[Changleen]

Good or bad?

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120649020055764009-id9vyXPD7bi4ouCJEmAXwdFW9bY_20080424.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

Barack Obama is drawing fresh fire for pledging to hold direct talks with foreign adversaries, an approach both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they will hit hard...

...Increasingly, they are presenting his ideas as a radical departure from standard U.S. doctrine...

..."The notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them...is ridiculous," Sen. Obama said in a debate last year...

...Sen. Obama's aides disputed the charge that he would recklessly move into talks with Washington's adversaries. Still, they said Washington doesn't have the luxury to wait indefinitely to hold talks with the likes of Tehran or Damascus because of the depths of the instability in the Middle East.

"A summit meeting isn't an end it itself. It's part of a broader strategy," Obama adviser Mr. Lake said.

Frankly it sounds like Uncle Tom is the only one who actually understands international relations. Y'all niggaz should vote for him.

 

[binary visions]

an approach both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they will hit hard...

Cute. God forbid we try something other than economic sanctions or bombs.

It's Ralph's dream of America... "When we’re mad we’ll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants."

 

[stevew]

Fvck talking.

I want a Festivus Pole and Feats of Strength competitions.

 

[Echo]

Ooh, a good idea! Crush it quick!

 

[jasride]

oooohhhh boy, trying to turn another overall good idea into a s**t storm. Go ahead McCain, tell me how you want to kill everyone. Show me that anger that's built up inside. No talks just kill. Son of a b**ch!

 

[$tinkle]

obama should get a travis bickle mohawk & a tyson face tat before sitting down to "talk"

 

[ire]

obama should get a travis bickle mohawk & a tyson face tat before sitting down to "talk"

He could come in sporting a .45 on his hip

 

[jasride]

I think he's good friends with LaBron James and Chuck Liddell.

 

[N8 v2.0]

 

[$tinkle]

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm

oopsies!

 

[jimmydean]

He could come in sporting a .45 on his hip

Down the front of his lowrider jeans! That way instead of disagreeing, he can just lift his shirt and yell "WHAT, WHAT!"

 

[Echo]

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm

oopsies!

cliffnotes?

 

[blue]

cliffnotes?

It's Neville Chamberlains failed approach to Hitler's aggression.

Stinkle, posting that demonstrates your clear misunderstanding of current international relations. Attempting to draw some form of confluence between the "GWOT" and World War II is like comparing the construction of a tract home to the building of the Hoover Dam.

Forgive my use of Foxnewsisms, but the "islamofascist" threat is not so much a threat at all, more a catalyst for authoritarian reactionaries beholden to MNCs in Western democracies to take hold of power and scream "THE SKY IS FALLING!". To treat Al-Qaeda and the like as a true threat to First-World sovereignty only serves to validate their cause within the populace amongst which they operate.

 

[$tinkle]

It's Neville Chamberlains failed approach to Hitler's aggression.

Stinkle, posting that demonstrates your clear misunderstanding of current international relations. Attempting to draw some form of confluence between the "GWOT" and World War II is like comparing the construction of a tract home to the building of the Hoover Dam.

no, the comparison is used to demonstrate what can happen if you're blindly optimistic about the outcome, and are then lacking the necessary cynicism about pledges when having talks w/ psychopaths. shall i re-introduce you to kim jong il? and that dead iraqi leader?

there is a season

Forgive my use of Foxnewsisms, but the "islamofascist" threat is not so much a threat at all, more a catalyst for authoritarian reactionaries beholden to MNCs in Western democracies to take hold of power and scream "THE SKY IS FALLING!". To treat Al-Qaeda and the like as a true threat to First-World sovereignty only serves to validate their cause within the populace amongst which they operate.

do you know anything about the changing cultures in france, spain, thailand, the philippines, the horn of africa, the netherlands, the u.k., & northern india?

anything at all???

 

[MikeD]

Now, now, talking to Hitler doesn't mean that after the talk with Hitler, you can't say, "Wow, that dude's a psycho and we shouldn't appease him."

Chamberlain's problem wasn't talking to Hitler, it was being a spineless appeaser of evil.

