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CAPITAL SOURCES

‘Our Country Is in Trouble’

An ex-bin Laden hunter on why the U.S. hasn't beaten Al Qaeda.

By John Barry | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 13, 2008

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  • Posted By: miamiman @ 02/25/2008 4:29:37 PM

    Comment: What this guy suggests is capitulation to those that would harm us. He works to give credence to the claims of Al- queda by focusing on their objectives and desires. Appeasement is a rotten way of solving conflicts or trying to avoid them; ask the Brits about their experiences with hitler pre ww2 or better yet read a history book and see the results of a major power trying to appease an agressor by giving major concessions. after reading this note the disastrous results.

    so he would advocate a complete appeasement program and hope that solves the problem? wait, this would mean not catching bin laden as he would become a legitimate statesman? so the real solution in his eyes was that after 9.11 we should have contacted bin-laden and told him WE are the ones that are SORRY?

  • Posted By: miamiman @ 02/25/2008 4:19:23 PM

    Comment: This guy sounds disgruntled and has not thought out his suggentions. I think he is just another junping on the personal "I told You so" "I'm so much smarter that you" anti Bush bandwagon. Maybe hes an EX hunter because he wasn't a very good one. He seems to want to deflect the blame as much as place it.

    Or perhaps book sales are lucrative especially if you can appeal to your audience. Well I'm not buying it.

  • Posted By: gopher1 @ 02/16/2008 8:52:36 PM

    Comment: faminchin @ 02/16/2008 5:43:33 PM

    Look faminchin, you're entitled to your opinion on this and to think that I should feel shame for expressing concern with our foreign policy is wrong. I'm an American just like you and love my country! That doesn't mean that we haven't done "bad" things in the past or that we don't have policies that are wrong.....The reference to the Roman Empire dealt with economic & political expansion. Eventually, they grew too large, ran up deficits, and fell apart. That's a concern that I have especially when we'll be running a $10 trillion deficit by the end of this year. We trained Bin Laden during the 1970s-80s to fight off our former enemy the Soviets in Afghanistan. We funded Saddam in order to fight against Iran during the 70s-80s after our "Shah" was deposed of in Iran. We used the CIA and other organizations to eliminate/install puppet leaders in Vietnam, Guatemala, and tried to eliminate Castro in 1961. We support the Saud monarchy in Saudi Arabia and royal family in Kuwait. What makes them different than other dictatorships around the world? My point is, at one time or another, we have made decisions solely on our own interests around the world that has left a bad taste in the rest of the
    world. I'd love to see the US reassert itself as the noble leader of the world like we were during the 1940s-1950s when we did tremendous things in Japan, Western Europe with the Marshall Plan, and defeated the likes of Hitler & Mussolini in Europe. I love my country, always will, but at least I'm willing to lift my head out of the sand and will acknowledge when we make mistakes just like I would in my personal life. We've got big problems ahead of us and need discussion on how to solve them!! Look forward to hearing from ya.

  • Posted By: gopher1 @ 02/16/2008 12:31:31 PM

    Comment: I think this article is cause for Americans to question Foreign Policy for the 21st century. We should be asking ourselves, "What do we stand for?" We conveniently declare our support for democracy in the Middle East by supporting Israel and attempting to form one in post-invasion Iraq. Meanwhile, we talk out the other cheek and support monarchies, dictatorships, and radical regimes around the world (including the very same Middle East we want to spread democracy). We are, in a sense, hypocritical in foreign policy because it seems that we do whatever is politically/economically beneficial to the United States. What will we be in this century? An expanding Roman Empire and tyrant of economics? Police force for the world? Reassume our former moral/political leadership position? We really need our political leaders to have this discussion with the American people!!

    • Posted By: faminchin @ 02/16/2008 17:43:33

      Comment: To me, just to hear you say these things, tells me that you believe Bin Laden and radical Islam, more than our political leaders. Do you believe that every time some cowardly murder kills innocent people and justify's it by saying it's because of our foreign policy, that we should stop and reconsider our foreign policy?

      To compare the United States with the Roman Empire tells me alot about the way you think. Consider this, if it was the US's goal to dominate the world, why didn't we roll into Russia at the end of WW II? Why did we rebuild Japan? Why did we rebuild Europe? Seriously, if world domination was our goal, why didn't we take advantage of the opportunity at the end of WW II when we had the world dominated?

      Perhaps you can explain how everything we do is to benefit the United States as you say? Be specific about the monarchies and dictatorships and radical regimes around the world you say we support. You make these general vague statements as if they are true, but you have nothing to support your claims!

      I'll bet your one of these "Blame America First" Democrats running around our country abusing the freedoms that others have died to provide for you! I'll bet you would be one of the first to jump the border if our country needed you to help defend ourselves!

      You should hang your head in shame!

      • Posted By: DIAZA17 @ 03/07/2008 15:55:27

        Comment: I am prod that someone in america has a brain i salout you sir and all those people who disagree with him are people that are stupid in thier beliefs. See if the american foriegn policy changes it would make the world a better place. It is clear that when a mother brings up a child in america she sacrafices her self to take care of the child and when that child grows up the child hates his mother because she fears for his safety and the child leaves home because the chld feels that it is being retrained and dosent need thier mother. The same is done by the administration of America when they needed Bin Laden to defeat the soviets they used him and when their intrests where over they called him an terrorist. The main problem is Bushe's stupid desire for oil. See if someone bombed you children just because you had oil reserves in your country then you would feel the injustice. MY name is DIaz Khan and any man that challenges my view can openly debate with me face to face because i know none of u do. No one is safe you all seen the effect of the sunami. Anything can happen so you never no what is going to happen just live and let people live and when you hear that an innocent died what if your mother or father or children died then you would realise your stupidty. Diaz

  • Posted By: Karenn1 @ 02/16/2008 9:22:41 AM

    Comment: This guy just want to keep the war going to protect Israel. Osama bin laden looked dead to me year ago ,but the pictures now paint his beard to make him look younger.Which means to me the guy is dead or in S Arabia.Will be used the in fall election dead or alive.

  • Posted By: getzel @ 02/16/2008 9:00:09 AM

    Comment: Scheuer's 6 "reasons" are unrelated to "radical Islam???s "beef" with the West (USA/Israel & and all others not Sharia). They ???hate/murder/fight??? because the success of a free speech, market oriented economy and social structure, in their minds, means the end of Islam. In their assessment, the information age will see their fundamentalist Sharia tossed in the same garbage heap that got Marx???s nonsense. Honor killing (murder, by dad and or brothers, of suspected sister), burqas head to toe, freedom to kill any non Moslem as legal and proper, freedom to murder those who practice freedom of expression they do not like (to criticize Islam and draw pictures/cartoons: as freedom of speech), no education for women, no car driving by women et al; all gone if western market free speech succeeds: is why they fight, not that rubbish X-CIA ???big??? wrote. Do you think he is ???big??? enough to admit he was wrong?

    • Posted By: miamiman @ 02/25/2008 16:14:37

      Comment: You sir have said it all and it is the TRUTH!


  • Posted By: faminchin @ 02/16/2008 8:17:39 AM

    Comment: I would say the real question here is this: Do we adjust our forgein policy for everybody that lists their complaints and kills innocent civilians, using our policy as an excuse, or do we only do it for Bin Laden?

