If there was no ..... in the Middle East, there would be no war and no anti-West terrorism.

Which means it's all about the oil, right? I'm amazed when people on this site say war is about religion. Its about oil and $$$.

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by Marky Mark on May 16th, 2011

Mark, sigh a lot of people are ignorant, sigh

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by Shunyata on May 16th, 2011

**sigh** lol! ;-D

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by Marky Mark on May 16th, 2011

If the Arabs laid down their arms today, there'd be peace in the Middle East tomorrow.
If Israel laid down their arms today, Israel would cease to exist tomorrow.

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by Hardcore Conservative on May 19th, 2011

That is beyond the scope of this question, to which I gave a perfectly sensible answer.

Had Britain and the United States not kowtowed to terrorists in the 1940s there would be no state of Israel, which was itself founded on terrorism, and a great deal of suffering would have been avoided.

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by Brian I on May 19th, 2011

I'm in complete disagreement.

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by Hardcore Conservative on May 20th, 2011

Of course you are, although I don't see how the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946 by Irgun (led by future Prime Minister Menachen Begin) and similar atrocities could be described as anything other than terrorism, and these terrorist atrocities were instrumental in the formation of the State of Israel.

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Palestine/Kingdavid.htm

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by Brian I on May 20th, 2011

The bombing was an attempt to throw off British rule, the same thing we Americans did 200 years before that. The Israelis were even nice enough to call (3 times) and warn the British beforehand, but they chose to ignore it.
Is it considered terrorism? Sure. Then again, some consider the American Revolution as terrorism.
Is that what got Isreal their own country? No.

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by Hardcore Conservative on May 23rd, 2011

I knew it - it's only terrorism if it's aimed at the good ole US of A.

That's obviously why the Provisional IRA when it was actively engaged in killing British servicemen and civilians could raise so much money in that country - the IRA weren't terrorists, they were romantic freedom fighters.

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by Brian I on May 23rd, 2011

I never said that, but keep trying.

The US lists 48 organizations of the Foreign Terrorist Organization list. Many don't direct action against the US.

http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_organizations

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by Hardcore Conservative on May 23rd, 2011

And exactly how does that respond to my claim that many Americans actively supported a terrorist organisation whose main target was an ally of the USA simply because they saw the cause as romantic?

I note in the list that you directed me to that there is a number of organisations that the British Government considers to be terrorist organisations that aren't considered as such by the US Government - including several Irish-based (both Republican and Loyalist) organisations.

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by Brian I on May 23rd, 2011

You claimed that it was only terrorism if it was aimed at the US. The list shows you that that is not the case.

And which terrorist organization are WE actively supporting? Are you implying that the state of Isreal is a terrorist organization because Begin was once in charge?

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by Hardcore Conservative on May 24th, 2011