WWIII, a history lesson Options

[sandkind]

Okay, it is time for us to wake up and realize we are currently in the midst of WWIII. Visionary Hillaire Belloc foretold it in 1938, "...probable that there would be a resurrection of Islam and that our sons or our grandsons would see the renewal of that tremendous struggle between the Christian culture and what has been for more than a thousand years its greatest opponent."

In 1979, due in large part to the Carter Administration, Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile in France and took power in Iran with 2 objectives. The preamble of the new Iranian Constitution stated that the nation's armed forces "will be responsible not only safeguarding our
borders, but also for accomplishing an ideological mission, that is Jihad for the sake of God, as well as for struggling to open the war for the sovereignty of the Word of God throughout the world." Then only six months later, Khomeini told other governments, "that Islam cannot be defeated. Islam will be victorious in all the countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of the Koran will prevail over the world." If not a declaration of war, what is?

Thousands then came to Iran for military training, massive financial support, and political assistance.

In 1983 Hezbollah was responsible for truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and a U.S. Marines barracks, killing 241 Marines. In 1984, they bombed a U.S. Embassy annex killing 24 and also kidnapped and killed CIA Station Cheif William Buckley.

In a 1985 declaration Hezbollah proclaimed "We view the Iranian regime as the vanguard and a new nucleus of the leading Islamic State in the world. We abide by orders of one single and wise and just leadership, represented by 'Wali Faqih' and personified by Khomeini."

In 1993 Iran's Military Intelligence organized a meeting of extremist leaders in Tehran, planning global "Islamic revolutionary action." Iranian leadership pledged a half billion dollars for insurgency operations worldwide.

According to the 9/11 Commission, Iran and al Qaeda forged an informal accord in late 1991 or 1992 under which al-Qaeda mujahideen traveled first to Iran and then to Lebanon's Beka'a Valley to receive explosives training. Cooperation between Iran and al Qaeda has continued unabated. They are simply two arms of Iran's world Jihad. Iran has been active in Croatia, training the Bosnian army. In Latin America, Hezbollah is heavily involved in the drug trade in the Tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and has formed cells in Columbia and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. Chavez has been a frequent visitor to Tehran. There is not a part of the world where Hezbollah's tentacles haven't spread, including the U.S. The point of all of this is that Iran has not only declared a Jihad - a world war against the West - but has been the principal player behind the scenes in every battle in the war, from Iraq to Lebanon and Gaza. We make a serious mistake when we fail to recognize that the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Lebanon are merely part of a worldwide war. We cannot prevail in any of these conflicts as long as we insist on treating them as isolated incidents. We are engaged in combat with a well financed, determined enemy with forces in every corner of the globe that
will not cease their attacks until we drive them off the face of the earth.

In Iraq, a senior member of Muqtada al-Sadr's Iraqi Shi'ite militia, the so-called Mahdi Army, gave the game away when he said the group is forming a squadron of up to 1,500 elite fighters to go to Lebanon and join forces with Hezbollah. The fact is that al-Sadr's Iraqi Shi'ite militia is
supported by Iran and is actively fomenting a civil war between the Shia and the Sunnis that could wreck U.S. hopes for a free and peaceful Iraq.

The war in Lebanon is a conflict between Israel and Iran - Hezbollah is nothing less than Iran's across-the-border armed force. With the West ignoring the nature of the Lebanon struggle with Iran's proxy, Hezbollah acting in Tehran's behalf and under Tehran's orders, is it any wonder that Israel and the rest of the Western world were shocked at the sophistication of Hezbollah's armament paid for and supplied by Tehran. This is no rag-tag bunch of thugs -this is a superbly equipped and well-trained army, and they are everywhere. Israel's attempt to defend itself by attacking the infrastructure of Lebanon and killing Lebanese civilians in the process has been used by Iran's propaganda machine to infuriate much of the Moslem world, adding millions of Moslems to those already seeking the triumph of Islam and enlisting in the war against the West.