    I believe it's time to start calling Bin Laden and his followers exactly what they are. A group of murdering cowards that hide behind women's skirts, using innocent children to carry out their dirty work!

    I think it's time to call on the Muslim world to end this. It should be Muslims that track down these murdering cowards that kill innonence while waving the Quran as justification for their murdering ways. These cowards deserve no credience! Nobody should be providing justification for their killing of innonence! People like Scheuer make hero's out of Bin Laden, when he is nothing more than a murder and a coward. He hides behind women's skirts and blows up innoencent women and children. It shouldn't matter what American Policy is. There is no justification for the actions of these cowardly murderers!

    • Posted By: miamiman @ 02/25/2008 16:12:23

      Comment: well said!

  • Posted By: getzel @ 02/15/2008 11:08:05 PM

    Comment: If Israel "falls" America is right behind it. The Mohammidans would be unstoppable. It is real irony that a Jew hater like you and Scheuer have only Israel between you and a burqa on yours. Scheuer is not correct in his assessment of OBLs actual "beef" with USA/West. But hate filled, like yourself,. are rarely interested in the truth...

  • Posted By: djconklin @ 02/15/2008 6:39:52 PM

    Comment: "he will do like clinton, when he was prez we were attacked many times, uss cole. twin towers, and over
    seas, and he did nothing,"

    Actually, Clinton was the one who sent the cruise missles in on one of their training camps--9/11 happened on Bush's watch, not Bill Clinton.

  • Posted By: keep it real @ 02/15/2008 3:39:00 PM

    Comment: this war is far from over, they want to kill us al, kids, wifes, blacks whites,
    if we vote in a obama who doesnt realize what were up against, were in trouble
    he will gut our armed forces like jimmy carter did.
    and he will do like clinton, when he was prez we were attacked many times, uss cole. twin towers, and over
    seas, and he did nothing, we need a prez like mccain, who will keep them on there toes, and make sure were not attacked again

  • Posted By: dMickey @ 02/15/2008 3:27:51 PM

    Comment: "For much of the 1990s he (Scheuer) ran the team hunting for Osama bin Laden."

    Scheuer failed to to his job. OBL is still out there. Why should we listen to Scheuer if he failed for a decade?




    • Posted By: getzel @ 02/15/2008 23:11:51

      Comment: Scheuer succeeded in his job: he created these OBLs, he funded them, he taught them and now he, in true Jew hate form, blames Israel and America. Where the CIA goes a war seems inevitably to follow.

  • Posted By: Thinkingoutloud @ 02/15/2008 3:06:00 PM

    Comment: The tiny nation of Israel is our only democratic ally in the entire Muslim Middle East. We support democracy. If we did not, Europe nor Japan would be free and democratic today. Our nation has forgotten that lesson, so we are doomed to repeat it, by appeasing radical Islam that does not practice what it supposedly preaches. This man lead the Bin Ladin hunt during Clinton's reign-not surprised at his passing the buck.
    Dixie

  • Posted By: Southern Bell @ 02/15/2008 2:02:13 PM

    Comment: I plan to buy Mr Scheuer's book.

    This past week Sam Nunn and Willian Cohen were on Charlie Rose discussing the problem of Iraq and mentioned some of the same things Mr Scheuer does.

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 02/15/2008 1:01:12 PM

    Comment: President Bush, his entire Administration and all administrations in the past have announced their unqualified support for Israel. And now by hook and crook, the US military is an occupying force in the Middle East at the behest of Israel. US foreign policy has always supported foreign states that oppress Muslims over the prosperity of Israel in the same local regions. And mostly...keeping oil prices artificially low to the benefit of Western consumers but to the detriment of the creation of alternative fuels.

    The 2008 Presidential debates have ignored Foreign Policy issues and the private cable networks that have sponsored those debates are also to blame for an "IRON CURTAIN ON INFORMATION" and the SILENCING OF POLITICAL DEBATE WHILE THE US MILITARY IS AN OCCUPYING FORCE SUPPORTING FAILED FOREIGN POLICY!

    The United States Congress could have stopped this train headed for a crash but it has not.

    • Posted By: faminchin @ 02/16/2008 17:47:27

      Comment: rotflmao...your one of those who voted for the Democrats, actually believing all the things they were saying....lol

      Do you see now, Nancy and Harry were just saying those things to regain political power. That's right, they threw our national security and our troops under the bus, just to regain political power. You see that now? Pull your head out of that donkey's butt and take a look around.

  • Posted By: timhebb @ 02/15/2008 11:09:35 AM

    Comment: If Newsweek's member comment boards are going to continue to be magnets for extremists, conspiracy theorists, neocons and other assorted whack- and nut-jobs, we should just do away with the comments sections. Let these wackos find another outlet for their hate, venom, and extreme and inflexible opinions. Or let a sane moderator do some vigilant housekeeping here; when the nutjobs realize their bile won't get posted, they'll find another rock to crawl under.

  • Posted By: timhebb @ 02/15/2008 10:56:33 AM

    Comment: derekneu assesses Scheuer's observations, saying: "...Take each of the six points Bin Laden gives for his anger toward the west and ask yourself if you would give an inch on any of them." Sigh. derekneu digs in, defending the status quo and urging us to continue on the same course we have been. And how well has that been working out?

    No. We need new thinking on the problem, and a new course. By repeating the mantra, "without being able to aquire cheap oil, our economy would take a massive hit that would be very difficult to weather in a globally competetive marketplace," derekneu misses the even larger point that the "globally competitive marketplace" is in the process of ensuring that this diminishing resource will never be cheap again, only increasingly expensive, no matter how many U.S. troops swarm over the sand. The U.S. needs to embark on a Manhattan-like project to simultaneously develop alternative energy sources and technologies, and press aggressively for conservation of traditional ones. Taking anything approaching a long view, oil is over, and we need to understand and act on that. Leapfrogging the politics of oil would be a great step toward defusing the conflicts with the muslim Middle East.

    "Strain them any way we can financially," continues derekneu, pouring gasoline on the fire. Again, how well is that working out? If we are so desperate for their oil that we recklessly invade the countries that have it to ensure its continued flow, just who has the leverage to "strain" the other here? Get real. And please, get some new ideas that work. These creaky ones haven't, don't and won't.

  • Posted By: JRButler @ 02/15/2008 9:00:33 AM

    Comment: Hey Newsweek. Ask Michael Scheuer why Bin Laden's acolytes slaughter Arab Muslims at mosques, wedding parties, and pet markets. Is it for the same six reasons?

  • Posted By: piinalu @ 02/15/2008 8:58:08 AM

    Comment: Scary. Especially since it's from a credible voice. The lack of focus on the people and region, the explanation that they hate us for our virtue and the bi-partisan lack of appreciation for the complexity is a lot more frightening than the fear-mongering were hear out of Washington. The problem, as defined by Scheuer, isn't going away anytime soon, so when will we realize that the solution isn't just about hunting bad guys? Mr Rumsfed even acknowledged that we're probably helping them recruit new members faster than we can kill them. And when we will address energy policy as a means of national security? We shouldn't abandon Israel, but the only reason we support any of the other regimes is for their oil. This is the United States, damn it, we can solve any problem we put our minds to. Let's discover, invent, develop alternatives to oil so we can have the room to get out of the Faustian deals that ultimately support the people that want to attack us.

