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Home Front: Politix
(Great Speech!) Rudy Won the Night!
2004-08-31
Posted by:Mark Espinola

#5  TGA-German was the first foreign language I studied. I want to clarify that I am not attacking Germany, the country, or you personally. It seems simply that there is an ethical disagreement between our two countries-is satisfying threatening demands an appropriate deal between government and terrorist?

What you describe sounds like a business transaction, except the business is whether hostages will die. "What will you trade" is unpalatable in a few situations of human life, right? Munich was a long time ago (and thank you for sending me information on it-I was a bit too young to know it already) -but has Germany's approach changed?

You write that "we all had a steep learning curve". I agree-because the US is in the thick of it, we understand in a personal way what you mean.
Posted by: jules 2   2004-08-31 7:57:38 PM  

#4  Jeeps, TGA that was a long time ago. Is there any truth to the tale that the German Police force at the scene (airport) didn't have automatic weapons?
Posted by: Shipman   2004-08-31 6:42:11 PM  

#3  I have some issues with that speech. He makes it sound like the Germans released the Munich terrorists just like that. He fails to mention that they were exchanged to save the lives of the passengers of a hijacked Lufthansa plane. In 1972 terrorism was still a new phenonemon and many mistakes were made. This led to the creation of the GSG9 which managed to liberate the passengers of another hijacked Lufthansa plane in Mogadisho (Somalia) without killing a single hostage. Germany took a hard stance and refused to negotiate with RAF terrorists ever since. Sorry Rudy, this was a cheap shot at us.
Especially because you happened to forget something: What did Reagan do in Lebanon 1982, after over 200 marines were slaughtered there?
Not to bash anyone, but we all had a steep learning curve when dealing with terrorists.
Even Israel has released Hizbollah terrorists to recover the remains of (dead) pilots. Appeasement? Hardly.
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-08-31 4:36:41 PM  

#2  From Rush, just now 9:10 PDT -

Giuliani dissected Kerry as though he was a frog in a junior-high chemistry class.
Posted by: BigEd   2004-08-31 12:13:12 PM  

#1  Rudi is the man! He covered exactly what needed to be covered:

The long-term pattern of appeasement by our European “allies”: …The attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics was in 1972…the three surviving terrorists were arrested and within two months released by the German government…so terrorists learned they could intimidate the world community and too often the response, particularly in Europe, was "accommodation, appeasement and compromise…terrorist acts became a ticket to the international bargaining table.
Scapegoating in the Middle East: The hatred and anger in the Middle East arises from the lack of accountable governments...rather than trying to grant more freedom, create more income, improve education and basic health care, these governments deflect their own failures by pointing to America and Israel and other external scapegoats…but blaming these scapegoats does not improve the life of a single person in the Arab world.
Principled leadership: Some call it stubbornness…I call it principled leadership. President Bush has the courage of his convictions.
Kerry’s inability to use military force, even in obvious situations: When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, John Kerry voted against the Persian Gulf War…

Last night was a thing of beauty!
Posted by: jules 187   2004-08-31 10:02:47 AM  

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