Should Israel cease to exist, and were the U.S. to pull out of Iraq in the face of a civil war, the world war would not end. It will go on until either the West defeats it or it defeats the West

[Tabucky]

sad, sad, sad. again, study your history and you will see why the U.S. was in the Phillipines and the terrorist attacks were not representative of the people, only the extremists. Pershing took the fight to those that attacked them unprovoked. what you fail to consider when you speak of the A-bombs is the MILLIONS of lives that were saved by avoiding an Allied invasion of the Japanese islands.

and your trivializing the attacks on the twin towers shows how ignorant you really are. FFS its really a good thing most Aussies didn't think your way back then or you'd be studying Japanese culture right now. But I guess you have a whitewashed version of that also.

Dude, you're an idiot. You just ignored Wambangalang's entire point about the Philippines. How would you like it if a Muslim nation had a military base in the US? Surely a nice group of American bigots would be upset enough to take things into their own hands, organize, and attack such a base. People like you never think about the other side of a story...This goes for the Israel-Palestine issue, too. Just put yourself in the position of someone other than a white, middle-class American for once. I think everyone, liberals and conservatives alike, would benefit from actually considering and hearing out different sides of a story.

[sandkind]

Dude, you're an idiot. You just ignored Wambangalang's entire point about the Philippines. How would you like it if a Muslim nation had a military base in the US? Surely a nice group of American bigots would be upset enough to take things into their own hands, organize, and attack such a base. People like you never think about the other side of a story...This goes for the Israel-Palestine issue, too. Just put yourself in the position of someone other than a white, middle-class American for once. I think everyone, liberals and conservatives alike, would benefit from actually considering and hearing out different sides of a story.

Oh yeah, I am aware of the Israeli-Palestinian issue...I know how Israel came into possession of the West Bank after being attacked for no reason by several Arab countries. Again, I concur with U.S. policy to support the ONLY democratic society in the middle east. I do not agree with everything the U.S. does and do believe our relationship with Saudi Arabia will bite us in the ass.

See, I back up what I believe in with real reasons, not just rhetoric. I have yet to hear solid reasons for his point of view. And I sure as hell do not trivialize dropping A-bombs on Japan, but it was probably the best way to bring the war to a close with the least amount of casualties. An invasion of the Japanese islands would have resulted in many more deaths for BOTH countries and prolonged the war. Not to mention the technology in aircraft they had almost completely finished developing that we didn't EVEN know about. Had the war lasted only a few months longer, they would have had a far superior air force with long range bombers that would have made Australia their first target.

If you as an American believe the attack on the twin towers can be justified in any manner, YOU my friend are the IDIOT!

[GvB]

And I sure as hell do not trivialize dropping A-bombs on Japan, but it was probably the best way to bring the war to a close with the least amount of casualties.

An A-bomb to end a war with the LEAST casualties, yeah right.
But okay, it ended, but don't see how.

But okay, the Japanese government sucked too.

GvB.

[sandkind]

An A-bomb to end a war with the LEAST casualties, yeah right.
But okay, it ended, but don't see how.

But okay, the Japanese government sucked too.

GvB.

Do not take my word, do a little research and you will find the Japanese are/were fierce warriors. They absolutely would not surrender under conventional means, and they did not believe in taking prisoners in general. A full Allied invasion would have been extremely bloody and taken a very long time. It would have also given them the time needed to complete the aeronautical projects they were working on, and their improved air power would have swung momentum back their way. Look at the extremes they started taking near the end of the war with the kamikazes. The bombings were a desparate measure to end it. I agree that it was an extremely sad way to end the war and actually empathize with the survivors and feel for those who lost their lives.

I wish that the world was a peaceful place and that everyone had the liberties so often taken for granted by the free world. I cannot imagine living in a country where I could be prosecuted for speaking my opinions. I do not believe anyone should have to live under the rule of tyranny. I simply am a realist and do not believe the world is even close to that state.