  • Posted By: carnabylane @ 02/15/2008 7:31:02 AM

    Comment: Bin Laden is in another country, what about the terrorism that's going on in our schools, like the Illinois campus,by homegrown terrorists. Politicians need to deal with the culture of anger, fear and hopelessness griping this country. They have ignored it too long.

  • Posted By: MrMikeBinkey @ 02/15/2008 2:16:00 AM

    Comment: According to Michael Scheuer, Osama bin Laden owes a lot to the simian wings of the Republicrat and Demopublican Parties. These chest thumpers are doing much to advance his cause by alienating America from the rest of the world. Osama bin Laden also owes much to their stooges in the press. (See Wrong Paul for the latest Newsweek hatchet job on Ron Paul, the remaining voice of sanity remaining in the presidential race, today.) It looks like mission accomplished; these guys may have managed to drive Dr. Paul out of the race. With patriots like our reporters, America does not need traitors.

  • Posted By: TheCaptKirk @ 02/15/2008 1:50:56 AM

    Comment: That Scheuer still feels after six years that nobody in DC grasps the big picture chills me. Scheuer's willingness to actually READ and COMPREHEND the implications of bin Laden's manifesto sets him apart from perhaps all but 4 members of congress, all of the White House staff, and nearly every citizen. If more Americans visualized bin Laden living in a walled compound complete with fountain, gardens, calm prayer room, dramatic views, reliable generator and space for guests we might take him more seriously. Until this know-nothing attitude changes we are headed for oblivion.

  • Posted By: derekneu @ 02/15/2008 1:43:15 AM

    Comment: I don't disagree, necessarily, with what Mr. Sheuer says, but he makes only one valid point with regard to a solution: education. While I agree this is a necessity to deal with the problem, it is by no means the "answer". Take each of the six points Bin Laden gives for his anger toward the west and ask yourself if you would give an inch on any of them. Point 1.) Support for Isreal. This is one of the only true functioning democracies in the area. We, in my opinion, have to support freedom wherever it lives. Point 2 & 3.) Presence on the Arabian peninsula and other Islamic countries. Our presence is needed in these countries not only to protect our financial interests, like oil, but also to be sure these militant islamic regimes don't go completely unchecked. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush is a complete idiot, but the truth of the matter is that without being able to aquire cheap oil, our economy would take a massive hit that would be very difficult to weather in a globally competetive marketplace. Point 4.) Support of foreign states that opress muslims. I disagree with this. We "deal" not support states that do not agree with muslim mentality if and only if it benefits us financially. Look at Kosovo, for example. Did we support them? Point 5. & 6.) Keeping oil prices artificially low and supporting regimes that do. First of all, Everyone wants to buy the things they need for as little as they can, and sellers try to sell their goods for as much as they can get. thats basic economics. The only reason oil is sold to us at the current price is that the sellers also need goods and services we privide. It is a symbiotic relationship. The answer, in my opinion, is two fold. 1.) Strain them any way we can financially. This is something we are currently doing, and should continue for as long as it takes. Finacially strangle any person, country, or organization who supports the extreme militant muslim cause and ideology, period. No tolerance. 2.) Embrace the liberal and rational muslim population. Let them know we will fight for their right to worship peacefully as they choose. We can only defeat this enemy from within. This cause is driven by ideology, and can only be defeated by it. Has history taught our leaders nothing?

    • Posted By: piinalu @ 02/15/2008 09:05:00

      Comment: I agree with a lot of what you wrote (including your assessment of our current President). As I mentioned in another post, I think energy policy has be addressed as part of the solution. You're right about our current economic needs in relation to affordable oil, but how dramatically would the scenario change if we didn't need that oil. All kinds of options would become available, and all kinds of exposure would be eliminated.

  • Posted By: derekneu @ 02/15/2008 1:41:32 AM

    Comment: I don't disagree, necessarily, with what Mr. Sheuer says, but he makes only one valid point with regard to a solution: education. While I agree this is a necessity to deal with the problem, it is by no means the "answer". Take each of the six points Bin Laden gives for his anger toward the west and ask yourself if you would give an inch on any of them. Point 1.) Support for Isreal. This is one of the only true functioning democracies in the area. We, in my opinion, have to support freedom wherever it lives. Point 2 & 3.) Presence on the Arabian peninsula and other Islamic countries. Our presence is needed in these countries not only to protect our financial interests, like oil, but also to be sure these militant islamic regimes don't go completely unchecked. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush is a complete idiot, but the truth of the matter is that without being able to aquire cheap oil, our economy would take a massive hit that would be very difficult to weather in a globally competetive marketplace. Point 4.) Support of foreign states that opress muslims. I disagree with this. We "deal" not support states that do not agree with muslim mentality if and only if it benefits us financially. Look at Kosovo, for example. Did we support them? Point 5. & 6.) Keeping oil prices artificially low and supporting regimes that do. First of all, Everyone wants to buy the things they need for as little as they can, and sellers try to sell their goods for as much as they can get. thats basic economics. The only reason oil is sold to us at the current price is that the sellers also need goods and services we privide. It is a symbiotic relationship. The answer, in my opinion, is two fold. 1.) Strain them any way we can financially. This is something we are currently doing, and should continue for as long as it takes. Finacially strangle any person, country, or organization who supports the extreme militant muslim cause and ideology, period. No tolerance. 2.) Embrace the liberal and rational muslim population. Let them know we will fight for their right to worship peacefully as they choose. We can only defeat this enemy from within. This cause is driven by ideology, and can only be defeated by it. Has history taught our leaders nothing?

  • Posted By: dukeitout @ 02/15/2008 12:45:33 AM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer makes some very valid points. bin Laden has more or less itemized why he and his angry followers are bent on doing massive damage to our country. Only a fool would disregard the reasons. Inexplicably, our policy makers ignore them. I have my own ideas but I won't list them. It's just silly to say they want to destroy us because they are just envious of our way of life. Meanwhile we've got to destroy bin Laden's hateful fringe movement by employing some real intelligence. The intelligence tactics would certainly include moving our resources from Iraq to the real battle ground.

  • Posted By: keep it real @ 02/14/2008 10:55:19 PM

    Comment: the only reason the demorats want to go after repubicans is what they did to bill clinton. who if you had any brains keep more information for congress than any prez every.
    the only reason we had 9/11 is bill clinton, they bombed twin towers he did nothing, they bomb our ship he does nothing, if we vote a democrat in office we will be in big danger just wait,,

  • Posted By: njtg42 @ 02/14/2008 9:30:05 PM

    Comment: Wow what an article. I don't disagree with all of it. But some of the questions and answers really perplex me. Why haven't we won the war in 4 years like WWIi? That's a pretty naive question. Whatever you think of Bush he did say right after 9/11/ that it would be a long struggle. Second, I thought our relations, for example, with Russia were strained. They don't exactly do what we want a lot of the time do they? I studied history too. I remember reading about Neville Chamberlain giving Hitler the Sudetenland and of course Hitler didn't exactly stop there.

