[url]http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/741971/posts[/url]

Which brings us to September 11th. In those first moments, no one quite knew what was happening, and so the events themselves set
the tone. One plane hit, then another, then the Pentagon was smoking, the White House was evacuated, the towers crumbled, a plane
crashed in Pennsylvania, there were other flights missing, there were bomb scares ... For a few hours that Tuesday it felt like the Third
World War, and so commentators fell into war mode. And by the time the networks had shuttled Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters and the
other glamorous pain-feelers to the scene it was too late to revert to the banality of "healing" and "closure" and all the other guff of a
soft-focus grief wallow. It's very, very rare for the media to be caught so off-guard by an event that they lose control of their ability to
determine its meaning. Within minutes of JFK Jr's plane going down, for example, you know Dan Rather was dusting off his Camelot lyrics
and the producers were ordering up their "America's Son" and "America's Prince" graphics.

Healing our wounds is just what this country needs.  Maybe this can be a wake up call to end our hatefull/racist ways.  We need to be inclusive of other religions and races, we need to have compasion for our fellow man.  We must not rush to judge all of the Islamic world.  Islam is a peacefull religion, it is only misunderstood.  We need to try and help them out so they can see the follie of their ways, only then can we have true peace.

Bill C. [smoke]

Edited for content by the F.B.I.

I intend to light candles, like I did that night last year.  If I had the cash, I'd light as many candles as lives lost in those attacks.  

It's not to heal, it's to remember.  and to retrieve those feelings that I felt that night.

I'm going to hold my wife and baby daughter close.  

Once my daughter goes to bed, I will reload the stripper clips that I have expended over the last year.  I will clean and reload my magazines.  I will clean my rifles and pistols again, even they don't really need it.  Because THAT makes me feel better.

I AM pissed.  I WILL NOT forget. My candles are going to be on my front porch.  I want my neighbors to see them under this country's flag, the that has flown at my house 24/7 since I first became a homeowner (4 years ago). I want THEM to remember.  That is what the candles are for.  to remind my neighbors and those who drive by, that we have people to remember, and something to be angry about.

Rn45, you are angry, as are we all.  September 11 was a huge trajedy, but we musn't use it as an excuse to harm innocent peoples of other countries.  Are you a rationale man?  If so then you must know that only a very small perecent of Arabs are terrorists.  We must talk with them and understand them.  Then we can settle this like the dignified country that we are.

Bill C. [smoke]

Sarcasm is in the eye of the beholder.  I only want you and others to think about things.  There may be more than one way to resolve our problems.

Bill C. [smoke]

When we reduce ourselves to the level of our enemy, we become no better.  How many innocent Afghans died during our 'precision' missile attacks?  Diplomacy might better serve us in this instance, if only to keep our allies.  It would be wise to concentrate our efforts here at home instead of abroad.  It would also save American lives, of which I've always been cautious of spending.

Bill C. [smoke]

Edited to remove visable stains.

I am planning on concentrating my efforts here in America. Specifically, I will be designing new missles for our troops to kill terrorists with.

Mark 84: From America with love!

You gun owners, always with violence on your minds.  Is death all you can think about?  How is it going to help our country to spend billions of dollars in Afghanistan?  How is it going to help us to have American soldiers killed?  I thought you were upset about Americans being killed.  Do those in the military not catch your intrest?  Are thier lives not worth as much as yours?  I say let the violence, and the culture of violence end here.  Diplomacy here is a must, we can't expect them to respond to our violence with anything but violence of thier own.

Bill C. [smoke]

{yawn}

Does logic tire you?

Bill C. [smoke]

No.

Limp-wristed, touchy-feely, huggy-huggy claptrap does. Especially when it is being utilized to try to convince me that the wonton murder of 3,000 of my fellow citizens (at least one of whom I knew) is simply an inconvenience to be dealt with over a dry martini and a fine cigar.

Go troll somewhere else, you friggin' loser. Let real men do the fighting for you so you can continue to snivel and whine about how rightous you are without getting your panties dirty.

