Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
...The point in my original post and I will stand behind it forever is this. Those of you that think us showing up shaking hands eating veal cooked in curry and taking photo's with dignitaries is going to change anything at all are incredible nieve. This is nothing new guys we've been trying to make these people like us since before we were a twinkle in our Dadies eye and guess what it still hasn't worked and it NEVER will. I appreciate your undieing optimism but at what point do just let that one go.
I am not nieve enough to think that just showing up eating veal and shaking a few hands is going to change things. Thats not my point at all. My point is, that it is a start, and a small one at that. We have to start somewhere. Its not going to be easy, and may be it will not work. However, taking the approach that nothing will change, don't bother will get us nowhere. In fact, long-term, it may make things worse. Pretty much just says that, yeah, the extremists are right. I also do not believe that we've made the effort in the past. Sure, we've reached out from time to time, but then let things drop. That is a big part of why folks over there are somewhat unsure about us (the regular population, not the extremists). If we follow through, then I think we can change things. Its not just this administration that thinks so. Bush said the same thing "we need to win their hearts and minds". I agree with him on that. Shock and awe the extremists, win the hearts and minds of the rest of the population. It's a two pronged approached. You have to do both or you will not make any progress over there. The better we do the "hearts and minds", the less likely there is of future attacks. Will it stop all of them, no, but it will make them harder to pull off and much fewer of them.

Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
...
Andrew.... Those people aren't going to turn terrorist in they are to afraid to, it ain't gonna happen brother. And if they do they and all thier family will be dead in less than two days... Complete fantasy here....
Actually, I believe you'll find that some Iraqis have turned in terrorists. Got tired of Al Qaeda blowing up civilian targets in Iraq and started reporting stuff to US forces. In addition, Pakistan is going after Al Qaeda/Taliban pretty hard right now. They were turning a blind eye to them less than 6 months ago. Things change.

Again, I agree with you 100%, we will not change terrorists except to turn them into worm food. However, we can change the minds of the regular folks over there. I'm not suggesting that they'll want to stop by for tea and a group hug, but at least they'll see that we all are interested in peace. Hopefully that can happen sooner rather than later. If so, you'll be the first one to get a ride in the Ranger

Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
...And how did my post equate Bum Laden to all muslims, I must have missed that one all together...
Sorry, may be I missunderstood this post:

Quote Originally Posted by mhall View Post
Yea and just yesterday another tape on towell head television Bin Laden was just saying what an infidel dog he was and that America would pay for his continuence of the Bush policies.

Wake up people,,, smell the coffee for heaven's sake.
May be you can state it another way so I'll understand.

Andrew