Other thoughts on WTC

As usual you (Andrew) have thoughtful level-headed points to make. I didn't mean to come off as a bomb-loving nitwit. For the benefit of bloggers who haven't met me yet I'm more of a dove than a hawk.

There are so many things I'm angry about here. I am stunned that the Taleban was just playing a PR game when they issued a "Don't bomb us, we're really poor" statement then followed it in 2 days with "You'll be sorry if you bomb us." (!) When a country allows an extremist to come to power, they may have to pay with a few innocent victims. (I believe we just did...) Cultural evolution sometimes kills off your countries brand of idiocy.

Every belief system is not equally valid and does not deserve consideration. A thinking Islamic culture might have taken the following steps. (Step 1) Appeal to people about fundamentalism on it's own merits (Step 2) Fail miserably and bomb us. Instead their complete thought sequence was: "Our restricitve ideology has no merit, let's just kill Americans." That's some foreign policy! What kind of arrogance does it take to look at your miserable failed wasteland of a country, and decide that the rest of the world would benefit from the same arrangement? I don't think the U.S. is blameless on the world stage but consider where the world would be if Afghanistan were the remaining super power. It's an imperfect world.
Sometimes countries get punished for having bad ideas.
Sometimes thousands have to die to save millions.
Sometimes you have to run with your best theory (even with inconclusive evidence) to prevent a clandestine enemies next strike. A painstakingly considered ideal response will have fewer supporters if we get hit again. You cannot assume we have the luxury of time. Remember... they're terrorists.

The "NOTHING GETS FIXED TILL IT BREAKS DOWN COMPLETELY" Department. There's no shortage of culprits on this side of the ocean that you can thank for the situation we're in:

CORPORATE GREED

Mary Schiavo is the former Inspector General for the US Dept. of Transportation. She is still an outspoken whistle-blower who appears as a commentator on FAA-related news stories. She can indentify a shitty security policy in seconds. She has been sounding the wake-up call for almost a decade about criminal flaws in our air industry that would not be addressed (just as she predicted) until the body bags stacked up. The worst crime here - The whole tragedy could have been avoided if the greedy airlines (with Congress' support) hadn't been allowed to dismiss her conclusions as cost-prohibitive. This left a hole the enemy could use to do this.
Wanna get angry?
The first appeal to hit the floor of Congress since the disaster? Even before relief bills were introduced, the FAA went to Congress to be absolved of negligence/responsibility and to ask for a bailout. These greedy fuckers have some major cojones!
Now Schiavo's conclusions will be pulled out of the files where they've sat ignored. Her name will be scratched out and some asshole will get credit for her a brilliant new policy. Instead Schiavo should be given a position of the highest authority within the DOT. But that would involve acknowledging political complicty and kickbacks.

PRESIDENT BUSH (THE FIRST)
The previous President Bushs reputation should take a major hit for his bewildering decision to end the Gulf War without eradicating the figure who brought it on. Saddam Hussein should have been captured or killed when we were in Kuwait 9 years ago. Bush can take a big slice of credit for this genocide.

FOREIGN POLICY? WHAT FOREIGN POLICY?
An investigation of the U.S.'s duplicitous and greedy foreign policy. Our policy should not be changing every 4 years with each new administration. We should be building the relationships we want diplomatically not ones developed because we need that countries resources. Why do we stay in bed with Israel, no matter where their leadership is ideologically? The US funded college of the Americas trained both these despots (Hussein, bin Ladin).

CONAN THE REPUBLICAN!

In the U.S. movies with gunplay, explosions and wall-to-wall killings get PG ratings, but films with sexual situations get R ratings. (?) These screwy priorities have lasting effects on our culture. Take a hard look at our violent entertainment. This mess was orchestrated to get the attention of a culture numbed by film and tv violence. Hope everybody enjoyed those Willis Schwartzeneggar Stallone bomb-fests...