Honestly, I thought you were more intelligent than the above paragraph would demonstrate. You are agreeing with me, yet you don't see it. The method of attacking innocents without warning during a time of peace is far more cowardly than attacking a military target during time of war. Simply because the idiots blow themselves up does not show bravery, only a lack of technical capability.
I was not the one who raised legitimacy by saying "then I suggest you enroll yourself in some community college courses and at least get some sort of clue as to what your are talking about first". Further, I see nothing wrong with providing some credentials to back up an opinion. Then again, I'm not a TV or movie actor so I guess my opinion on foreign policy is not very credible.
FYI, as a sort-of-sidenote, the "ninety virgins" or whatever is a complete misquote of the Qur'an and is disseminated solely by radicalist muslims. To make a long story short, what is in the Qur'an is a vague word describing heaven as "serene" and "fresh," which has been mistranslated to mean "virgins." Anyway...
I don't propose that they are "heroes" of some sort...I would agree that in a certain sense (the hit and run sense) their acts are cowardly, but in the same way, so can be lobbing cruise missiles from battleships. It's all in the way you look at it I suppose.
The brave and courageous Bin Laden chooses a rathole in the Pamir mountains even as his mortal enemies romp thru his camps in N.Iraq. Surely he could find a spare suicide vest and some of this intestinal fortitude rampant among his ilk.
It's the "radicalist muslims" that are strapping on the C4 so the reference is germaine to this discussion.
The ones that launch or order the launch of a cruise missile have to stay around and deal with the results of their actions. Your rather lowly attempt to equate soldiers to terrorists failed in that respect..
BTW, you apparently made up a new word.
The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the Dictionary search box to the right.
Suggestions for radicalist:
1. radicalism
2. radicalise
3. radicalizes
4. radicalize
5. radiochemist
6. radicalised
7. radicalisms
8. radicalized
9. radiochemists
10. radicalises
Congratulations.
Night Train,
I believe OBL has his own agenda and the welfare of Muslims worldwide is not at the top of his list.
I don't have the Oxford English Dictionary handy, or I'd quote that definition. Webster's, however, I do have available:
coward : one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity.
disgrace : 2 a: loss of grace, favor, or honor b: the condition of one fallen from grace or honor
Now, problem I see here is that some people are applying the definition of coward to the act of self-detonation or suicide of the terrorist. The choice of target is the cowardice, not the act itself. It is disgraceful (lacking honor) to attack innocent women and children in lieu of attacking military targets. It is also disgraceful to attack any (including military) targets while dressed and posing as a civilian or when using civilian conveyances (an airliner, for example).
No one would mistake a fighter aircraft with 2,000 lb bombs dangling for anything other than what it is. Further, its use is always preceded by at least some warning, be it diplomatic statements of "consequences" or a declaration of imminent attack, or its use is a response to some other provocative act of hostility. F-16s don't slink into a country and drop bombs while disguised as Piper Cherokees.
What word can we apply to a self-detonating bomber at a crowded bus stop? How about RESOLUTE? Resolution: firm determination to achieve one's ends (exploding).
Zebo
Elite Member
- Jul 29, 2001
- 39,398
- 19
- 81
Seems to me Being blown into several thousand pieces is about the ultimate price one can pay for thier crimminal acts. So what's the problem? They are dead, and the familys of the victims can take comfort in that knowlege since we would eventually kill them anyway (millions of dollars later). Now Timothy McVieh I can see calling him a coward, since he tucked tail and tried to elude the consequences of his actions.
If you ask me they balls of steel. Most could'nt blow themslf up to kill someone they hate. Neither can most domestic terrorists like school shooters or Mcvieh. They shoot up the place till all thier bullits run out then surrender claiming some bullying kids made them do it
You haven't been indoctrinated since birth that if you die a martyr you will not pass go, you will directly to heaven and collect your $200.
wait a minute, i don't get what the whole argument here is about.
haven't you guys heard about all the chemical and biological and nuclear weapons that syria has?
haven't you guys heard about all the chemical and biological and nuclear weapons that syria has?
Where's that moron Electrode? You started this abortion of a topic, now let's see some of those links I asked for yesterday at 7:16 PM!
Not that we haven't already beaten this whole Fox newsworthy "terrorists are cowards" bit to death already, but...
If these "terrorists" were properly equipped (i.e. in such a way that they could engage a modern piece of military hardware and have some remote chance of success), and they instead CHOSE to engage civilian targets, then I would probably agree that terrorists are cowards. However, we?re talking about people that live in rubble, have rocks and sticks and maybe an explosive belt. There is no military target for them to engage. They certainly can't engage fighter planes , attack helicopters, or tanks (although I recall they did get lucky a couple of times vs. some Mercava tanks). So what do they do? "Well, they shouldn't attack civilians" OK fine. I'm not going to argue that one. But idea that they have some kind of choice in the matter is ludicrus. The idea that they choose to attack civilain targets vs a valid military target and therefore are cowards makes no sence, since there is no valid military target? Do you see?
