and let them take power, imprisoning the female population in their homes and denying them medical attention or education, without at least a fight or asking allies to come and save us from these madcap bullies. As for Iraq : Saddam was one of the dirtiest players the world has ever seen, a born thug who bullied his nation into total submission a long time ago, as well as spreading conflict wherever he looked over his borders. I know civil conflict afterwards in Iraq was very tragic and costly, but who else than the US, with allies, could have ever got rid of him otherwise. Ahmedinedjad (is that correct?) says too much, a lot of it is quite false. I agree the West has many failings and needs to perform better economically etc to make the world a better place.
I had planned to answer each of your points one by one but I couldn’t even understand your second one. When I reached the bottom I read “I agree the West has many failings and needs to perform better economically etc to make the world a better place.” It made me think that your heart was in your wallet David and that was why you seemed to be saying that it was a pity that so many strangers were killed and maimed in the name of pre-emptive defence but it was worth it to get rid of Saddam. It wasn’t a book, nor a play, not a computer game, but hundred of thousands of real people killed for what? How many in your family would you think it was worth losing to make the world a better place? I’ll simply say as to your first point - Surely the whole point would be that Al Qaeda WERE American agents. That Bin Laden was trained by the CIA in Afghanistan. That there is far, far, more terrorism now that before the so called ‘War On Terror’ That both George W and his father were very close friends with the Saudis who, I seem to recall, were the only people allowed to fly the day after 9/11. That Bin Laden is a Saudi.
If Moslems just grab the now and future rather than onto the past (trying to live like a Prophet is very difficult anyway) and become more secular and grab a hold of modern methods and science (it has progressed ever so much over the last odd 750 years you know, we now even have dual core i7s..) we might have some peace. But that can only be achieved when the Middle East and Africe and Asia is serious and mature about peace. I think it is childish, immature behaviour of Ahmadinejad and achieves nothing very much constructive for him or his country. I also think there is a conflict between Scientific Methods of today and the life of Moslems. They are stuck in history and the past, which is a great shame. They also turn to believe in a form of Communism which is why they are great friends of China and Russia. Unfortunately Communism kills competition and development which we need in our modern societies (badly) for growth. But, we must never forget the vulnerable in society, or we become a two or three tier society, of the rich, classes, and absolute have nots, which isn't very nice if you are a have not.. So perhaps we need both Communism and Capitalism? I believe in a modern society which is free from religion. This is because, I know that the differences in how we pray and what we believe in (to be true) only creates hatred and wars amongst us. Look at the recent Our World programme aired on BBC NEWS today for example. The Christians are fighting for the right to pray in Indonesia (which may have some technology, but prevalently is still a backward country in my opinion because they cannot debate in their government without religious belief taking a foothold in government debate). Myself, I am a Moslem, but a Scientist first. Though I also believe in many other religions as well. I think those that pray to a God (or spirit) are good, which I believe is all you need in terms of belief. Education is so important, because (not just for a good job) it frees your mind. It allows you to question the unquestionable, and explore. It is Science, which brings people together, learning, communicating, living. So society must embody science more and religion less. I like British society, because there is no pressure to believe in any religion, it is upto oneself. Also, it is a world leader in terms of Science. The British do not stop people from believing in whatever they want to (as long as it's lawful). More societies should try to embody the British way of Life. Why do Moslem Indonesians feel so threatened by a handful of Christians? This kind of religious intolerance is sad and sets a bad light on the people. Religion is about the past, Science about the future. Grab the future now before the past takes over. That is what I think anyway, because, the past is full of atrocity, and hurt. Learn to live in a happier way. Educate yourself. Learn how to read and write and express yourself. Whatever happens to you in Life, however sad, happy you are, no one can take your learning away from you.

 

I think it must be just me. No one else seems to worry. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11409167 I see articles like this almost every day now and I think heaven help us. So that’s another 2 million displaced in Nigeria, floods after the long drought in neighbouring Niger where some of the people have been starving for months. I’ve lost touch with the numbers still affected in Pakistan. Have the Chinese sorted out all their flood and mudslide problems. Is Russia recovered from its heat wave and forest fires. Has the flooding and mudslides in South America settled down? How did Mexico fare in the resent storm etc, etc, etc. Everyone else seems to think the world will carry on pretty much as it always has, at least in living memory and I hope they are right. Yet somehow I fear they are very wrong!
I think a lot of people worry Mangone. But they feel powerless.
Yeah, you're right Chuck. It just gets on top of me sometimes.
