Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[CP]

Many Americans believe that we were lied to about WMD, the excuse for going to war in Iraq, and many wonder what happened to the quest to hunt down Osama Bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11/01 attacks against our country.

Most Americans think we are doing more harm than good by continuing with war, and certainly no one should be happy that people (whether in uniform or not, whether children or adults) are being wounded and killed at home or abroad.

It is not unpatriotic to question our president and military leaders--just the opposite. What is unpatriotic is the attempt to deprive us of our Constitutional rights on the pretext that we must surrender our freedom to remain free.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[flying_pig319]

[alks]

[CP]

Let's see . . . Clarissa M. responds to a post about the messages written on bombs headed for Japan in WWII, with a remark about the funny names for the first two atomic bombs, dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And Alks uses that as an excuse to repeat (with apparent approval) one of Adolph Hitler's many anti-Jewish sentiments?

Great logic; wonderful expression of hatred. You must be proud of yourself now, Alks.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[ClarissaMach]

Alks, I'm sorry, but I didn't understand your post.

What is the "damn race"?
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Stormy Weather.

[ClarissaMach]

CP,
as always, your posts are absolutely great.

I hope that someday Mehrezsassi understands that, by being aggressive, he�s not only making people ignore his comments and ideas, but also fostering the prejudice some people have against the Arab/Muslim world.

I think the richness of this forum is its capacity of congregating people from all over the world, allowing us to see things from different perspectives--from the others� side.

I hope the other participants understand that Mehrezsassi misbehavior does not exemplifie the behavior of other Arab/Muslim participants.

Just take a look at Knowledge2006�s posts, for example: although he�s a strong defender of his ideas, at any moment he committed personal offenses. Instead of being rude, he brought us information that back his point of view. Even if one doesn�t agree with his ideas, he/she is obliged to respect them.
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Stormy Weather.

[flying_pig319]

[Anuradha Chepur]

Clarissa wrote:

[ieltsinsider]

Well said, A.C.! It is very heartening to hear such a response from a person whose country has been viciously attacked recently by extremists. Almost all Muslims are decent, law-abiding people, who want to practice their own religion peacefully and respect the right of others to practice theirs. (In that last sentence, you can change the word "Muslims" to Hindus, Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Taoists, Animists, etc.)

[Anuradha Chepur]

ieltsinsider wrote

[k.m.m]

[flying_pig319]

[knowledge2006]

[ClarissaMach]

Yes, Knowledge2006. I understand what you mean. Terrorism is a consequence, not a cause. This is what politicians, unfortunately, pretend not to understand.

Why terrorist attacks only happen in a few nations, if violence is something common all around the world? Terrorism, it seems, is the weapon of the weakest. It's the weapon of those who don't have an army or that don't have an army strong enough to face the others. It's the weapon of those who have no other way to fight for what they want--or who do believe so. The problem is that, instead of attacking military targets, they attack harmless civilian targets. People that possibly were not even aware about the things that were going on.

That is really a pity. Cause in the end, terrorism brings nothing good to any side. Osama Bin Laden planed those terrible attacks against the WTC and what did he get from it? An hysterical America and an international prejudice against the Arab/Muslim World. No one is concerned with his purposes; no one will try to understand his reasons; no one will try to see things from his side. What people will remember for a long time is the terrible thing he did.

The same thing is happening now in Lebanon: Hezbollah was attacking Israel, and what did they get from it? They simply led Israel to declare war against Lebanon, causing the destruction of the country and the death of million of innocent people. What did they get? Can somebody tell me?

Why people keep trying to fight for their rights with rocks and fire instead of ideas? Can't they see it doesn't work?
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Stormy Weather.

[ieltsinsider]

Knowledge2006 is absolutely right. (Did I just type that!?) Terrorists are not born, they are made. As Clarissa pointed out on another post, kids are often incited to hate others. Knowledge2006 correctly points out that countries' foreign policies also create the problem.

Terrorism is far more common than is assumed - and has been thoughout history. The book "An Anatomy of terror" by [too lazy to check his name, but you can find it on the net] is a well-written history of terrorism.

I'm not sure I agree that terrorism is the weapon of the weakest, although I understand that that is the prevailing view. Many terrorist groups have sophisticated and expensive weapons - Hizbollah has been using drones in its fight withg Israel, for example. Others have quite large 'armies' - again, Hizbollah has 3000+ soldiers and Columbian groups may have 10,000+.

'Terrorism' simply defines the way they fight. The idea is to make people afraid. For example, the bombings in London were a complete failure from a terrorism point of view. I know they were successful in killing many people, but that it not the core aim of terrorism. The aim of terrorism is to make people afraid to go about their everyday lives. By simply going to work (on the underground!) the next day, Londoners defeated the aim of terrorism. With Hizbollah, the true aim is not to kill Israelis, it is to make those living near the Lebanese border completely afraid to go out of their homes. In other words, create 'terror'.

Terrorism wins when people allow it to. Terrorism cannot win on its own.