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 02/14/2008 7:52:12 PM

    Comment: American talk radio is telling the American electorate that if they vote Democrat in any way shape or form, Al Qaida will be laughing at them. The Republicans and too many Democrats are telling the American electorate that Presidential orders on domestic espionage and wiretapping is necessary. All the while, refusing to allow the American electorate their Conistituional right to petition their Government for reform. This begins with investigation of obstruction of justice in the Executive Branch. And there is plenty to investigate.

  • Posted By: JohnGaltlaketahoe @ 02/14/2008 7:47:21 PM

    Comment: Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, Senator McConnell from Kentucky, Senator Graham from S. Carolina, Congressman Sensenbrenner, Senator Kyle of Arizona, Senator Feinstein of California, and the rest of Congress in its bipartisan make-up have given the American electorate economic chaos, destabilized society from New Orleans to Iraq and back again, Constitutional violations including human rights and civll rights violations, and the very same Congress that has failed to address and correct the events this nation has endured is above all else, failed in its duty to serve,protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. The House Committe on the Judiciary, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the Senate Committee on Appropriations and the rest of them are waging war against the American electorate, via Iraq.

  • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 5:51:15 PM

    Comment: The Quran says "Oh you who believe, do not let hatred of a people incite you to act unjustly" Osama no friend of mine, he is unjust and he will face judgment for it. Injustice is the plague of the world. As a muslim and more importantly a human injustice is abhorrent in any and all it's forms no matter who is on the giving end of it whether ii is people blowing everyone up at pet markets to F-16 superbombs killing whoever, to Israelis bulldozing elderly peop;e in the homes to priest mosesting children to police beating innocent unarmed peoples.

  • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 5:35:55 PM

    Comment: I'd shame me momma if I blew myself up for the sake of anyone. Wouldn;t that be unjust ot the insects, plants and any other living thing that was killed too? As a Christian it is your duty to pray for this world and pray that the Lord guide those people before the judgement. Are the christians who say Jesus is the son of Allah also servants of satan because of the language the speak when them call on God? Judge yourself 1st.

  • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 5:32:09 PM

    Comment: BB123 Do you molest children? Will you be in heaven with the priest dem that do? I pray not. In the same way that Chrisitan faith doesn't condone the molestation of the youth is the same way Islam strictly forbids the killing of the innocents. "Who so ever slays a soul unjustly it is as if he has slain all of mankind". If one uses a bomb to kill where is the justice. You didn't answer my question anyway. What about your bretheren?
    that say ALll

  • Posted By: BB123 @ 02/14/2008 5:07:44 PM

    Comment: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal, when you blow yourself up in the name of ISLAM, you will not end up in paradise with 72 virgins. You will go straight to HELL and Satan will be standing there laughing at you for believing the LIE that ISLAM is !!! ALLAH is a Moon god, ALLAH is a FALSE god, ALLAH is SATAN, and your entire religion is demonically based. WAKE UP ! Get on the winning side ! Or else, you will LOSE in the end !

    • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 18:19:26

      Comment: I'd shame me momma if I blew myself up for the sake of anyone. Wouldn;t that be unjust ot the insects, plants and any other living thing that was killed too? As a Christian it is your duty to pray for this world and pray that the Lord guide those people before the judgement. Are the christians who say Jesus is the son of Allah also servants of satan because of the language the speak when them call on God? Judge yourself 1st.

    • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 18:14:22

      Comment: The Quran says "Oh you who believe, do not let hatred of a people incite you to act unjustly" Osama no friend of mine, he is unjust and he will face judgment for it. Injustice is the plague of the world. As a muslim and more importantly a human injustice is abhorrent in any and all it's forms no matter who is on the giving end of it whether ii is people blowing everyone up at pet markets to F-16 superbombs killing whoever, to Israelis bulldozing elderly peop;e in the homes to priest mosesting children to police beating innocent unarmed peoples.

    • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 18:14:01

      Comment: BB123 Do you molest children? Will you be in heaven with the priest dem that do? I pray not. In the same way that Christian faith doesn't condone the molestation of the youth is the same way Islam strictly forbids the killing of the innocents. "Who so ever slays a soul unjustly it is as if he has slain all of mankind". If one uses a bomb to kill where is the justice. You didn't answer my question anyway. What about your bretheren?

  • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 4:42:34 PM

    Comment: B123 proves the point:Who made the USA responsable for other countries religions ie:"You can worship who you please, as long as you do it our way ,or else" New Forgin policy, we pay for in life and country and leaves us drowing in debt. This is the right direction, when your own country suffers with every word? Religion is a small part, of what we tell who, how, to live there lives, as W.e A.re R.ight? Not God, if he realy knew we use his name for a reason to kill millions? He would be pissed off big time, Is the way i was taught!!

    • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 18:13:16

      Comment: I'd shame me momma if I blew myself up for the sake of anyone. Wouldn;t that be unjust ot the insects, plants and any other living thing that was killed too? As a Christian it is your duty to pray for this world and pray that the Lord guide those people before the judgement. Are the christians who say Jesus is the son of Allah also servants of satan because of the language the speak when them call on God? Judge yourself 1st.

  • Posted By: BB123 @ 02/14/2008 3:58:49 PM

    Comment: Get a clue people ! This is a SPIRITUAL war ! Islam vs. Christianity. It is as simple as that. It has nothing to do with oil prices or American forces being on Muslim soil. If the USA pulled ALL troops out of the Middle East today, ISLAM would still want to kill us. WAKE UP PEOPLE ! ISLAM wants to DOMINATE the world. Islam does NOT want anyone to worship freely or have a free society. ISLAM wants the world to be controlled by Sharia law ! LISTEN ! ALLAH is NOT god ! The Muslims do not worship or pray to the same GOD of the universe that non-Muslims do. Here's the good news - ISLAM will be defeated in the end ! It's only a matter of time !

    • Posted By: Abdullahsalahudin bin Jumaal @ 02/14/2008 16:23:19

      Comment: Hmm, heres something to ponder... Did you know that bibles are translated in Arabic? I one read in one that "Allah loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son...." So if Christian Arab speaking people call god Allah, how can you say that they don't pray to the same god you do. They are chrisitan and believe in the trinity, what makes you a better Christian?

    • Posted By: u4getsoeasy @ 02/14/2008 16:19:13

      Comment: Oh my! Check your brain for remnants of laundry detergent before you type next time.

      So Islam isn't the most progressive religion in the world, but it's 600 years older than Christianity. Just think what Christianity was doing 600 years ago! Ever heard of the crusades? The Spanish Enquisition? Every european war prior to the 20th century was christians fighting other christians over whose version was better. Every religion wants to be the ONLY religion, and thinks they are the only ones who are right. That's what a religion is!

