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2004-05-09 Terror Networks

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Posted by Dan Darling 2004-05-09 1:42:02 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It's long past time to distribute information like this to the public but it's unfortunately still a political impossibility as any attempt to do so would be met with deafening cries of "Racism!" and "Biggotry!" from the left as it would necessarily have to deal with the tenets of Islam which give rise to groups like al Qaeda. I fear it's going to take an event of horrific proportion to galvanize public opinion to the point where an open discussion of the nature of the enemy is possible.

Posted by AzCat 2004-05-09 3:01:24 AM|| 2004-05-09 3:01:24 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Which is why I think there will be no horrific attack on the U.S.,in the short term. Why would al Qaeda help to galvanize public opinion like it did on 9-11? They won't.

No, they will let us devour each other politically. They are much more calculating than we know. We are the jackasses for failing to recognize this. We are in some deep crap. God bless GW and the troops.

Brien

Posted by Brien 2004-05-09 8:16:19 AM|| 2004-05-09 8:16:19 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Dan-
IIRC, back during WW2 they had these wonderful little information films that discussed the scope of the Axis threat as far as what the Allies were up against in fairly concise but accurate detail. Maybe it might be time to reintroduce the practice?

Those were the 'Why We Fight' series, directed by Frank Capra. They are masterpieces of propaganda (I do not mean that in the pejorative sense, but rather in the technical) that did an excellent job of showing the average American what we were up against.
Keep in mind though that the scripts for the first three films were rejected because of what Capra himself called 'Communist influence' - and Capra was no conservative, either. After those scripts were canned, Capra always met with subdued resistance from some writers and producers in making the films, and on several occasions he had to resort to reminders that there was a war on, and the Government could always take over production - and the studio.
And that would seem to me to be the problem here. Any attempt at a modern 'WWF' series would be met with horrified shock by modern Hollywood, which seems to consider Michael Moore as an utterly truthful and guileless crusader for right.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2004-05-09 6:48:06 PM|| 2004-05-09 6:48:06 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 His initial hesitation underscores the difficulties intelligence analysts face in monitoring a foe whose tactics constantly evolve within an ideological framework that is itself strategically flexible.

Such continual evolution and flexibility must be met with an overarching and inflexible set of responses. I've been doing my best to oultine potential candidates in both the Simulation Gives Glimpse of Nuke Terror and 'Our Enemy Is Not Terrorism' threads. Few people here (or anywhere else for that matter) have provided much in the way of effective alternative strategies. I am still wide-open to anything that can achieve these same results with less chaos.

As AzCat said:

I fear it's going to take an event of horrific proportion to galvanize public opinion to the point where an open discussion of the nature of the enemy is possible.

I don't "fear" this, I know it. Somehow, world leadership needs to be snapped wide awake regarding the pervasive and fatal toxin that global terror represents. If it requires an announcement by the United States that any further atrocities will result in unilateral retaliation against Islamic holy sites, so be it.

The clock is running out fast and the current set of tools being employed in our war on terror are woefully inadequate to the task (through no fault of our military). We are confronted with random and vicious brutality which demands a ruthless ferocity that many have not seen since the end of WWII. There is absolutely no logic in waiting until after an American or foreign city is entirely destroyed before asserting a policy of forceful and harsh countermeasures. We already have proof enough of what sort of harm is headed our way.

Posted by Zenster 2004-05-09 6:50:04 PM|| 2004-05-09 6:50:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Mike, great background...and you know who headed up Hollywood during WWII (as a member of the military), don't you?
Of course, future President Ronald Reagan.

Posted by Jen 2004-05-09 6:55:40 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com] 2004-05-09 6:55:40 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Zipperhead, how many times have you been told to cool your jets?
We are doing quite a lot to try and ensure that the IslamoNazis don't stage a successful NBC attack on this country with as vigorous a use as we can get from both Homeland Security and the Patriot Act.
At the same time, both our forces stationed overseas in the Middle East and in joint operations with Coalition member countries are working to interdict the enemy with NBC weapons abroad.
We don't know how many such attacks have already been aborted through good detective work and surveillance.
To suggest that the Bush ("Shrub" to you) Administration is really doing nothing about this, is just flat out wrong.

Posted by Jen 2004-05-09 7:05:05 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com] 2004-05-09 7:05:05 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 I think we should leave the middle east alone completely. Let the neighbouring tribes kill each other off, just like they did in Chechnia before the Russians whent in. Let them concentrate on self destruction instead of vowing revenge on the people who don't care about anything other then what CNN tells them.

Posted by Fem Fatalle 2004-05-09 7:05:19 PM|| 2004-05-09 7:05:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Dammit Zenster I said throw the pork chop to the right! The Right!

Posted by Fury 7 2004-05-09 7:16:09 PM|| 2004-05-09 7:16:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Miss Jen -
Thank you, Ma'am! Captain Reagan's training films were widely regarded as the most effective - not because of their information, but because surveys of the troops they were aimed at (especially pilots) said that Reagan was the most believable as a typical AMerican soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine.
He had the right touch even then.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2004-05-09 10:57:39 PM|| 2004-05-09 10:57:39 PM|| Front Page Top