He sounds a lot like the real, draft dodging, cowardly, slick willie, doesn't he, Zaphod.

You ain't kidding....

And to think that scumbag was our imperious leader for eight years....

The way I see it, if America can survive that, it can survive anything.

Now if his gutter-whore bitch of a wife becomes president, then all bets are off....

Zaphod, your remarks are disturbing.  Do you then prefer violence to diplomacy?  Remember diplomacy won the cold war.  A lesson taught to us by a Republican President.  These are things to think about.

Bill C. [smoke]

There are times when diplomacy must end and wars must be fought. Too bad you were too busy getting a blowjob when knowing when might have made a difference...

I'm sure if Al Qaeda had cut down a redwood tree on 9/11, you and your ilk would have been screaming for bloody murder. But hey, they only killed 3,000 evil capitalists and baby killers, so they did good, right?

Here you go changing facts to fit the story.  I truly tire of having to straighten out extremists.  2,823 people are dead or missing since the attacks, not 3,000.  I like any American was deeply affected by this tragedy.  But who are we at war with?  What nation?  Are we now just looking for a fight?  Where does it end?  You claim to hold freedom dearest to your heart and yet you would rip it from the Afghans and Iraqis without a second thought.  Didn't God grant them the same rights as you and I?  Warmongering is never the answer.  We need now to show the world what freedom can due to endure this, what freedom will do to ensure that it will never happen again, and to show the world that we will not sink to the levels of these terrorists.

Bill C. [smoke]

Prehaps I am boring.  You should have seen me in the oval office, nothing was boring then.

Bill C. [smoke]

If you are some kind of sarcastic joker, this is getting old real fast. As least Imbroglio knows when to shut up and get serious.

If you are a liberal troll, the members of the board probably won't tolerare you for much longer. Enjoy it while it lasts...

Nevertheless, I'm feeling a little bored, so I think I'll tackle this one:

First, 3,000 was an approximation, a rounding off of the correct number. There is no need in this case to state the precise number of people killed, especially when we aren't completely sure.

We are at war with Osama Bin Ladin and his Al Queda terrorist group. They already started a fight. We are finishing it. Or would you have us do nothing at all, while they plot additional terrorist attacks?

We are not ripping freedom from the Afghans. The Taliban is (or rather was, thanks to our efforts). With our help, the Afghan people are more free now then they have been for many years. We will not rip freedom from the Iraqis. Sadaam is doing that. When we are through with Iraq, the citizens will be more free. If you are really in favor of freedom, why don't you criticize the people who are responsible for denying it: Sadaam and the Taliban.

"What freedom will do to ensure that it will never happen again"
How can you say this? What are you planning on doing? The only way to prevent this is to hunt down the terrorists where they live and kill them once and for all. If you aren't in favor of doing that, what do you want to do? Create more and more restrictions here in the US in a futile attempt to keep the terrorists from acting? You call this protecting freedom?

Hey Billy Jeff,

Go grab your rifle and fight and die to defend Israel!  

And I truly tire of having to listen to cowardly elitist snobs like yourself who are perfectly content to allow Americans to be slaughtered, but God forbid we strike back.



Hey dickhead, check your numbers:

Persons confirmed dead: 2,512
Persons reported dead: 297
Persons missing: 197
Total: 3,006

Source: [url]http://www.nando.net/special_reports/terrorism/impact/story/77860p-1085660c.html[/url]



Oh yeah. I can tell! It gave you a killer opportunity to show how just how much you hate the country that guarantees you the very freedoms you use to attack it.



With terrorists and all those who harbor, succor, support, and/or finance them.



When we have eradicated these vermin from the gene pool.



They gave up their rights when they supported the attacks against us. And I'll remind you that Afghanistan is free NOW, AFTER we went in and removed the Taliban.



Wonderful. There's this asshole running around the Middle East named Osama Bin Laden that you should speak to. Maybe he'll give you the time of day before skinning you alive and using your hide as a prayer rug.



Can "due"? You must be a product of public school...

