Rumsfeld: September 11th was a blessing in disguise

[MarkG]

I met with the Sultan of Oman in a tent a month or two I suppose after the September 11th period. He said something that just struck me. He said, Mr. Secretary, I hate to even say this but it may be that September 11th was a blessing in disguise. I said why? In what way? He said because the weapons today are very dangerous and so powerful and can kill not 3,000 but 30,000 or 300,000 human beings. Maybe, just maybe, it will be the wakeup call for the world, that they will recognize that this new century [inaudible] and the difference in the threats we face today from the threats we faced before. And by having that attack people around the world will [initiate] a series of things that need to be done. The Muslim world needs to take back its religion -- it's been hijacked by a small minority. [Applause]

I guess all of us have to hope and pray that he was right, that in fact not just the people in our country but the people across the globe will register the difference and realize the circumstance they're in and think about things and be willing to face up to problems that have the ability to impose that kind of carnage on our world.

http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/...ecdef0024.html

my bold

[MarkG]

meanwhile

In meetings yesterday with senior officials in Moscow, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton told the Russian government that "we're going ahead," whether the council agrees or not, a senior administration official said. "The council's unity is at stake here."

A senior diplomat from another council member said his government had heard a similar message and was told not to anguish over whether to vote for war.

"You are not going to decide whether there is war in Iraq or not" the diplomat said U.S. officials told him. "That decision is ours, and we have already made it. It is already final. The only question now is whether the council will go along with it or not."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer

[Solly]

If the UN don't go along with the tabled resolution, they'll need to redefine "immediate". And they'll have ruined the UN.

Going the same way as the League of Nations. The UN veto shouldn't be in the hands of the weak.

[Jaguar]

Someone posted an article online that says that the Sultan of Oman said that Rumsfeld said that September 11th was a blessing in disguise.

[MarkG]

Someone posted an article online that says that the Sultan of Oman said that Rumsfeld said that September 11th was a blessing in disguise.

not really

[Jaguar]

Sorry, got confused.
The Sultan of Oman said it.

Rumsfeld says we should pray that we can find a silver lining to 9-11.

[Paul Hanson]

Yeah, I have to agree here. Rumsfeld didn't say that Sept. 11th was a good thing, only that he hopes we can find something good to come out of it.

The stuff in the second one doesn't surprise me at all.

[Robert Plomp]

The title is misleading.
Rumsfeld didn't say that.

[Urban Ranger]

"He said because the weapons today are very dangerous and so powerful and can kill not 3,000 but 30,000 or 300,000 human beings."

Not that many countries have these weapons - I don't think any terrorist organisation has any.

[MarkG]

Rumsfeld didn't say that.

that's what he was hoping you'd think....

[Zylka]

Hi Marky

[Lancer]

Ok, well maybe I said it, but there ya go.

[alva]

Originally posted by Boddington's
If the UN don't go along with the tabled resolution, they'll need to redefine "immediate". And they'll have ruined the UN.
Going the same way as the League of Nations. The UN veto shouldn't be in the hands of the weak.

And maybe we shouldn't let non-rich people vote....?

[MarkG]

And maybe we shouldn't let non-rich people vote....?

yeah, what do they know about properly spending the nation's money? if they werent that ignorant they wouldnt be in their position!

[Spiffor]

For Rumsfeld and likes, Sept. 11 just brought so many good things it is a heaven's gift. It completely changed Bush's stance from isolationism to active interventionism in the world, bolstered his military budget, gave him an international importance, allowed him to further his hawkish agenda despite the odds at the beginning of the term (tax-cut eager Bush wanted to isolate America in order to relieve the US of some military budget).

Sept. 11 has brought considerable amounts of support towards the US from abroad, so huge Bush needed a whole year to waste it . It also brought an extremme support to the president, which happened not to be the recession president, but the great protector of the American People and the free world.

The current administration, and the war department in particular, milked so much from Sept. 11, you bet it is a blessing for them. The glorious sacrifice of 3000 was not in vain, for they have helped Bush administration their country more than they could ever hope.

[Jac de Molay]

Dont forget the billions of dollars being allocated to help protect the American public from shadowy, amorphous Bad People creeping around our sports stadiums and shopping mall.

Perhaps the new terror warning system should incorporate Code Burnt Sienna, as in "were completely *******,"

[MarkG]

in other news, CNN has already found a title for the "show"


what does "showdown" exactly mean????

[JohnT]

From Britannica.com:

Main Entry: show·down
Pronunciation: 'shO-"daun
Function: noun
Date: 1884
1 : the placing of poker hands faceup on the table to determine the winner of a pot
2 : a decisive confrontation or contest

I highlighted the definition you need, Mark.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
"He said because the weapons today are very dangerous and so powerful and can kill not 3,000 but 30,000 or 300,000 human beings."

Not that many countries have these weapons - I don't think any terrorist organisation has any.

If Pakistan, for example, was subject to a fundamentalist revolt (far from an impossibility), how long do you think it would take? And what about ten years from now? Nuclear proliferation ain't a good thing.

[Arrian]

Rumsfeld is enough of a warmonger without you putting up threads with misleading titles to make him seem even worse, Mark.

-Arrian

[Bereta_Eder]

Takes guts and vision to help and not to bomb.

Rumsie is an arse of mindblowing magnitude.
But he does "his job". (i.e. kanei ti douleia tou )

IMHO.

[DinoDoc]

Was This Modern World down Mark?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Was This Modern World down Mark?

[ixnay]

[Sava]

I saw Gore Vidal on CNN Crossfire and he brought to light a number of "coincidences" between 9-11, planning for Iraq, the Patriot Act legislation (how it was written before 9-11), and the Bush ties to oil.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
If Pakistan, for example, was subject to a fundamentalist revolt (far from an impossibility), how long do you think it would take? And what about ten years from now? Nuclear proliferation ain't a good thing.

Certainly. I am wondering why Uncle Sam isn't forcing both India and Pakistan to destroy their nuclear weapons.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Certainly. I am wondering why Uncle Sam isn't forcing both India and Pakistan to destroy their nuclear weapons.

Because they're big enough to tell us to "suck it".

[MichaeltheGreat]

And Iraq isn't.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Sava
Because they're big enough to tell us to "suck it".

They aren't that big. The only problem is they need to do it at the same time, or neither one will budge.

[MichaeltheGreat]

They're big enough and well-armed enough that the US has no real leverage, since force would never be an option. All we could do is ask nicely.