On the topic of US policy toward Iran: James K. Glassman former Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and currently Executive director of the George W Bush Institute - Discusses Strategic Communications and U.S. Policy Toward Iran. A very interesting video that makes you wonder if Mr Glassman is suggesting that Ms. Clinton’s idea of ’smart power’ isn’t smart enough? While admitting that the US role in Iran has not always been to help the Iranians realise the benefits of modern Democracy… “… we’re not doing what we did in the 50’s overthrowing a legitimately positioned leader of Iran.” Mr Glassman seem, to me, to be suggesting that ‘empowering’ the opposition - to the Iranian government - might well work again in Iran. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqv52rhLHg4&feature=player_embedded#! Ms. Clinton “We must use what has been called ‘smart power‘: the full range of tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural -- picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy. http://www.state.gov/secretary/ As I see it Smart Power is essentially the combination of military, economic and diplomatic engagement and has been seen by many as a reaction to the Neocon ‘hard power’ of the Bush administration’s ‘bomb and bust’ policy which had no faith in economic or diplomatic solutions preferring simply to bomb the enemy into submission and bust the US economy ;O)
Let's be blunt. Even the opposition in Iran is in favour of having a nuclear program. Israel will never feel secure until Iran has been bombed back into the stone age. Probably not even then.
A nuclear program? Sounds like they are on their way to stone age already. Either they reform from the medieval times or they regress. It's not a one way street up ahead. All I can say is ' Go Obama'- sorry but that is what I think about power. I suppose it is all I know ;)
I agree Chuck but there is no reason that Iran should not have nuclear power - its nuclear weapons that everyone fears. The trick is to allow the power while banning the bomb :O) In my opinion that’s why Obama is working so hard to try and get some movement before things go from bad to worse. Armageddon is on the cards.
It doesn't matter what the Iranians do or say. They will never be able to prove a negative. That's how Saddam got cornered.
Meanwhile http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11422065 The US says it is "disappointed" by Israel's decision not to extend a ban on West Bank settlement building. The UN and the EU also expressed disappointment at what UN chief Ban Ki-moon described as Israel's "provocative" actions.
With respect Mangone I don't want to get into discussing the rights and wrongs of the Mid. East mess. Better minds than mine have gone through the equation ad infinitum. I agree that Iran is entitled to nuclear power however but my sense is the last thing some people want to see is a modern Islamic state.
I tend to see developments in the Middle East less in a political light so much as in an eschatological one… it starts to make a lot more sense when you do ;O) I suppose that, in a way, it can be seen as a dispute over whether God gave the Promised Land to the people or to their religion...
Not everybody believes in God. Do they have to get involved in ongoing regional disputes?
Well, Chuck, as David put it earlier ‘if some ultra fundamentalist group with guns and a die hard philosophy’ came to live on your land saying that it was their land because God had given it to them - it is likely to end up as a serious dispute whether you believe in God or not!
Very good point. It seems we're all getting sucked into the vortex whether we like it or not.
You were quick off the mark there Chuck! I was going to add... If you mean do people not from that region who do not believe in God have to get involved in the dispute - well, they already are... although a lot of them pretend they do believe in God ;O) You're right about getting sucked into the vortex!
I see the events of 911, and the knee-jerk reactions to it i.e Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen etc. etc., as all part of the same package.
But Chuck, do you think they sane? Their foresight may be proven vain: The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy! Almost Robert Burns :O)
I posted this quote from Alan Watts a while back: “As Robert Oppenheimer said a short while before he died, 'It is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell. The only possible chance that it might not is that we do not attempt to prevent it from doing so.' You see, many of the troubles going on in the world right now are being supervised by people with very good intentions whose attempts are to keep things in order, to clean things up, to forbid this, and to prevent that. The more we try to put everything to rights, the more we make fantastic messes. Maybe that is the way it has got to be. Maybe I should not say anything at all about the folly of trying to put things to right but simply, on the principle of Blake, let the fool persist in his folly so that he will become wise.” It’s a form of ‘let it be’ but I start to fear that to let the fools persist in their folly will simply kill us all. Yet, I see no alternative. God save us! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Still - this article made me smile. Although perhaps it should not have. “It was the Shah and not the Islamic republic that initiated the quest for a nuclear project in the mid-1970s.” “Iran has been the biggest beneficiary of the change of regime in Iraq.” http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/09/2010928125917450496...
Aye Rabbie knew a thing or two. It's what happens when humans think they are doing God's will.
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