Is there anyone here

[Ken'sPen]

Bush is leading in the polls because he has a message whether you agree with it or not.

mmmmmmmmm,
what is Bush's Message?

"Stay the course"?
despite not having really defined what "the course" is?

[Hoon]

Ken,

Did you know that 2003 brought the lowest number of international terrorist attacks since 1969?

That's called "winning the war on terror" no matter how much Ted Kennedy wishes us not to.

[Ken'sPen]

Hoon,
that number excludes
Iraq,
Iraq has become the international mecca for terrorists,

It's like when the black frats have spring break in Florida,
if you ignore the crime in florida then yes crime is down across the country.

[The Jays]

Patterns of Global Terrorism -2003
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
April 29, 2004

The Year in Review


There were 190 acts of international terrorism in 2003, a slight decrease from the 198 attacks that occurred in 2002, and a drop of 45 percent from the level in 2001 of 346 attacks. The figure in 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969.

A total of 307 persons were killed in the attacks of 2003, far fewer than the 725 killed during 2002. A total of 1,593 persons were wounded in the attacks that occurred in 2003, down from 2,013 persons wounded the year before.

In 2003, the highest number of attacks (70) and the highest casualty count (159 persons dead and 951 wounded) occurred in Asia.

There were 82 anti-US attacks in 2003, which is up slightly from the 77 attacks the previous year, and represents a 62-percent decrease from the 219 attacks recorded in 2001.

Thirty-five American citizens died in 15 international terrorist attacks in 2003:

Michael Rene Pouliot was killed on 21 January in Kuwait when a gunman fired at his vehicle that had halted at a stoplight.

Thomas Janis was murdered by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia terrorists on 13 February in Colombia. Mr. Janis was the pilot of a plane owned by Southern Command that crashed in the jungle. He and a Colombian army officer were wounded in the crash and shot when the terrorists discovered them. Three American passengers on the plane -- Keith Stansell, Marc D. Gonsalves, and Thomas R. Howes -- were kidnapped and are still being held hostage.

William Hyde was killed on 4 March in Davao, Philippines, when a bomb hidden in a backpack exploded in a crowded airline terminal. Twenty other persons died, and 146 were wounded.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) denies any connection to the suspected bomber who claimed he was an MILF member.

Abigail Elizabeth Litle was killed on 5 March when a suicide bomber boarded a bus in Haifa, Israel, and detonated an explosive device.

Rabbi Elnatan Eli Horowitz and his wife Debra Ruth Horowitz were killed on 7 March when a Palestinian gunman opened fire on them as they were eating dinner in the settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The deadliest anti-US attack occurred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 12 May when suicide bombers in boobytrapped cars filled with explosives drove into the Vinnell Jadewel and Al-Hamra housing compounds, killing nine US citizens. Killed at the Vinnell compound were: Obaidah Yusuf Abdullah, Todd Michael Blair, Jason Eric Bentley, James Lee Carpenter II, Herman Diaz, Alex Jackson, Quincy Lee Knox, and Clifford J. Lawson. Mohammed Atef Al Kayyaly was killed at the Al-Hamra compound.
Alan Beer and Bertin Joseph Tita were killed on 11 June in a bus bombing near Klal Center on Jaffa Road near Jerusalem.

Howard Craig Goldstein was killed in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Ofra on 20 June.

Fred Bryant, a civilian contractor, was killed on 5 August in Tikrit, Iraq, when his car ran over an improvised explosive device.

Three Americans were among the victims of a deadly truck bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad’s Canal Hotel on 19 August. They were Arthur Helton, Richard Hooper, and Martha Teas. UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello was also among the 23 fatalities.

Five Americans were killed in Jerusalem on 19 August when a suicide bomber riding on a bus detonated explosives attached to his body. They were Goldy Zarkowsky, Eli Zarkowsky, Mordechai Reinitz, Yessucher Dov Reinitz, and Tehilla Nathansen. Fifteen other persons were killed and 140 wounded in the attack.

Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter Naava Applebaum were killed on 9 September in a bombing at the Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem.

Three Americans were killed on 15 October in Gaza Strip as their US Embassy Tel Aviv motorcade was struck by an apparent roadside blast. They were John Branchizio, Mark T. Parson, and John Martin Linde, Jr. All three were security contractors.

Lt. Col. Charles H. Buehring was killed on 26 October in Baghdad during a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Al-Rasheed Hotel. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz was staying at the hotel at the time of the attack.

Two Americans, William Carlson and Christopher Glenn Mueller, were killed in an ambush by armed militants in Shkin, Afghanistan, on 27 October. Both were US Government contract workers.
Note

Most of the attacks that have occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom do not meet the longstanding US defi nition of international terrorism because they were directed at combatants, that is, US and Coalition forces on duty. Attacks against noncombatants, that is, civilians and military personnel who at the time of the incident were unarmed and/or not on duty, are judged as terrorist attacks.

[Ken'sPen]

Jays,
you are becoming Ikea,

what does that (the article) mean to you.......

[The Jays]

Do we have an indepedent think tank or review group report that can be compared to these issued by Powell's office? Does Powell simply lose all credibility because he is a member of this administration?

The bombing of unarmed citizens is a terrorist act. The bombing of armed military personell on duty is combat.

[Ken'sPen]

What also annoys me,
is when Hoon and other ditto heads say,
I would rather have our army fighting terrorists "over there"
than to fight them here in the states.

They think this is a conventional war,
like we are fighting the "The Country of Terrorism"
They don't realize that while some of them are trying to blow us up in Iraq,
others are putting bombs in Spanish Trains,
some are shooting STA missles in Africa,
and others are here plotting against us.

they want to see a world in black and white....
but it's all shades of gray.

[The Jays]

How do you fight terrorism, in your opinion?

[Ken'sPen]

I don't know,
I think you can't pretend that all terrorism is the same thing,
or that all terrorist groups have similar motivation, and similar cures.

Bin Laden, and Al Queda seem to be motivated to commit acts of terrorism because we had bases in Saudi Arabia,

My guess is that occupying Iraq and increasing our presence there will NOT quell the hate that inspires people to be willing to die, to strike at us.

I think you do it politically....
find out where they get their money,
where they get their supplies.
and seek to dry up those sources.

It requires our intel to be sterling with the world...
something our rush into Iraq has hurt.

Domestically Right wing nuts blow up abortion clinics,
how do you stop them?

Do we invade the Heartland states and create occupying forces?

[The Jays]

And Left Wing nuts bomb testing facilities.

Children bring guns to school and kill their classmates.

Spain pulls out of Iraq, on time, because of the bombing in Madrid. Does that quell insurgancy and slow terror?

[Ken'sPen]

Jays,
again, what is your point?

you seem to be supporting mine,

unless you think we should carpet bomb playgrounds to end school violence?

The Spanish vote was pretty much sealed before the train bombing.

[The Jays]

I AM SUPPORTING YOUR POINT. Unfortunatly, you have been looking on the board for right wing blood to smear across your chest because of your frustration at the current administration.

[Black Lazerus]

in reality the US and should be brought up under charges under the Geneva convention.

[diceisgod]

I don't support out-sourced terrorism.

[The Jays]

in reality the US and should be brought up under charges under the Geneva convention.

What are you trying to say? That America doesnt treat its prisoners right???

[GonzoStyle]

I love ramen noodle soup, its such a quick fix for lunch especially at work.

Like heaven in a cup.

[Keyser Soze]

soup nazi

[GonzoStyle]

Oranges, they go really well as a snack during the day, they are so yummy. Apples are good too, the macintosh ones own though.

[diceisgod]

I just ate some kind of Angus burger special at Burger King. That shit is awesome.

[Hoon]

I don't know,

This is the backbone of Ken's solutions.