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U.S. Attack -- More Updates
I'm trying to get stuff together, and post an update: The Pentagon, which evidently has partly collapsed with a chasm 200-300 feet across, and fires on six
stories, has ordered the USS JFK and George Washington into NYC. PLEASE GIVE BLOOD. Over 200 firemen are reported missing, and
reports of 50,000 dead in the WTC collapse are being bandied about. Dick Cheney has assumed control of the White House, and is in the situation room there. GWB is not returning to the White House until things have calmed down -- and has gone evidently to an undisclosed location. The [CDC] in Atlanta has largely evacuated but has activated their bioterrorism
units. American Airlines flight 11, the first to crash into the WTC, was going from BOS -> LAX. There are rumors of Akamai's founder being onboard on Flight 11, As well, the rumor is that the pilot of United Flight 193 flew it in
into the ground, outside Pittsburgh, rather then fly into the USX building, which if true, makes him a better person then I -- but there are also rumors that it was shot down by a F-16. United Flight 175 also crashed into the WTC, according to Boston.com, and originated from Boston -- so the WTC was both Boston
flights. Reports of a car bomb that was supposed to have gone off int front the State Department have been denied. In a statement, the Taliban government of Afghanistan has denied any involvement, and Yassar Arafat has denounced the attack. Remember: No one knows who did this yet, so don't make any assumptions -- remember what people
first thought about the OKC attack. In other news, the US - Mexico/Canada borders are being heavily screened; all air traffic has been grounded; nationwide federal
buildings are being evacuated; NATO personnel in Brussells have been sent home, Israeli embassies worldwide have been evacuated, all U.S. Disney parks shut down;
major parts of European cities, Britain in particular, are being shut down; stock trading is shut down in all major European and American exchanges. There are 50 flights still in the air, with 2
international flights that have yet to respond. F16s from the US Air Force has been instructed to shoot down flights in a no fly zone over NYC & DC - an AVI of the WTC plane or mpeg here.
More as we
know.Update: 09/11 18:10 PM GMT by H :I've heard on NPR that all flights and planes are now accounted for -- but that a fifth crash has occurred in an undisclosed location. As well, a car bomb did go off in front of the State Department, and there was a crash near Camp David. There's a well done timeline - we also had a report from someone who lives 3 miles away from the PA crash. Evidently the plane veered several times, and then smashed into an abandoned strip mine - which was luckily not near any people or anything.
You are SO wrong. Appeasement NEVER works. We tried to appease Hitler, and didn't work. Do you really think that we could have "pleaded" with Hitler for peace? Or "pleaded" with Japan when the bombed Pearl Harbor?
On the other hand, when we bombed Khadafi in the 80s, terrorists didn't screw with us for YEARS.
This requires a huge, huge response. The aggressors set the rules. At the very least, invasion of the country that either sponsored, or allowed to happen, this terrorism must be made.
This "day of infamy" must not be allowed to stand.
Go W!
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
And how many civilians are you prepared to murder to carry out this policy?
You are no better than bin Laden
Yes, the nick is flamebait
So what do we do? Wait until this same group of madmen perpetrates another atrocity. Go read your history books if you think that madmen and terrorists can be stopped by simply giving into their demands. Letting this act of aggression pass will only embolden the terrorists so that their next attack will be even worse.
Madmen, despots, and terrorists can only be opposed. Nations and groups that shelter such people can only be considered enemies, and treated as such. This attack will like prove as costly, in terms of human life, as Pearl Harbor and the United States of America will ignore it at its own peril.
This isn't some school yard squabble where nothing more important than pride is on the line. If we allow terrorists to go unpunished then we will never be safe again.
I disagree. It is our complacency that allowed them to breach security. Complacency should not be confused with Incompetence, in my book. I boarded a flight in the past three months where they did not even ask me the basics questions about how I handled my baggage. I knew that the ticket agent knew what she was supposed to do, and how to do it, and was probably capable of doing it well. She just didn't feel it was necessary any longer.
And if you don't think the US is capable of infiltrating _every_ plane in the offending country and ramming them into _every_ major landmark on their soil, you are a fool. Our guys would probably even live to tell about it, too. Thing is, we have laws that prevent us from doing exactly that. Funny thing too, the laws seem to be enough deterrent for the average United States Citizen. The attack was well planned, well executed, some might even say impressive. The biggest mass murder in history. On the scale of expertise available in the world, it was rank amateur. The Palestinians can rally in the streets today, and celebrate the mass extermination of human beings. I doubt they will have any streets in a few years, whether the US retaliates or not. That kind of hatred is a spiritual disease that will eventually lead to their own destruction.
cat
1. Kill them all. Every last one of them. And anyone who ever cared about them. No one will be left to carry out revenge. No future generations will rise up.
OR
2. Forgive.
Since number two is not incumbent upon us, and we can not force another group to forgive, you seem to have hit upon the one solution that works.
I'm not saying it's a *good* solution, but the way to defeat terrorism is to eliminate terrorists. Since the initial killing of non-military personnel is generally caused by religious or philosophical beliefs taken to an extreme, the only way to deal with them is to eliminate those beliefs - eliminate those who believe.
--
Evan (who just said fuck it, and is replying directly at the beginning of the thread... read there).
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Well, whoever did this is dead. Apparently, they were more than happy to die in order to piss off America.
Did he say "its ok because these civilians supported a government that we were at war with?"
How did he justify killing civilians, deliberately? With an atom bomb. That killed 70,000 instantly and 55,000 later from radiation poisoning?
So the question is, are civilians of an aggressive nation accountable for the actions of its government? If so, then Hiroshima was ok, but then so was this attack.
If not, of course, then I'm sure the US will happily bring to trial, or assasinate, its own diplomats who were fully aware of the civilian deaths in central america, africa, vietnam, indonesia, iraq...
The guy responsible for the deaths in central america (the disappeared) is about to take his place in the senate, I believe. Start with him, why dont you.
Dont get me wrong, I think the deaths are totally unacceptable. The question is, "How could they have been avoided?". Is there a change in US foreign policy that might reduce the suffering of the rest of the world cause by american aggression?