  • Posted By: TheBroker @ 02/14/2008 3:05:20 PM

    Comment: The problem here is that the majority of American people are blind to what's really going on in the Arab world. I completely disagree with the way Bin Laden is handling this issue, however, I understand why he feels the way he feels. We put Saddam in charge, propped him up to deal with Iran and gave him the chemical weapons he used to gas the Kurds. We propped up the Taliban in Afghanistan, hell, we even supplied Bin Laden with weapons and trainging to fight against the soviet invasion in the late 70's. We basically do as we please. We've toppled Saddam, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilian lives(according to some estimates). Is there anyone reading this article that can honestly say that if a foreign country invaded us and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, we would sit back and hope that the government they installed worked out? No, we'd form militias and there would be an extremely ugly insurgency. The funny thing is, we'd be called "terrorists" in that countrys media. It's propaganda. We should hunt Bin Laden at all costs. If Pakistan doesn't produce him, we invade, just like we did in Afghanistan. The American people would support that. We didn't support Iraq because we all knew that it had nothing to do with 9/11. We don't support Iran because it has nothing to do with Osama Bin Laden. Get a clue! Do the right thing, people will support you, lie your way into a war that satisfies some obscure strategic objective and people will see right through your BS.

  • Posted By: BG-Minn @ 02/14/2008 3:04:46 PM

    Comment: Scheuer, so true!
    We've squandered a Bank of respect in the world and it no longer laughs off our ridiculous cowboy antics.
    Nor should it. Goofy jousting cowboy B.S.
    Amurrikkans! Wake up. Learn a language or two (don't forget English!). Try a little Arabic, German,
    Russian and get a feel for how they express themselves through language...you might see us as they see us.
    Leave the house for reasons other than work! Read some history.
    Argue with yourself so you're prepared to be with others.
    Citizens of other lands are on educational ascendency,
    their fervor fueled by the realization that they now, for good or bad, have a say in the world.
    We are at nadir. Jaded consumers listening to talk radio and waiting for another WHO ? - Ron Reagan!
    God help us! Really!
    To rely on tainted info stream from the humorlessly solicitous Limbaugh,
    cat-faced Morning Joe, and the lovably addled Coulter (wouldn't you just want to hug that cactus!?)
    and all those other shills for the "cause" will be our undoing. But that is the road we're on.



    Scheuer (German) : barn, shed

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 16:29:46

      Comment: "Amurrikkans! Wake up. Learn a language or two (don't forget English!). Try a little Arabic, German,
      Russian and get a feel for how they express themselves through language...you might see us as they see us. "
      Though i disagree on your spelling of America you are so right it hurts on this item and a few other points but this one is so very true,context is more important than the words and you cannot READ context as they DO FEEL IT.

      • Posted By: BG-Minn @ 02/15/2008 10:56:30

        Comment: ("Amurrikkans") Merely for effect , PinkieP - Thanks for the comment

  • Posted By: AK209 @ 02/14/2008 2:53:51 PM

    Comment: I totally agree, except on one point...There is one man who has spoken about blowback and the after affect our foreign policy has had. That man is Ron Paul. He was laughed at during the debates when he spoke the truth, he has been marginalized by the media. I call on all Americans to seek the truth of the matter and vote for the one man who understands what we are doing and how it is hurting us. And yes...he is still running.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 2:27:24 PM

    Comment: radicalrealist - militant Imad Mughniyeh is another example of "taken out our man", that???s the second militant high grade terrorist in less then a week. You can't blame the Israelis? CIA possibly involved! Sooner or later the truth will prevail. Bin Landen is just one the list, and we know he is not that important as the media makes him out to be, the military knows that, but he is on the list. Yes they will be many that will try to fit in his shoes, but their can only be one Hitler, one Castro, one Stalin, one Bin Landen. I know clearly where I stand, do you? One by one, with patience all will fall. That???s not biased, that???s perseverance at all cost. War is not pretty! It is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we would grow too fond of it.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 14:42:28

      Comment: "AT ALL COST' INCLUDING BANKRUPTING OUR OWN COUNTRY AS WE BANRUPTED RUSSIA THE SAME WAY? "GROW TO FOND OF IT" I GUESS THIS EXPLAINS IRAQ. WHERE BIN-LAUDEN AIN'T, OR EVER WAS. IRAQ, THE WAR STARTED TO AVOID CIVIL CHARGES OF BEING CAUGHT WITH HIS HAND IN THE ENRON COOKIE JAR? IRAQ THE EASY TARGET ON THE WAR BOARD PRIOR TO 9/11? WE ARE PROVING WE ARE FOND OF WAR, NO MATTER THE COST. SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS. WE USED TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE, WE WOULD NEVER ALLOW ANY RULES OR REGS PUT ON US BY ANOTHER COUNTRY UNDER THREAT, OR WE OURSELVES WOULD BECOME TERRORIST, OR FREEDOM FIGHTERS, DEPENDS ON WHICH SIDE OF THE FENCE YOU ARE ON. WE HAVE A CRIMINAL IN N.J., WE NEED TO INVADE IRAN? WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER, PRAY I'M WRONG!

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 2:27:12 PM

    Comment: radicalrealist - militant Imad Mughniyeh is another example of "taken out our man", that???s the second militant high grade terrorist in less then a week. You can't blame the Israelis? CIA possibly involved! Sooner or later the truth will prevail. Bin Landen is just one the list, and we know he is not that important as the media makes him out to be, the military knows that, but he is on the list. Yes they will be many that will try to fit in his shoes, but their can only be one Hitler, one Castro, one Stalin, one Bin Landen. I know clearly where I stand, do you? One by one, with patience all will fall. That???s not biased, that???s perseverance at all cost. War is not pretty! It is well that war is so terrible - otherwise we would grow too fond of it.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 1:55:06 PM

    Comment: You want to blame the Jews and our relationships with them, they have being our only allies, they have gone trough more persecution and terrorist acts that anyone else, we are so easily to forget history. They are surrounded by countries that their only which is to exterminate them just as the Nazis tried. We want everyone to get a long, but sometimes you have to take a side. That???s what the rest of the world doesn???t do, they just sit back and watch.

    • Posted By: garysgary @ 02/14/2008 14:41:59

      Comment: I did not mention Jews in my comment. I said Isreal. Isreal is a country. Jews are a race of people. Two different things. The reason "Isreal" is surrounded by countries that want to destroy them is because they built their nation on top of Palestine and the Palistinians were displaced. Isreal took someone else's land. That is a fact. Have you ever asked yourself why there are Palistinian refugees in their own country? How would you like to be a refugee in your own country? It was wrong for Briton to allow the creation of the State of Isreal and it wrong for the U.S. to continue to support that wrong.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 14:13:03

      Comment: ISRAEL IS MORE SADISTIC THAN THERE ENEMIES! 1 BOMBER KILLS 5 WOUNDS 12, ISRAEL SENDS 4 APACHE HELIOS AND 10-15 SIDEWINDERS LATER, FLATTENING AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD IN GAZA, IS NOT RETAILATION, ITS GENOCIDE! ISRAEL SELLS CHINA WEAPONS AGAINST THE ARMS BANN, AND NOT ONE WORD IS SAID? IRAN WANTS WIND TECH, AND ALL HELLO DOLLY ERUPTS? GET EVEN, GET EQUAL, AND THEN TALK ABOUT ISRAEL! THE STRONGEST NUCLEAR COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE-EAST, AND WE BLEED FOR THEM, BEFORE THEY DO-NOT!!!

