Memo to President Obama

I love how this column is used as a platform from which someone can launch their own personal views into the public eye, with the intent to shape public opinion rather than reflect it - just another in the life of the drive-by media. The fact is, 9/11 wasn't one lucky day of mass murder by ragged America-haters, but rather the result of an entire era where America was the object of hate. Obviously since something of that scale hasn't occurred since then, we are doing something right. Do you honestly think that the reason we haven't had another attack on American soil since 9/11 is coincidence? I mean, let's be real here.
Global warming? Please. Even if this myth had some credible evidence to support it, there is nothing man can do to stop it. The fact is, it's all one big meteorological cycle, and considering most of the temperatures this year are lower than the ones last year, I'd venture to say the cycle is on it's way back to "normal".
Please, if you're going to make accusations about our intentions, at least try to put your evidence in perspective.

Why does every viewpoint have to be made in reference to some less distasteful process ie "annihilation" of a group of people "like" killing an insect. If you take what your talking about into your belly indiscriminately killing EVERY member, ie annihilating, of a group who ill grant you are themselves extremist dont you become a little like them. I eat my words now by alluding to your metaphor but I never admired a guy who lost his cool because an insect stung him and reacted by deciding all bees where killer bees ie the natural consequence of being stung too many times and that a process of annihilation was the only or most judicious answer
by a US friendly European

I must say that I totally agree with this article. We must not over react to events and
we must proceed on an even keel. 9/11 is like a bad bee sting to a mighty giant. If the
giant jumps up and out of the 7th story window ... the bad bee succeeded. If the giant
kills the bee and then calls the exterminators to root out the hive then the problem is solved. Only America can badly hurt itself by over reacting.
9/11 type events can never bring America down.

Paul

The "war on terror" is and always has been a convenient Maypole on which our "leaders" can hang their rally banners. It's colorful and frightening, and spins in ways which enthrall our attention -- that way we won't notice the near bankruptcy of leadership on all other topics. Fearmongering is the 2nd-down punt of small-minded politicians. Your remarks are right on target.

Following prostate cancer radiation I changed my underwear from tighty-whities to colored boxers. If you give me Sentator Obama's address, I can send him the whites so he doesn't have to go to the expense of buying a surrender flag. If you believe that the radical Islamists agenda is not to either convert the West to Islam or kill them, then you might want to have your Kool Aid handy if there is a President Obama or Clinton.

Yeah, sounds like a great idea. Lets put Barack Hussein Obama in charge of our foreighn affairs and middle east relations. Right now the vast majority of his supporters are acting like he's on American Idol. Maybe by November we will all be able to text our presdential vote in. WAKE UP

Name one other world wide movement that we need to fear? (crickets chirping..) That's right, there aren't any except for radical islam. From the US, to Argentina, to Malaysia, to India, to Israel, to Kenya, to Yemen, to Germany, to Spain, to England, they are the one group responsible for terror attrocities on a worldwide scale. Safe havens need to be removed, moderate muslims need to be engaged and we need to stay focused on the fact that this is not just a simple retaliation for 9/11. 9/11 simply focused our attention to the fact that treating radical islam as a policing action was no longer a working solution.

This 'autor' is an apologist and self-flagilator willing live in a world where you don't know if you will be safe going to the mall this weekend. I'd much rather have them worried more about when the next airstrike will drop or when the next Army, Marine, or SF unit is going to ruin their day than planning another terror mission in my backyard.

By giving a title of "war" to a group of criminals we have elevated their importance in the psyche of average americans. The act perpetrated on 9/11 was an act of cowardice which should have been treated as a police action with our full attention devoted to capturing and destroying those who perpetrated the act. We have undermined the stability of an entire region incumbered ourselves and our children with a huge debt and sent our enconomy into tail spin from the huberias of a doctrine that is impossible to acheive.

One lucky day? Hirsh did you Forget about, Twin Towers in 93, The Cole, Beirut, Spain, England, Bali, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, The Embassies, Lockerbie, Chechnia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq. Thats like saying the Nazi's had one lucky run of genocide , but it won't happen again somewhere else. You need to go back and study history, but more important journalism.

"Let's think about this for a moment. A small group of ragged America-haters, who had one lucky day of mass murder nearly seven years ago, will continue to define the foreign policy of the lone superpower for years, possibly decades to come."

I have little respect for President Bush's performance in foreign policy, but that statement seems even more off base. As does the implication that we can't do more than one thing at the time. The other issues listed are all legitimate, but they don't require us to do them one at a time in a linear sequence.

Sorry, but the premise of this piece is weak.

Terror is what happens within each one of us when faced with unexpected violence and fear. Hitler and the Nazis would appropriately be called terrorists, and they were Christians. The Third Reich was vanquished by a targeted and unified approach, not by calling them Christianofascists. The Japanese Empire created terrorists, but that war wasn???t won by denigrating their religion or their race. Our country brought shame on ourselves by the internment camps that lumped all Japanese together. The ???terrorists??? who attacked our country on 9/11 were Saudis, not Afghanis or Iraqis. There are still many unresolved mysteries about 9/11 that have yet to be brought to journalistic light. This is a war for power and resources, like nearly every other war. Will a war on mental illness stop future Virginia Tech tragedies? The war on drugs hasn???t stopped drug trafficking. We need a new approach.
I agree, Buckeye Scott: GO OBAMA!!!

Filipinos, Central Americans, Vietnamese, and countless others might ask if we ever consistently stood for self determination.

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I agree we will always be threatened by a few, but have no need to declare an endless war.

Buckeye Scott

Go OBAMA