Comments on: President Bush’s War on Terror http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/bush-ndu-speech/ Sometimes the truth hurts Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:29:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Preston http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1167 Preston Thu, 10 Mar 2005 20:29:48 +0000 http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/09/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1167 Could we withstand a panda embargo? We'd have to dip into our stategic reserves. Could we withstand a panda embargo? We’d have to dip into our stategic reserves.

]]> By: Tony Bender http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1152 Tony Bender Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:11:56 +0000 http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/09/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1152 I agree with Preston. Great words, now let's confront Cuba (dictatorship), China (virtual dictatorship), Saudi Arabia, etc., and fully commit to spreading democracy. We can't just say we only mean certain areas of the world, we have to be all or nothing, even if it costs us pandas and oil. It's much easier to say something than to go ahead and do something. And that is what politicians thrive at. I agree with Preston. Great words, now let’s confront Cuba (dictatorship), China (virtual dictatorship), Saudi Arabia, etc., and fully commit to spreading democracy. We can’t just say we only mean certain areas of the world, we have to be all or nothing, even if it costs us pandas and oil.

It’s much easier to say something than to go ahead and do something. And that is what politicians thrive at.

]]> By: Preston http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1151 Preston Thu, 10 Mar 2005 13:04:21 +0000 http://urbangrounds.com/2005/03/09/bush-ndu-speech/#comment-1151 "Our strategy to keep the peace in the longer term is to help change the conditions that give rise to extremism and terror, especially in the broader Middle East. Parts of that region have been caught for generations in a cycle of tyranny and despair and radicalism. When a dictatorship controls the political life of a country, responsible opposition cannot develop, and dissent is driven underground and toward the extreme." Liberals have believed this forever. Amnesty International and Jimmy Carter's focus on human rights are just a few examples. Opposition to the President doesn't lay in opposition to his rhetoric- just the hypocrisy of it. Bush tolerates dictatorships and torture in Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia as well as allowing torture in our own names. I would state that one of the conditions that gives rise to terror is, indeed, torture of captives. al Qaeda is filled with recruits who were pushed to radicalism by torture. As long as the US outsources torture and no one is held to account for prisoner abuse at abu Graib I cannot take Bush's rhetoric seriously. Iraq was a war of choice. We were told that Iraq was in position to threaten our country (and had contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks) so we had inspectors pulled from the country in order to attack it. To re-cast this war as a crusade for democracy is an attempt to redirect us from the false reasons we were given for the war in the first place. Furthermore- I would like the opportunity to ask Bush if this truly our new world doctrine? Are we invading China? Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia? (My God, what about Sudan- where the administration has declared genocide!) How much are we willing to spend for this cause? To be clear, I'm not opposed to the notion of spreading democracy. In fact, I could even be persuaded to the necessity of a military invasion to rid the world of a tyrant. But to parade around claiming that you're creating the conditions for democracy while condoning human rights abuses and dictatorships seems penny wise and pound foolish at best. “Our strategy to keep the peace in the longer term is to help change the conditions that give rise to extremism and terror, especially in the broader Middle East. Parts of that region have been caught for generations in a cycle of tyranny and despair and radicalism. When a dictatorship controls the political life of a country, responsible opposition cannot develop, and dissent is driven underground and toward the extreme.”

Liberals have believed this forever. Amnesty International and Jimmy Carter’s focus on human rights are just a few examples. Opposition to the President doesn’t lay in opposition to his rhetoric- just the hypocrisy of it.

Bush tolerates dictatorships and torture in Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia as well as allowing torture in our own names. I would state that one of the conditions that gives rise to terror is, indeed, torture of captives. al Qaeda is filled with recruits who were pushed to radicalism by torture. As long as the US outsources torture and no one is held to account for prisoner abuse at abu Graib I cannot take Bush’s rhetoric seriously.

Iraq was a war of choice. We were told that Iraq was in position to threaten our country (and had contributed to the Sept. 11 attacks) so we had inspectors pulled from the country in order to attack it. To re-cast this war as a crusade for democracy is an attempt to redirect us from the false reasons we were given for the war in the first place.

Furthermore- I would like the opportunity to ask Bush if this truly our new world doctrine? Are we invading China? Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia? (My God, what about Sudan- where the administration has declared genocide!) How much are we willing to spend for this cause?

To be clear, I’m not opposed to the notion of spreading democracy. In fact, I could even be persuaded to the necessity of a military invasion to rid the world of a tyrant. But to parade around claiming that you’re creating the conditions for democracy while condoning human rights abuses and dictatorships seems penny wise and pound foolish at best.

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