"in my opinion Bush was FAAAAAAR better than that sniviling coward Kerry."
Yes. While Kerry was kickin it with the mad honeys and some cold T'sing Tao in Vietnam, Bush was bravely risking life and limb to protect the shoreline of Texas from those wily Viet Cong! When he bothered to show up to do so. Cheney was busy cracking the books, and getting yet another of his 5 student deferrments, because he "had other priorities". LOL!~ Sorry, couldn't resist.
"I do believe these terrorists hate us and I do believe they will kill us if provided with an opportunity to do so."
Yes, they do. Yes they would. In a heartbeat. I hate them, too. They hate our mid-east policy. They don't hate our "freedom." They wouldn't hate our way of life if only we'd keep it to ourselves. Think about it...Muslim men in Great Britain are as free as you and I. They are largely free of the constraints of Sharia law. In some sects, they are required to wear beards. They must pray 5 times a day. Yet, young muslim men, born in GB, British citizens, who are free people in their society, who all came from wealthy families, are the ones doing these stupid bombings. So...what would be their complaint? It's not a lack of freedom, certainly. Last I checked, England is a free and democratic society. They must be objecting to something else, then. Perhaps it's England's involvement in the Iraq war? Western culture? The west's preferential treatment of Isreal? The presence of western military bases on their holy land? Brainwashing by radical clerics? I'd put my money on any or all of those things, and not "they hate our freedom." IMO. I'm NOT defending them...part of defeating an enemy is trying to understand their motives, which is why I subject myself to Limbaugh and Hannity and NewsMax and Drudge every day.
"Hold your friends close, hold your enemies closer" Benjamin Franklin. Smart man, that Ben.
"Come to think of it, I’d feel relatively confident stating that France is already on their side but no great loss there."
Huh? How so? If it wasn't for France, our national anthem would be God Save the Queen. Not the Sex Pistols version, either. Though I wouldn't mind their version so much. France was required to follow us over the cliff? How stupid would that be?
"Has anyone taken a close look at our public transportation system lately? Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles public transportation moves millions daily. How about our commercial airports? Think Atlanta, Chicago, and Dallas."
Statistic I heard yesterday...the administration has spent $20 Billion dollars to keep you and your fingernail clippers off of commercial airlines. It has spent a measly $286 million to secure mass transit. And they are going to cut that amount by a third, I believe. They are also spending a similar pittance to secure the ports. The terrorists are most likely not going to come at us with airplanes again. Too complicated. I would imagine it would be much easier to waltz onto a commuter train at rush-hour....what has the government done to stop a person who wanted to do that?
"On the otherhand, barbaric practices such as killing (murder) is socially acceptable, nay, encouraged in predominately Muslim countries."
I don't think so. Where did you hear this? The reason crime rates are low in Muslim countries that follow strict Sharia law is that the Qur'an proscribes VERY harsh punishment for the most minor of crimes. Steal something? Your hand is cut off! In public and in front of your family! Kill someone? Get stoned to death or beheaded or executed in the public soccer stadium(this still happens frequently in Saudi Arabia, BTW)! And what is a "new testament attitude?" Can I get it from eating an Altoid? Just curious.
The Qur'an states that if you kill one man...you have killed all men, and committed a grievous sin against Allah. The Qur'an also states that Jews and Christians are "people of the book" and are to be protected. It says nothing about going out and killing anybody except in defense of the religion. At the time the Qur'an was written, the muslim world was under heavy attack from other peoples in the area. These people were not Jews and/or christians. The term "infidel" (Kufir) SPECIFICALLY and only applies to a group of people who were attacking Mecca at the time, I believe.
My point is this...anyone can pervert the teachings of their holy book. It's been done all throughout human history. This is what the suicide bombers are doing. What they are practicing is not true Islam. What Christians practiced during the crusades, or the IRA bombings, or the OKC bombing is not true Christianity.
imo.