Closing off direct channels of communication and relying only on negative incentive measures is a pretty dumb way to limit yourself, and ironically often leads your adversary to see compliance with your will in an even more negative way.

That said, Islamic extremism is, in fact, an enormous and growing threat to first-world countries. Just as our handling of it has been demonstrably ineffective.

 

[Silver]

That said, Islamic extremism is, in fact, an enormous and growing threat to first-world countries. Just as our handling of it has been demonstrably ineffective.

That's downright charitable of you. I'd call it extremely counterproductive, myself...

 

[MikeD]

well, I didn't want to take the argument there...

 

[jimmydean]

There was an interesting note in a book I am reading:

"We have yet to win a "War on ANYTHING" and statistics show that it has made matters worse in all regards"

Talking about the War on Terror, War on Drugs, War on Hunger, etc.

 

[ire]

There was an interesting note in a book I am reading:

"We have yet to win a "War on ANYTHING" and statistics show that it has made matters worse in all regards"

Talking about the War on Terror, War on Drugs, War on Hunger, etc.

The war on drugs has been a huge waste of resources and the war on terror is heading that way. Before 9/11 the biggest terror attack was Oklahoma City bombing....and that was committed by a US citizen. Our government is obsessed with the idea of preventing terrorism, when you really can’t.

 

[blue]

That's downright charitable of you. I'd call it extremely counterproductive, myself...

EXACTLY.

Had the US (and to a lesser extent, the western bloc) not responded to the Al-Qaeda attacks in such a manner the situation would be intensely diminished at this point in time.

50 years of failed foreign policy and corporate rape of the Third World have spawned what's going on today. Bombing the problem is only going to cause it to grow. This is something the vast majority of Americans and American politicians fail to realize and grasp.

do you know anything about the changing cultures in france, spain, thailand, the philippines, the horn of africa, the netherlands, the u.k., & northern india?

anything at all???

Outgrowth of the problem above.

 

[$tinkle]

Had the US (and to a lesser extent, the western bloc) not responded to the Al-Qaeda attacks in such a manner the situation would be intensely diminished at this point in time.

if you like, we can start with the 444 days of the u.s. embassy siege in tehran, move on to beirut marine barracks bombing, then the uss cole, kobar towers in saudi arabia, throw a bone to the legacy of leon klinghoffer, the '93 bombing of the wtc, 2 more embassies in kenya & tanzania, 9/11...

all these events happened in a supposed time of peace, and excepting the last one, were met with a measure of response i'm sure you'll find unobjectionable.

and except for the last one, all were followed with yet another act of anti-u.s. violence in either a military post or u.s. territory (embassies of course would be "leased")

it appears as though we are overdue for a thrashing, but something seems to be stymying those efforts. what could it possibly be.....?
i'm just a dumb ol' foxnews watching, bible thumping, war mongering, anti-muslim, so speak reallllll slow to me & try not to move your hands too fast when you explain to me what it is

50 years of failed foreign policy and corporate rape of the Third World have spawned what's going on today. Bombing the problem is only going to cause it to grow. This is something the vast majority of Americans and American politicians fail to realize and grasp.

how was rebuilding germany, japan, and vietnam failed foreign policy?
how is being the largest financial & pharmaceutical contributor to fighting aids in africa failed foreign policy?
how was winning the cold war, causing the fall of the berlin wall failed foreign policy?
how is isolating north korea failed foreign policy?

having read confessions of an economic hitman, i still have the lingering unanswered question: what is the exhausted list of countries we have stolen resources from, or even failed to make good on already agreed to terms? do you think we go into countries, touting how "we'll solve all your housing problems" and carve out hives from what used to be coal veins? while the villagers sleep, do we send in halliburton to steal old growth trees from the jungle? you think we send up wolfowitz to be in charge of the world bank so he can write sub-prime loans to 3rd world countries, anticipating default so we can then suck the oil fields dry?

 

[stevew]

if you like, we can start with the 444 days of the u.s. embassy siege in tehran, move on to beirut marine barracks bombing, then the uss cole, kobar towers in saudi arabia, throw a bone to the legacy of leon klinghoffer, the '93 bombing of the wtc, 2 more embassies in kenya & tanzania, 9/11...

foreplay?