  • Posted By: radicalrealist @ 02/14/2008 1:53:36 PM

    Comment: Bravo Michael Scheuer! Honest and informed opinion of a subject that won't be relevant again till the next 9/11. They may live in the sand but Americans have their heads buried in the sand living in constant denial of what is really the cause of our current situation. And thanks to the Iraqi war, many new recruits are lining to join Osama.

    Sorry radicaltwist but your stance is obviously biased. Thank you for serving our country but if you think "getting our man" Osama will stop this you are gravely mistaken. Remove one and ten are waiting to take their place. Foreign policy change would be the most effective method for changing our current situation, not military might.

  • Posted By: daninnewjersey @ 02/14/2008 1:52:46 PM

    Comment: We had a family friend named John P. O'Neill. Google his name. He was hunting Bin Laden for the FBI. John was eventually killed on 9/11. His is a story every American should know. His story was on PBS....called "The Man who Knew". It shows what our govt. knew, and chose to ignore, about Bin Laden...and the lives lost because of that.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 1:40:03 PM

    Comment: Thank you " start making sense" That???s what I'm saying.......There is no good answer, but opposing them at every step is the best option and only option......peace is not part of a terrorist vocabulary, beheading innocent people, using car bombs and suicide bombers to kill kids and woman is! We are not fighting all Islam we are only fighting extreme Islam. We are at war with terrorism at best.

  • Posted By: mindINuse @ 02/14/2008 1:24:26 PM

    Comment: Good read. For people interested in getting beyond the propaganda, this is merely a fraction of what educated people on the subject already know. It is just so disheartening that the majority of people accept the "they just hate us because we have better lives than them" line.

    • Posted By: piinalu @ 02/15/2008 09:15:08

      Comment: A solid point, reinforced by the subsequent posts... embarrassing.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 13:52:07

      Comment: WELL PUT

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 1:19:37 PM

    Comment: Hey ???pink??? I am also a Marine, a sniper served from 90 to 97 with 3/7 Lima Co 29 Palms. Take the chip of your shoulder, this is bigger then both of us. I'm one of very few who were in Somalia in 1993. We wasted millions of Dollars there feeding Bin Landen apprentices. But the same people that make that decision are currently hiding now and blaming the cleansing of their mess. I???m a marine just like you and will always be till I died, Semper Fidelis is my motto, we are not perfect but I believe in my heart that we bring more to the table then the rest of the world, and we have come a long way, and my comrades who are currently in Iraq and Afghanistan are making great process, do not let the media destroy what many have bled accomplishing. Remember we always get our man.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 13:41:59

      Comment: SEMPER FI, SORRY FOR THE CAPS YOU KNOW THE VA DON'T DO EYES.THANKS FOR THE WORDS THAT TRULY KEEP ME ALIVE TODAY. I KNOW WE SET UP HUNDREDS OF PUPPET GOV, AND NOT ALL WERE TAKEN TO HEART. I WAS 1ST RECON BN, SPECIAL FORCES, LONG RANGE RECON, T.A.D.TRAINED BY THE BEST THE WORLD HAD TO OFFER, NAM VETS! THEY HAD TO BE GOOD THEY WERE STILL ALIVE, WHEN WE LEFT, BUT NOT COMMING HOME AS SOME WERE DEAD WHEN THEY WERE SENT [ORANGE, LONG RANGE RECON GOT THE WORST OF IT, AS THEY WERE NEVER NEAR FRONT LINES, ALWAYS BEHIND, WERE WE DROPPED IT]. AS MILITARY IT'S NOT ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY BEING ASHAMED OF YOU, IT'S THE HOPE OF ONE DAY NOT BEING ASHAMED OF THE COUNTRY LIFE WAS GIVEN FOR! WE WILL SURVIVE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WE ALWAYS DO. SEMPER FI I SERVED AS A TWEENER, FROM 79-TILL I GOT OUT, BOOTED FOR WAR, TRAINED TO KILL, OR DIE WITH HONOR, IS ALL I LEARNED IN BOOT, THEN CAME THE NEW CORP, AND THEY DID NOT LIKE US TO MIX, AS WE WERE CONCIDERED A BAD INFLUENCE ON COLD WAR MARINES, HENCE WHY I WAS PUT IN 1/9 "THE WALKING DEAD" OR CALLED, DEAD MEN WALKING. I COPE BARLY, BUT I DO. WISH FOR THE BEST, HOPE FOR WHAT WE CAN GET, AND PRAY IT STOPS THERE!. THANKS AND SEMPER FI

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 1:19:27 PM

    Comment: Hey ???pink??? I am also a Marine, a sniper served from 90 to 97 with 3/7 Lima Co 29 Palms. Take the chip of your shoulder, this is bigger then both of us. I'm one of very few who were in Somalia in 1993. We wasted millions of Dollars there feeding Bin Landen apprentices. But the same people that make that decision are currently hiding now and blaming the cleansing of their mess. I???m a marine just like you and will always be till I died, Semper Fidelis is my motto, we are not perfect but I believe in my heart that we bring more to the table then the rest of the world, and we have come a long way, and my comrades who are currently in Iraq and Afghanistan are making great process, do not let the media destroy what many have bled accomplishing. Remember we always get our man.

  • Posted By: startMakingSense @ 02/14/2008 1:19:07 PM

    Comment: So, all we have to do is end our presence in all Islamic countries (which ones are these?; End all relations with Russia, China and India; Pay $300 per barrel for oil; And end our support for Arab tyrannies (again, which ones?). Does the list of Islamic countries include Spain? And, what will they want after we capitulate on all these points? Anyway, I heard bin laden urging Americans to convert to Islam? Guess you missed that one. One point is correct; they are not stupid. But you neglect to point out that they are evil. There is no other word. And they do believe that it is their duty to convert the entire world to Islam at the point of a sword, not just "Islamic" countries. And, they certainly do believe in murdering anyone who does or says anything they find offensive, wherever they are. Sorry to disagree, changing our foreign policy will only embolden them and make them stronger. There is no good answer, but opposing them at every step is the best option in my opinion.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 13:46:48

      Comment: IT'S OUR DUTY TO DESTROY THE WAY THEY PRACTICE, AT THE POINT OF A NUCLEAR TIPPED SWORD-RIGHT? THIS WE DO BELIEVE! YOU CAN PRAY TO WHO EVER YOU PLEASE BUT BY OUR STANDARDS ONLY, OR DIE!

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 1:04:54 PM

    Comment: Blaming and criticizing is not going to change the world, solutions people, solutions and if you don???t have solutions, then let someone else try.
    ??? On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of decision, sat down to wait, and waiting died ???

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 13:15:40

      Comment: YOUR RIGHT JUST LIKE GLOBAL WARMING IS IT OR IS IT NOT DEBATE WHILE WE DIE OR TILL WE DIE IS A BIG PROBLEM HERE STOP DEBATING AND ACT PEROID! SOLUTIONS ARE HARD, WHEN YOUR TRYING TO RUN ANOTHER COUNTRY, BESIDES YOUR OWN. HU!

