[funsec] Who needs terrorists? We can cause terror allbyourselves...

[Drsolly]

On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 Valdis.Kletnieks at vt.edu wrote:

> On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:26:44 EST, Larry Seltzer said:
> > >>One doesn't need to have personally lost a loved on in the war to ask why
> > we're over there without a formal declaration of war. 
> > 
> > I know you've asked this before. There was a congressional resolution
> > authorizing the use of force. It's the legal equivalent of a declaration of
> > war.
> 
> Exactly.  One president and 535 Congresscritters, all hiding behind weasel
> words like "the legal equivalent of..".
> 
> They don't have the collective cojones to pass a declaration of war, and then
> they're surprised at the lack of popular support for it.
> 
> FDR and the Congress were able to summon the cojones and pass an actual
> declaration of war.  And the country rallied.  We only lost 2,390.
> 
> Several decades later, we get embroiled in Vietnam without a formal declaration
> of war.  And the country fails to rally, and there are protests.
> 
> And now we lose 3,000+, and can't find the national resolve.  I wonder why.
 
Whatever the reason, I doubt if it's because your legislature didn't say 
"We declare war".

And, plainly, the USA isn't mobilised for war in the way they did in the 
1940s. War is *expensive*, in money as well as in blood, and you're trying 
to have a war and also have a consumption society. And you're not 
attacking the "enemy" in any economic way - you're pouring dollars into 
OPEC like never before, and guess which countries that means (hint, look 
at the nationalities of the 19 WTC attackers).

No.

In 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl, it was very clear that the enemy was 
the Empire of Japan.

But in 2001, when 19 people fly planes into buildings, there isn't a 
nation-state to fight against. And I can understand attacking Afghanistan, 
because they were harbouring the chief suspect in the case. But I do have 
trouble understanding the link between Iraq and the WTC attack, and maybe 
this link is likewise difficult to see for other people?

The US top government seems to be very close to the oil industry, and that
might be introducing a bias into US foreign (and war) policy.