What would you do if Russian tanks were patrolling your U.S. town, and the US armed forces had been wiped off the face of the earth? You had no TOW missiles, or even RPG's. What would you do? You couldn't fight the Russin military. Hopefully you wouldn't choose to kill Russian civilians, but I'm betting a small percentage of your neighbors WOULD kill Russian civilians, because that's all they could do. And you wouldn't be calling them cowards.... <shrug> It all depends on how you look at things I guess. I try to look at all sides and not just MY side. That's probably why I didn't join the military.
If these "terrorists" were properly equipped (i.e. in such a way that they could engage a modern piece of military hardware and have some remote chance of success), and they instead CHOSE to engage civilian targets, then I would probably agree that terrorists are cowards. However, we?re talking about people that live in rubble, have rocks and sticks and maybe an explosive belt. There is no military target for them to engage. They certainly can't engage fighter planes , attack helicopters, or tanks (although I recall they did get lucky a couple of times vs. some Mercava tanks). So what do they do? "Well, they shouldn't attack civilians" OK fine. I'm not going to argue that one. But idea that they have some kind of choice in the matter is ludicrus. The idea that they choose to attack civilain targets vs a valid military target and therefore are cowards makes no sence, since there is no valid military target? Do you see?
What would you do if Russian tanks were patrolling your U.S. town, and the US armed forces had been wiped off the face of the earth? You had no TOW missiles, or even RPG's. What would you do? You couldn't fight the Russin military. Hopefully you wouldn't choose to kill Russian civilians, but I'm betting a small percentage of your neighbors WOULD kill Russian civilians, because that's all they could do. And you wouldn't be calling them cowards.... <shrug> It all depends on how you look at things I guess. I try to look at all sides and not just MY side. That's probably why I didn't join the military.
The Iraqis had armored columns but sent pregnant women out to our checkpoints in bomb-laden vehicles. If that isn't cowardly, then what is?
DT4K
Diamond Member
- Jan 21, 2002
- 6,944
- 3
- 81
Still waiting for you to smash the argument that the rich pay too much taxes.
And what's wrong with the flat tax?
Obviously it would never work because the poor and middle class couldn't afford it, but in a perfect world, everone should pay the same dollar amount. Not the same rate, but the same amount. Wouldn't that be the most "fair" system?
Since that isn't practical, what is wrong with a flat tax?
Someone that makes 10 times as much money as you would pay 10 times as much in taxes. So I still don't think you can call that "fair", but it would be more fair than them paying 100 times as much as you when they likely use fewer government services than you do. Oh, I'm sorry, that would mean everyone would actually have to contribute even if it's only 1/10th as much as the rich. That would be much less fair than letting 1 out of 20 people carry half the tax burden for the whole country.
If you want to see how well communism works, go live in N. Korea or China. I hear they are nice.
Edit: by the way, calling someone with communist views a communist should not be taken as an insult. Your view that the rich should bear "all" the tax burden because they can afford it is clearly a communist, or at least socialist view. The problem with communism in it's theory is that it removes all motivation for hard work. It leaves citizens with a choice between working hard to support others and not working while others support you. It makes it far easier to live "according to his needs" than "according to his means".
If your goal is to kill US soldiers, it's pretty smart. Those women had more balls than you'll ever have.
How many US soldiers were killed by one of these fearsome Iraqi armored columns?
How many US soldiers were killed by pregnant women?
I was more referring to terrorist attacks in general than in Iraq anyway....
just on CNN, a person working for Fox news in Iraq got caught smuggling in painting and guns from Iraq, including gold plated Ak-47's
CaptnKirk
Lifer
- Jul 25, 2002
- 10,053
- 0
- 71
Let's try here for starters. Sure, the rich pay the most taxes, which I never purported to disagree with, but what I do disagree with is the claim that that is some sort of problem. You make the most money, you pay the most tax. Not to mention that most tax cut schemes vastly help the rich pay less taxes, while the poor and middle class get (almost always) comparably a far smaller decrease, and sometimes even an increase.
From the above article:
"Based on the 1992 returns, if this inane proposal were implemented, taxes on everybody making $200,000-plus will go down and those on everybody else will go up. Malcolm Forbes Jr., one of the richest men in America, was the leading backer of the flat tax during the 1996 presidential campaign. Now do you see why?"
Ever heard of cost-of-living? A flat tax doesn't work, principally for that reason. Take a good read of that article above. It's not designed to bash the rich, but suggest that, while they do pay the majority of taxes, there is a reason for it, and it works.
Or Sweden, or Canada, or any of the many countries that have some form of democratic socialism, which, while poviding a benefit to those who work and make money, also uses the common wealth to support those who cannot support themselves.
I'd prefer socialistic over communistic, thank you. And if you look at the many European (and other) countries that have implemented forms of mild (and not so mild) socialism in the past few decades (give or take), you'll see that motivation for hard work is not necessarily eliminated, if the system is done right.
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