  • Posted By: mark43m @ 02/14/2008 1:03:57 PM

    Comment: The reason we don't get to see any debates on the real issues is mainly because of the strong Jewish lobby and their major control of media in this country. If anyone dares suggest that the Palestinians are treated unfairly (like President Carter stated in his book), all hell breaks out and the label "antisemite" is cast at whoever raises those questions. I am not anti Jewish nor anti Israel but in this country one should be able to have open debate on the Palestinian issue without being afraid of being labled as someone who is against Jewsih people or against our alliy Israel. Over the past 50 years there have been occasions where just about every nation represented at the United Nations has voted to reprimand Israel for some of its treatment of the Palestinans and then the US vetos the resolution. I am all for the nation of Israel to exist but somehow all TV media shys away from any meaningful debates on this issue.

    • Posted By: getzel @ 02/15/2008 23:07:21

      Comment: If Israel "falls" America is right behind it. The Mohammidans would be unstoppable. It is real irony that a Jew hater like you and Scheuer have only Israel between you and a burqa on yours. Scheuer is not correct in his assessment of OBLs actual "beef" with USA/West. But hate filled, like yourself,. are rarely interested in the truth...

  • Posted By: durango88 @ 02/14/2008 12:56:57 PM

    Comment: "The candidates in the presidential campaign are talking about reviving jobs and wages and moving toward universal health care. None of that is going to be possible if this country is involved in some generation-long struggle with millions of Muslims. "

    Reviving jobs and providing universal health care deminishes a struggle against Al Qaeda ??? A dispirited lower-middle class will surely detract from any efforts in a long struggle.

  • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 12:52:49 PM

    Comment: WHEN DID IT BECOME THE RESPONSABILITY OF THE UNITED STATES, TO TELL OTHER COUNTRIES "YOU CAN WORSHIP WHO EVER YOU PLEASE,BUT WITHIN OUR STANDARDS ONLY" AND ENFORCE BY NUCLEAR THREAT! FORIGN POLICY S.O.P.! WHY? WHO MADE US GODS!

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 12:42:24 PM

    Comment: To "horizon07" if we weren't who we are we would probably have a military base from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and every other country. This country still has the opportunity for the American Dream why do you think everyone around the world is dying to have a piece of it, you don't see us trying to escape to Saudi Arabia. I agree on many levels that sometimes we shouldn't get involved, but for better or worse we are the ONLY POLICE OF THIS WORLD AND MAINTAIN SOME SMALL AS IT APEARS CONTROL. Do you expect the United Nations to get anything done? Who if not us? The Russians? China? The damage that Mr. Scheuer department has done, we are cleaning up and I rather clean the mess insides their backyard then here.

  • Posted By: garysgary @ 02/14/2008 12:28:06 PM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer is correct. Our unilateral support of Isreal is the main problem. We have become The United States of Isreal. Isreal owns this and previous administrations. Isreal owns our congress. Our international relations are completely held hostege by our relationship with Isreal. We support Isreal with billions of dollars in aid, advanced weaponry and intelligence and they haven't put one soilder on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan. How does a country the size of Honduras (approx. 7 million pop.) come to control the foreign policy of the greatest country on earth? How does one-tenth of one percent of the world's population acquire hundreds of nuclear weapons? No matter what George Bush says about the war on terror, the Iraq war is about protecting Isreal. Period. Does anyone remeber Saddam sending scud missils into Isreal in Gulf war? Isreal has wanted the U.S. to take out Iraq, Iran, Syria et al ever since. Isreal has become the yoke around our neck when it comes to international relations. Unfortunately, I do not see this changing

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 12:49:01

      Comment: I FEAR YOUR RIGHT ON ALL COUNTS

      • Posted By: u4getsoeasy @ 02/14/2008 16:37:10

        Comment: wow... that's just great.

        Newsflash...israel gets 2 billion in aid, which they are contractually obligated to use to buy american weaponry.

        We are taking 2bn of US taxpayer's money, and putting it into the pockets of us weapons manufacturers. That's the extent of our support for israel.

        Israel doesn't control anything. They are fighting for existance by any means necessary, just like every single country and living creature on this planet.

        If you want to point your finger somewhere, see which industry is making the most profit EVER in the history of indurstry right now... (hint: it's not "the jews")

        • Posted By: reads-source-documents @ 02/14/2008 23:11:10

          Comment: Israel, unlike any other country, may use money for military aid for either (1) buying their own weapons, or (2) building weapons manufacturing capablility to sustain their largest export sector, weapons and the technology to make them work. If you actually want to see it, look at the present and past foreign operations bills. The number for this year available for Israel in-country expenditure is fully two-thirds of a billions dollars.
          Both your numbers and your premise that all the money simply comes back to the US are false.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 12:25:43 PM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer In the 1980s was involved in the arming of the Afghan mujahedin against the Soviets. Well we just found out who trained Bin Landen..... the CIA....of course they can't find him...You got pay attention.....Now he dedicates his life to Blame someone else for his departments mistakes. Please spare me the hypocrisy???This man and all the people in charge who were involved in the arming and training of this monster should be in prison.

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 12:47:39

      Comment: DON'T FORGET MEN LIKE ME WHO WAS THERE WHEN HE WAS WERE FOLLOWING ORDERS PLAIN AND SIMPLE. DON'T YOU THINK WE FEEL BAD ENOUGH, WHEN IT'S OUR KIDS TO, WHO CORRECT A PROBLEM WE CREATED, WITH ABSOLUTLY NO KNOWLAGE OF WHAT WE DID? THOSE OF US WHO LIVED WERE UNDER ORDERS TO SAY NOTHING TILL IT BECAME PUBLIC! AS OF 2007. NOW WE WHO KNOW WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW! ARE KEPT FROM RE-ENLISTING TO GO BACK TO DO THE JOB RIGHT. PRISION IS TO GOOD FOR ME I LIVE IN HELLO DOLLY FOR FOLLOWING ORDERS AND BY WHO, THIS IN MY HEAD DRIVES ME INSANE, BUT A NOBODY CAN'T COLLECT ON WHAT NEVER HAPPENED, ON PAPER! WE DO NOT NOW, OR EVER, EXSISTED.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 12:23:51 PM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer In the 1980s was involved in the arming of the Afghan mujahedin against the Soviets. Well we just found out who train Bin Landen..... the CIA....of course they can't find him...You got pay attention.....Now he dedicates his life to Blame someone else for his departments mistakes. Please spare me the hypocrisy???This man and all the people in charge who were involved in the arming and training of this monster should be in prison.

  • Posted By: horizon07 @ 02/14/2008 12:23:33 PM

    Comment: Our Leaders always portray what we do around the world is good and what others do is evil. This is just to make us feel good and justify our actions. Why would the Arabs or muslims hate us or the way we live as our leaders say if we leave them alone? They have no reason to hate us if we are not messing around with their lives. The fact is that we are messing around with the way they live through our support of their oppressing government and our presense on their land. How would we feel if it happens to us? How would we feel if Russia has a base in the U.S. and can influence our government?

