Originally posted by Dan Nixon:
Originally posted by PDXSVT:

1) The perception IS the reality that counts when it (rightly or wrongly) leads to a new generation of extremists. Is it beyond your imagination that maybe, just maybe, GWB has pissed off moderate arabs/muslims, and that he has made recruiting of new militants by al queda-minded movements easier and more productive

2) So you think little of our old allies. GWB said to heck with them when he decided to invade. So why will GWB now try to cajole them into helping to pay to police GWB's mess in Iraq? (We don't want your approval of our policies, just your francs and marks to fund security after we're done playing cowboy.)





1) Perception IS reality....check. By the captured Al Queda's own words do you know the perception of the U.S. pre 9/11 and pre Bush? That we were cowards. That we were hit again and again and sent cruise missles to do our fighting. That we would run if faced in the desert man to man. Well we may have pissed off some muslims, but you see muslims do respect FORCE..even more than we do. It was not US who ran away in the deserts of Iraq or Mountains of Afganistans..where even the Soviets backed down.

And lets look a bit down the road. Sadam was indeed hated...nobody moarns him but a few Sunni/Bathists. And we have a chance to alter the perception of Americans. We (our soldiers) ARE brave in battle, we ARE rebuilding the country, we DID eliminate a murdering dictator, we DID eliminate 10 years of UN sanctions and a corrupt UN oil for food program, WE were NOT after the oil (hey....how much oil have we taken despite RECORD prices zip-nada-none), and we WILL leave the country in the hands of Iraqis. And we ARE good & decent people - a fact driven home by the individual solidiers risking there lives each day to help the citizens of Iraq. This change of perception will take time, we are reversing DECADES of anti-US propaganda from the Sadam controlled media. And past US actions were not the best in all honasty. But, we are moving foward not backwards and we will in the end be more respected in the Muslim world IMO.

2. Yeah, I think very little of France, Russia at least. They voted against us because they were going to lose billions in illeage/immoral dollars to support us - plain and simple. And guess what...I think they will help us. Why? Not because we kiss there asses like Kerry wants to. But because when we get to the bottom of the "oil for food scam", I think we will have so much evidence of the French & Russian duplicity/corruption that Bush will be able to apply a bit of, uhhumm...leverage. Or Cowboy Justice if you prefer. But, lets see how it plays out.



I Agree 100%!!!
Right on the money!