Another attack - This time in Brussels - Page 3

Dutch · 03-24-2016, 05:45 AM

Dont think so. But we should have if we didn't. They are our allies and they showed us the proper respect on 9/11. Probably a tough situation as we try to deal with the Kurds...who are the regional terrorists to Turkey....

Warhammer · 03-24-2016, 08:42 AM

There were a bunch of flags at half mast during the next week. I was trying to figure out what it was about, did not hear about Ankara.

JonInMiddleGA · 03-24-2016, 02:14 PM

I see where half-staff was ordered for Nancy Reagan, that appears to have been from 3/7 to 3/10.

Brussels was the next notice I see.

ISiddiqui · 03-24-2016, 02:59 PM

I don't think we did either. I noticed the half-staff for Scalia, then Mrs. Reagan, and now Brussels, but no Ankara. A horrible oversight - they are a NATO ally after all!

BishopMVP · 03-25-2016, 01:54 PM

Why there are Muslim ghettos in Belgium, but not in the US - The Boston Globe

The editorial goes a little too far hitting some right-wing talking points (I agree with the Molenbeek mayor - tracking potential terrorists is a job for the federal government, not something that should ever be handled at the municipal level. And I've heard references to some of the CAIR stuff, but never dug in, and even if true it's an unnecessary digression.), but I think that's a great op-ed. Just as acting like Islam is an enlightened religion that only promotes peace, acting like Islam is a violent religion is equally insane. Islam is a tool that can be twisted for good or bad depending on what an individual person's motivations are. As many have said before me, treating all Muslims as the enemy is more likely to radicalize and create homegrown terrorists than actually help anything. Most Muslims - and certainly most Muslims in America - are good people. Or at least average people who just want to live a "normal" life, like any other large group in this country.

I will back up Rainmaker just a little on his initial points, in that I do feel like people are too quick to jump to the defense of Islam, or Muslims, as a whole. There is a higher percentage of Muslim extremists than other religions (although, yeah, that's more highly correlated with Arab/Bedouin culture than the most populous Muslim countries of India and Indonesia), and it is worthwhile to critically analyze why that is. The US has certainly played a role, although blaming it all or even mostly on us is laughable. I do think much is tied in to Arab/Bedouin culture that treats women horribly and also sets up a situation where you end up with large groups of young men with no future family prospects, which is always a recipe for disaster (and a really worrisome side effect of China's one child policy that hopefully does not manifest itself), as those disaffected young men are angry, and the safest thing for a society's elites at that point is to direct the anger outward. I do think that the Iranian government (which now rules a shockingly pro-American population...) and Saudi Arabian government have been funding incredibly extremist sects as part of their proxy war. I do think we'll see (and are already seeing, though ignoring at the media level), an increase in the radicalization of, for example, Indonesian Muslims as those Saudi-funded madrassas are controlling more of the message. I even think part of the blame is on European countries that like to think they're so much more enlightened than America but have these huge problems assimilating immigrants, which ends with huge festering breeding grounds for extremists.

Shurg. The best answer would be to stay out of there completely and let Muslims fight (and inevitably win) the war vs their extremists, but unfortunately increased globalization and more powerful weapons means we can't sit back and let the oceans protect us like it's pre-1900 (or even like 1970ish). There isn't an easy solution, though I will guarantee that lumping ALL Muslims together, or treating ALL Muslims in America you meet as potential terrorists is not it. I guess the key, as in most wars, is to get the 90%+ of people who just want to be left alone on our side, but how is a much thornier question, and one I don't think anyone has an effective answer for.

03-24-2016, 05:45 AM	#101
Dutch "Dutch" Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Tampa, FL	Dont think so. But we should have if we didn't. They are our allies and they showed us the proper respect on 9/11. Probably a tough situation as we try to deal with the Kurds...who are the regional terrorists to Turkey.... Last edited by Dutch : 03-24-2016 at 07:54 AM.

03-24-2016, 02:14 PM	#103
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	I see where half-staff was ordered for Nancy Reagan, that appears to have been from 3/7 to 3/10. Brussels was the next notice I see. __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis

03-24-2016, 02:59 PM	#104
ISiddiqui Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Decatur, GA	I don't think we did either. I noticed the half-staff for Scalia, then Mrs. Reagan, and now Brussels, but no Ankara. A horrible oversight - they are a NATO ally after all! __________________ "A prayer for the wild at heart, kept in cages" -Tennessee Williams

03-24-2016, 08:42 AM	#102
Warhammer Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Dayton, OH	There were a bunch of flags at half mast during the next week. I was trying to figure out what it was about, did not hear about Ankara.

03-25-2016, 01:54 PM	#105
BishopMVP Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Concord, MA/UMass	Why there are Muslim ghettos in Belgium, but not in the US - The Boston Globe The editorial goes a little too far hitting some right-wing talking points (I agree with the Molenbeek mayor - tracking potential terrorists is a job for the federal government, not something that should ever be handled at the municipal level. And I've heard references to some of the CAIR stuff, but never dug in, and even if true it's an unnecessary digression.), but I think that's a great op-ed. Just as acting like Islam is an enlightened religion that only promotes peace, acting like Islam is a violent religion is equally insane. Islam is a tool that can be twisted for good or bad depending on what an individual person's motivations are. As many have said before me, treating all Muslims as the enemy is more likely to radicalize and create homegrown terrorists than actually help anything. Most Muslims - and certainly most Muslims in America - are good people. Or at least average people who just want to live a "normal" life, like any other large group in this country. I will back up Rainmaker just a little on his initial points, in that I do feel like people are too quick to jump to the defense of Islam, or Muslims, as a whole. There is a higher percentage of Muslim extremists than other religions (although, yeah, that's more highly correlated with Arab/Bedouin culture than the most populous Muslim countries of India and Indonesia), and it is worthwhile to critically analyze why that is. The US has certainly played a role, although blaming it all or even mostly on us is laughable. I do think much is tied in to Arab/Bedouin culture that treats women horribly and also sets up a situation where you end up with large groups of young men with no future family prospects, which is always a recipe for disaster (and a really worrisome side effect of China's one child policy that hopefully does not manifest itself), as those disaffected young men are angry, and the safest thing for a society's elites at that point is to direct the anger outward. I do think that the Iranian government (which now rules a shockingly pro-American population...) and Saudi Arabian government have been funding incredibly extremist sects as part of their proxy war. I do think we'll see (and are already seeing, though ignoring at the media level), an increase in the radicalization of, for example, Indonesian Muslims as those Saudi-funded madrassas are controlling more of the message. I even think part of the blame is on European countries that like to think they're so much more enlightened than America but have these huge problems assimilating immigrants, which ends with huge festering breeding grounds for extremists. Shurg. The best answer would be to stay out of there completely and let Muslims fight (and inevitably win) the war vs their extremists, but unfortunately increased globalization and more powerful weapons means we can't sit back and let the oceans protect us like it's pre-1900 (or even like 1970ish). There isn't an easy solution, though I will guarantee that lumping ALL Muslims together, or treating ALL Muslims in America you meet as potential terrorists is not it. I guess the key, as in most wars, is to get the 90%+ of people who just want to be left alone on our side, but how is a much thornier question, and one I don't think anyone has an effective answer for.

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