  • Posted By: mrmurphy @ 02/14/2008 12:14:25 PM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer,

    I take issue on many of the points you mention in your article, especially with regards to Bin Laden's opposition to specific aspects of our foreign policy
    "Our support of foreign states that oppress Muslims, especially Russia, China and India"
    You cannot be serious! Russia, China and India! I'm sure that the U.S. does not currently consider these three to be on our top ten list of "supported foreign states," quite the contrary; read the news with Russian bombers buzzing our naval ships, Putin's promise to target nuclear missles at U.S. and its allies, China's newly established military alliance with Russia formed to counter the sole remaining global superpower. Last time I checked India maintains cordial relations with us but trades primarily with Russia and China. With the sole exception of Chechyen separtists I don't see or hear any threats being made by Al Qaeda towards China or Russia.
    If we complied with all of the Bin Laden's foreign policy demands tomorrow they would come up with other aspects of our government, culture or people to continue their quest at forcing radical Islamic ideals down the throats of all "non-believers," Just ask Salman Rushdie. Bottom line here is that Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, and radical Islam hate the United States for much more than its foreign policy.
    You go on to compare the World War II to the battle with Al Qaeda.... not a fair comparison. Surely a former officer of the CIA can understand the difference in fighting small groups of scattered insurgents who have allegiances to no army or country but to radical Islamic ideals vs. large organized armies with well defined borders and objectives.

  • Posted By: mrmurphy @ 02/14/2008 12:14:06 PM

    Comment: Mr. Scheuer,

    I take issue on many of the points you mention in your article, especially with regards to Bin Laden's opposition to specific aspects of our foreign policy
    "Our support of foreign states that oppress Muslims, especially Russia, China and India"
    You cannot be serious! Russia, China and India! I'm sure that the U.S. does not currently consider these three to be on our top ten list of "supported foreign states," quite the contrary; read the news with Russian bombers buzzing our naval ships, Putin's promise to target nuclear missles at U.S. and its allies, China's newly established military alliance with Russia formed to counter the sole remaining global superpower. Last time I checked India maintains cordial relations with us but trades primarily with Russia and China. With the sole exception of Chechyen separtists I don't see or hear any threats being made by Al Qaeda towards China or Russia.
    If we complied with all of the Bin Laden's foreign policy demands tomorrow they would come up with other aspects of our government, culture or people to continue their quest at forcing radical Islamic ideals down the throats of all "non-believers," Just ask Salman Rushdie. Bottom line here is that Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, and radical Islam hate the United States for much more than its foreign policy.
    You go on to compare the World War II to the battle with Al Qaeda.... not a fair comparison. Surely a former officer of the CIA can understand the difference in fighting small groups of scattered insurgents who have allegiances to no army or country but to radical Islamic ideals vs. large organized armies with well defined borders and objectives.

  • Posted By: emckee @ 02/14/2008 12:10:32 PM

    Comment: Our foreign policies are shaped by our belief in OUR right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When you start looking at the impacts that these policies have on other areas of the world, you will rapidly find that we don't care so much about their rights to the same.
    Mr. Sheuer has hit the nail on the head, but our leaders consider it political suicide to speak out against those with vested political capital - the pro-Israeli lobby, the oil and auto industries, etc. These are the people with power in America, the power to get a politician elected, not the populace as we'd like to think.

  • Posted By: radicaltwist @ 02/14/2008 12:07:36 PM

    Comment: I just read the they will be executing a woman in Saudi Arabia for being blamed without reason or fact for practicing whichcraft. They are no woman rights in this part of the world or no rights at all. We have to choose either hot or cold. Can't be both! I understand that is not our duty to change someones beliefs, but Ignorants is not a bliss, and in reagards to Castro we have not understimated him, we just never cared for a rock in the ocean. 99% of Cuba is in the United States, and we have all we need there, a military base.

  • Posted By: meekinj @ 02/14/2008 12:02:12 PM

    Comment: THANK YOU!!!!

  • Posted By: newsweek789 @ 02/14/2008 11:56:30 AM

    Comment: "We've been fighting bin Laden for longer than we fought World War II. Why haven't we won?" I am stunned that the Newsweek reporter presented that question. What is the reporter's definition of "winning" this unconventional war? Is he expecting the cowardly terrorist leaders to emerge from their caves and sign a peace treaty on a battleship? This war will be with us throughout our lifetime and those of our children and grand children. There will be no definitive moment when we "win". This is an obvious truth that was either overlooked due to ignorance or intentionally presented as a U.S. "failure" to paint the current administration in a poor light.

  • Posted By: meekinj @ 02/14/2008 11:56:21 AM

    Comment: The problem is our foreign policy and all the things that Bin Laden stated above. So that means the solution is to leave all isrealis for dead, make enemies of China, Rusia and India, dramatically increase the cost of oil for our people. If we do that Osama will like us......I don't think that is a goos idea. While he may be a smart and cunning man, he is also an evil man. What would it say about us if our foreign policy was determined by a man without regard for anything that our country holds dear. While is might be a misconception that the terrorists hate us JUST because of who we are, but our foeign policy is shaped by our belief in life liberty and the persuit of happiness. I am not willing to change THAT.

  • Posted By: dxm8757 @ 02/14/2008 11:53:47 AM

    Comment: What does Mr. Sheuer suggest we do about Israel and Jordan? What should we do about Saudi Arabia?

    DXM
    (David Mack)

    • Posted By: pinkpanther87413 @ 02/14/2008 12:22:28

      Comment: HOPEFULLY DISAGREE WITH OUR SALE OF 900+ SMART BOMBS, WITH THE IGNORENT THOUGHT THEY WILL NOT END UP IN THE HANDS OF TERRORIST, TILL THE CHECK CLEARS! SAUDI IS CURRENTLY RESPONSABLE FOR 40% OF THE INSURGENTS CURRENTLY FIGHTING AND 14 OUT OF 16 OF THE TERRORIST WHO TOOK OUT THE WTC. NOW WE SELL THEM HIGH TEC EQUIPMENT WE INVADED IRAQ TO TAKE AWAY FROM HUSSAIN! FOR STARTERS! I HOPE!

  • Posted By: mbacalla @ 02/14/2008 11:49:21 AM

    Comment: The author???s observations about Bin Laden and our response to him is not surprising. We have been underestimating our enemies for a long time. Take our view of the Japanese prior to WWII, we thought of them as incapable of mounting a threat to this nation, until they hit us in Pearl Harbor and took over most of the Pacific shortly thereafter.

    Fidel Castro is another prime example of our ???Imperial Hubris??? in action. Our presidents and government have been underestimating this man and his regime for almost 50 years. Yet, he has strategically outmaneuvered our foreign policy for all this time and put us on the defensive in the eyes of the entire world.

    It is a shame, but we do not seem to learn from our experiences. We always seem to take the short road, the easy way, rather than face the truth and act accordingly. I hope that new generations do a better job. We have not.

  • Posted By: mbacalla @ 02/14/2008 11:48:49 AM

    Comment: The author???s observations about Bin Laden and our response to him is not surprising. We have been underestimating our enemies for a long time. Take our view of the Japanese prior to WWII, we thought of them as incapable of mounting a threat to this nation, until they hit us in Pearl Harbor and took over most of the Pacific shortly thereafter.

    Fidel Castro is another prime example of our ???Imperial Hubris??? in action. Our presidents and government have been underestimating this man and his regime for almost 50 years. Yet, he has strategically outmaneuvered our foreign policy for all this time and put us on the defensive in