Comments on: Say It Out Loud: The Taliban Are Terrorists http://www.frumforum.com/say-it-out-loud-the-taliban-are-terrorists Building a conservatism that can win again Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:10:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: sinz54 http://www.frumforum.com/say-it-out-loud-the-taliban-are-terrorists/comment-page-1#comment-40545 sinz54 Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:07:36 +0000 #comment-40545 Cavosie: Laws can be changed. Cavosie: Laws can be changed.

]]> By: Cavosie http://www.frumforum.com/say-it-out-loud-the-taliban-are-terrorists/comment-page-1#comment-45177 Cavosie Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:01:51 +0000 #comment-45177 Suggestion: research. You fail to discuss how an organization becomes designated as an FTO. There's a law. That law sets out the criteria. You apply the criteria to the facts. Voila.<br><br>Otherwise, you're just spouting off. Suggestion: research. You fail to discuss how an organization becomes designated as an FTO. There’s a law. That law sets out the criteria. You apply the criteria to the facts. Voila.

Otherwise, you’re just spouting off.

]]> By: dragonlady http://www.frumforum.com/say-it-out-loud-the-taliban-are-terrorists/comment-page-1#comment-53952 dragonlady Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:27:39 +0000 #comment-53952 sinz54, I agree with you on the vagueness of the "war on terror" label. We should have declared a war on AQ and its affiliates/allies or perhaps Islamic terrorism although I understand the latter has complicated political facets to it. As for the Taliban, they enabled AQ planning of the 9-11 attacks by providing a safe haven until we deposed them, and they are currently using terrorist tactics against our forces in Afghanistan. I concur with your thinking on "divide and conquer" tactics but I believe there is something to be said by not legitimizing them by leaving off the State Dept list of terrorist organizations. No self-respecting country wants to be seen as aiding a terrorist organization and that gives us leverage in the diplomatic arena. If the Taliban wouldn't ally or house with the worst of the worst, I wouldn't care much about them. But unfortunately, I think letting them be equals a destabilization of Afghanistan (not to mention Pakistan) which may lead us right back to Afghanistan being a safehaven for terrorists. So I would amend your goal to be this: if organizations are plotting, colluding, or enabling attacks on American interests, then we go after them. sinz54, I agree with you on the vagueness of the “war on terror” label. We should have declared a war on AQ and its affiliates/allies or perhaps Islamic terrorism although I understand the latter has complicated political facets to it. As for the Taliban, they enabled AQ planning of the 9-11 attacks by providing a safe haven until we deposed them, and they are currently using terrorist tactics against our forces in Afghanistan. I concur with your thinking on “divide and conquer” tactics but I believe there is something to be said by not legitimizing them by leaving off the State Dept list of terrorist organizations. No self-respecting country wants to be seen as aiding a terrorist organization and that gives us leverage in the diplomatic arena. If the Taliban wouldn’t ally or house with the worst of the worst, I wouldn’t care much about them. But unfortunately, I think letting them be equals a destabilization of Afghanistan (not to mention Pakistan) which may lead us right back to Afghanistan being a safehaven for terrorists. So I would amend your goal to be this: if organizations are plotting, colluding, or enabling attacks on American interests, then we go after them.

]]> By: sinz54 http://www.frumforum.com/say-it-out-loud-the-taliban-are-terrorists/comment-page-1#comment-42411 sinz54 Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:21:19 +0000 #comment-42411 It was a mistake for Bush to declare a "War on Terror." There are lots of terrorists, but they don't all attack America. And terrorists are a minority of all the extremists out there. <br><br>Job One should have been to put al-Qaeda out of business. In the days after 9-11, then SecState Colin Powell promised us--he PROMISED us--that they were going to "rip out" (his words) the al-Qaeda network. If they had done that first, it would have gotten the U.S. on the scoreboard. Instead, following some cockamamie theories of terrorism, they got sidetracked--Saddam, "Axis of Evil," etc.<br><br>We don't like the Taliban, but by themselves they won't be attacking America. I don't have a problem with a policy that attempts to play "divide and conquer" by splitting off the Taliban from actual terrorist groups that plot attacks on America.<br><br>Let's focus on the main goal: If a particular organization is plotting attacks on America, they are our enemy and we should go after them. If they are not, no matter how radical or extremist they are, let them be. It was a mistake for Bush to declare a “War on Terror.” There are lots of terrorists, but they don’t all attack America. And terrorists are a minority of all the extremists out there.

Job One should have been to put al-Qaeda out of business. In the days after 9-11, then SecState Colin Powell promised us–he PROMISED us–that they were going to “rip out” (his words) the al-Qaeda network. If they had done that first, it would have gotten the U.S. on the scoreboard. Instead, following some cockamamie theories of terrorism, they got sidetracked–Saddam, “Axis of Evil,” etc.

We don’t like the Taliban, but by themselves they won’t be attacking America. I don’t have a problem with a policy that attempts to play “divide and conquer” by splitting off the Taliban from actual terrorist groups that plot attacks on America.

Let’s focus on the main goal: If a particular organization is plotting attacks on America, they are our enemy and we should go after them. If they are not, no matter how radical or extremist they are, let them be.

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