Duh. What the hell do you think we've been doing? We've come together as a nation (except, of course, for America-bashing assholes like yourself), liberated a nation, fed the hungry (come now, Bill, I'm SURE you think THAT'S wonderful!) and managed to exterminate a couple thousand bad guys.

I guess you think that a few rounds of Cumbaya will convince Al Qaeda, Hussein, and all the rest of those maniacs to put down their weapons and start reading Shakespeare?

You libs are really pathetic. You would actually prefer to see Americans die and nothing be done about it than to see this nation defend itself with all the power and fury it can muster. No wonder every time you get a hold of our military you fuck it up. I know, because I was there when your draft-dodging coward of a namesake was in power, and saw him take the finest military in history and put it back ten years.

I'm through arguing with you. It is obvious that you are one of those sheep who will whine no matter what this nation does. As such, there is no point in continuing. Have a great weekend. I hope you enjoy the freedoms that so many others have died to give you. I only hope that you treat them with a little more respect than you've displayed here.


Edited to add: Hey, Mace! Sorry about stepping on you. Looks as if you and I were firing for effect at the same time and used the same ammo. Time on Target!

Actually I am in favor of having the terrorsits hunted down.  I just prefer to put diplomatic presure on the host countries instead of sending in American soldiers.  If we did this then we would not look like warmongers to the rest of the world.  Why do you think our allies won't support us?

Al-Queda is a terrorist group not a country.  They also have cells all over Europe, should we attack Europe as well?  What sets Iraq apart from Europe?

What freedom will we be giving the Afghans and Iraqis?  We toppled the Taliban which was a Islamic based government and replaced it with another Islamic based government.  Repression of the Afghans can't be far behind.  The same will apply to Iraq when the time comes.  

If we instead use the host countries to flush out the terrorists, we will be viewed as a peacable people, like we are.  If we go it alone we will be stretched very thin and more American lives will be lost.  I am only thinking of our best interests.

Bill C. [smoke]

Tell it to her family, asshole:

[url]http://www.ar15.com/members/albums/thebeekeeper1%2FBODYsmall%2Ejpg[/url]

Zaphod out. I have a family to get to...

I mourn for those we lost as well.  I was making a point that America may be stretched to thin, and viewed around the world to poorly to pull this off.  I believe diplomatic pressure could very well help the situation.  I was not trying to make this personal, or take anything away from the victims of this horrible tragedy.  I know you won't believe me, but I am human too.

Bill C. [smoke]

Are you sure you haven't been smoking some of that "Wacky Tobackey"? It must be supressing your memory. If you can remember about a year or 10 months or so back, Bush first demanded that the Taliban turn over Osama and all other Al Queda members. We only went to war with the Taliban when they failed to turn him over. Diplomacy was tried, and it failed miserably.

Our allies might not support us because they are a bunch of Eurotrash weenies who can't even execute a murderer, much less respond to mass murder of their own citizens. Even though citizens of almost all of the European countries were killed in the 9/11 attacks, Britan is the only other country willing to use military force.



I'll type this slowly so you can understand. European countries will cooperate and arrest terrorists. Iraq won't. That's why we're going in.

Or mabye you would prefer to convince them by giving them our money. That way, they can continue to oppress their citizens and develop NBC weapons to use against us while we are content with whatever terrorists they feel like giving up. And their citizens will still be deprived of the freedoms that you defend only when it supports your argument.



So all Islamic governments are the same? I thought you DemoRats were against prejudice. And now you agree that they are repressing their citizens, contradicting your nonsensical statement that OUR actions would "would rip {freeedom} from the Afghans and Iraqis without a second thought"



Your namesake is the one reponsible for stretching us thin. You dispand parts of our millitary and then claim that what's left isn't big enough to take on anything? What's your real agenda here?

This is a real slippery one we've got here. Can't even respond directly to anything, except a slight numerical discrepancy that has no effect on the argument. Just keeps spitting out the same idiotic views.

No problem Zaphod. We're fighting the same enemy here.

Diplomacy?  That's a laugh.  You engaged in pointless TV wars to take attention away from your frequent scandals.  Speaketh not of diplomacy.