London Bombing

[mrnoodle]

First, let me apologize for calling names. It's dumb.

Secondly, let me reiterate that I don't hate anyone. Nor do I think that all muslims should be eradicated (although they feel we should).

But the sooner we realize that we are ALL targets, and 9/10 muslims in ANY part of the world wouldn't so much as shed a tear at our death, the safer we will be.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone's not out to get you. I can see this kind of reaction after Pearl Harbor.... "hey now, let's not become hateful, like the handful of extremists who bombed our military base. What did the president do to make them mad and CAUSE them to do this?"

[vsp]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

First, let me apologize for calling names. It's dumb.

Fair enough.

But the sooner we realize that we are ALL targets

And we always have been.

Most of us here in America were somewhat sheltered from the realities of terrorism before 9/11, and it was such a rude wake-up call that I suppose I can't blame people for still being freaked out. However, I don't think there's a square inch of turf in the world that could truly be considered "safe," unless it's out in the middle of some Aborigine plateau that few people even know exists, but where the spiders and snakes are more likely to get you than anything else.

Some clips from today's British blogs, snitched from another site:

There has been a widespread outbreak of grumbling and tutting today in London, along with a large number of people going home instead of to work, with a certain amount of guilty pleasure.

Sorry, bad guys. We've been bombed before, and we just adjust our day to account for it. This is London calling.

Ooh. I shoul dswitch Fox News on...

Yep. Far more dramatic. If I'd ben watching this on its own, I'd be convinced that the whole of London was a crater.

And it's taken 30 seconds to link it to Iraq and a war on Christianity. Good going, Fox!

Did Londoners still react differently to New Yorkers? Yes, they evidently did. Culturally, we are very different cities. Londoners are proud of their strength and resilience in a crisis, and they're going to talk about it. It is distasteful, perhaps, to compare it to New York, but that too can be blamed on our thick skin and black humour. This is our response. We don't weep in the street. We make a cup of tea and say something wry and tasteless.

This is life in our modern world. We are humans; we adapt. Doesn't mean that we have to like it or sit back and take it when people do awful things, doesn't mean that those responsible shouldn't pay for their crimes, but let's not act like this is some kind of new 21st-century phenomenon.

and 9/10 muslims in ANY part of the world wouldn't so much as shed a tear at our death

See, you could yell that into my ear for the next ten years and you still wouldn't be reaching me.

A lot of Americans hate Iraq/Iran/etc. because they're convinced that they hate us and would like to see us dead.

A lot of Iraqis/Iranians/etc. hate Americans because they're convinced that Americans hate them and would like to see them dead.

Think about that for a minute. Sounds like a self-perpetuating fallacy on both sides, doesn't it?

[dar512]

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

But the sooner we realize that we are ALL targets, and 9/10 muslims in ANY part of the world wouldn't so much as shed a tear at our death, the safer we will be.

Be honest. You pulled that number out of ... thin air didn't you?

Does anyone know of any polls that have been done in the last five years of Near East/Mediterranean Muslims as to pro/anti American leanings? If we don't have at least some rough numbers for Iraq, how can we hope to know how much effort it's going to take to find closure there?

[kerosene]

Sorry to interrupt the discussion, but I just wanted to say I am glad to hear you are okay, Jag. When I heard about this I wondered. My thoughts are with you, and those close to you for your feelings of anger and helplessness. May you heal expediently from the emotional damage this sort of thing causes.

In light of the current tangent, crazies come in all shapes, sizes, colors and religious flavors. I have met many Muslims who aren't extremists and don't have the mindset so many of these attacks personify. I have met Christians that don't believe it is right to blow up an abortion clinic.

[Elspode]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Iraqi Security Forces aren't being killed by our occupation forces - they're being killed by insurgents because they are perceived by the insurgents as being traitors/American pawns.

Technically you should take those numbers out of the last set of equations, thus proving that either we are being more careful this time out, or our efficieny is dropping terribly.

Originally Posted by Elspode

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Iraqi Security Forces aren't being killed by our occupation forces - they're being killed by insurgents because they are perceived by the insurgents as being traitors/American pawns.

Technically you should take those numbers out of the last set of equations, thus proving that either we are being more careful this time out, or our efficieny is dropping terribly.

In theory, no, Security Forces aren't being killed by us except maybe a case of mistaken idenity here or there. Still, they wouldn't be getting killed at all but for the war and they ARE MUSLIM deaths.

Your point is valid enough, though. The ratio remains about the same without those 2 or 3 thousand, so we can leave them off if you wish.