Looks like war. . .

[tennessee]

The US needs to stay the hell out of this. They've been fighting forever. There's nothing that we can do to help this situation.

Amen Jeana. We are already in the early days of a new WW, I believe.

 

[nanandjim]

...We should avoid confrontation with Iran (if we want to put a little gasoline in our tanks to go to the grocery store); and the people of Iran do not necessarily support their radical leader. But if they're bombed by Israel or the US, they'll begin to support that leader more.

I imagine we'll be putting pressure on Israel soon to stop while they're ahead.

Iran and Syria, terrorist havens, are behind this problem. Iran is going to be our #1 threat in the very near future. We need to watch them very closely because a worse proposition than us going to war with Iran is Iran having nuclear capacity to take us out. Iran hates America.

Americans need to realize the global threat of terrorists. Unfortunately, we need to continue to take a tough (and apparently vastly unpopular) stance if we wish to remain a viable and free nation in the future.

I believe that Canada is providing us with 2/3 of our nation's oil, at this point. I think that's what I read not too long ago.

We need to allow for more drilling here. We also need to continue to research and develop alternatives to oil and fuel.

The above is as always just my opinion.

 

[TisHerself]

Israel has to protect their borders, their regional interests. They are isolated; sitting ducks and always have been. Their troops were kidnapped, and we would have done the same thing if we were in that situation. Considering Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, considered as dangerous as Al Queda, it should have been disarmed years ago. From Israel's viewpoint, they have waited as long as they could.

Some think they are doing "overkill"; I don't know the situation that well. We, on the other hand, have global interests to protect. Our interests do not necessarily align completely with Israel's anymore, but we are still their "great friend", and I bet they do care what we think.

Israel thinks they are going to help Lebanon's government be stronger after eliminating Hezbollah's power. Syria could use a little "rattling of it's cage" also; and should have had it rattled a long time ago. IMO

This could be over in a few weeks; or it could lead to larger and more dangerous conflicts.

We should avoid confrontation with Iran (if we want to put a little gasoline in our tanks to go to the grocery store); and the people of Iran do not necessarily support their radical leader. But if they're bombed by Israel or the US, they'll begin to support that leader more.

I imagine we'll be putting pressure on Israel soon to stop while they're ahead.

I agree with everything you have said, except the part of us putting the pressure on Israel to stop while they are ahead. I really don't think anyone is in the position to put any presuure on Israel they have been continually pushed by Hezbollah and and Hamas for yrs. They have had enough, AND they have every right to defend themselves. Terrorism is not just an Israeli problem it is a world problem and sticking our heads in the sand will not make it go away.
Iran is not going to go away either it is a big problem and is going to have to be addressed sooner or later by the US and the rest of the world.

 

[Tom'sGirl]

‘I've never been this scared in my life,’ one tells MSNBC.com
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13862665/[/font]




[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Joanne Nucho thought she would be spending her summer in a safe Western-style city when she headed off to Beirut, Lebanon, to study Arabic as part of her doctoral program at UCLA. The city is hip and urban, with many comforts of home — there's even a McDonald's across the street from her school, American University in Beirut, and several Starbucks stores nearby.[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But suddenly she finds herself huddled in a college dormitory with 40 other Americans, trapped in the middle of an undeclared war and fearing for her life.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I've never been this scared in my life," she told MSNBC.com by phone Friday afternoon (the middle of the night in Beirut). "... Two hours ago I was curled up in a corner crying. The sound of the bombs are shaking me to the bones. My whole body is in trauma. ... As an American you never experience things like this. You see it on TV, but it's nothing like this."[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nucho, 27, is one of several hundred U.S. residents studying abroad this summer at the American University in Beirut, a school accredited in New York state that has about 7,000 students, most of them from Middle Eastern countries. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nucho is one of about 40 students in the summer Arabic language program, many of whom have been huddled in a university dormitory since fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas broke out Wednesday.[/font]

 

[TisHerself]

My son is scheduled to go to Iraq in October. Websleuthers is am scarred to death by all of this. Jeana, I am with you, let's stay out of their , we have enough on our plates and our troops spread to thin. I know my son's job is the Army and to do what is required to keep us safe, but this is just extremly hard on the families left back here. I still have to work and be productive as so many others do, and employers think we should "just put it in the back of your mind" while you are at work. Like any damn thing in my life is more important than the safety of my children.

I see there are many military families here, I pray for your loved ones as I ask you to pray for mine.

The *joke* about just wanting world peace, well y'all, That is all I want. I want World Peace.

Tammy

Tammy we offer prayers every morning for all Our Military especially ones serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. My prayers are with you also it is very difficult to have a loved one in the service right now. It is a very scary thing, and impossible to put in the back of your mind. Your son, has mine and my families gratitude.:blowkiss:

 

[Tom'sGirl]

I believe that Canada is providing us with 2/3 of our nation's oil, at this point. I think that's what I read not too long ago.

We need to allow for more drilling here. We also need to continue to research and develop alternatives to oil and fuel.The above is as always just my opinion.

Yep Nan, we get most from Canada, and secondly from Mexico.

May 2006 Import Highlights: Released on July 14, 2006
The top five exporting countries accounted for 70 percent of United States crude oil imports in May while the top ten sources accounted for approximately 88 percent of all U.S. crude oil imports. The top sources of US crude oil imports for May were Canada (1.877 million barrels per day), Mexico (1.576 million barrels per day), Saudi Arabia (1.457 million barrels per day), Venezuela (1.169 million barrels per day), and Nigeria (1.075 million barrels per day). The rest of the top ten sources, in order, were Iraq (0.666 million barrels per day), Angola (0.356 million barrels per day), Algeria (0.350 million barrels per day), Russia (0.255 million barrels per day), and Ecuador (0.239 million barrels per day). Total crude oil imports averaged 10.234 million barrels per day in May, which is an increase of 0.402 million barrels per day from April 2006.

Canada remained the largest exporter of total petroleum products in May, exporting 2.319 million barrels per day to the United States. The second largest exporter of total petroleum products was Mexico (1.710 million barrels per day) which had a slight decrease from last month of 0.040 million barrels per day.
​

 

[Marthatex]

I agree with everything you have said, except the part of us putting the pressure on Israel to stop while they are ahead. I really don't think anyone is in the position to put any presuure on Israel they have been continually pushed by Hezbollah and and Hamas for yrs. They have had enough, AND they have every right to defend themselves. Terrorism is not just an Israeli problem it is a world problem and sticking our heads in the sand will not make it go away.
Iran is not going to go away either it is a big problem and is going to have to be addressed sooner or later by the US and the rest of the world.

Well, you're right after listening to McCain tonight and others (North), it is other countries (Europe and moderate Middle Eastern countries) that need to put pressure on Hezbollah and Hamas. These armed terrorists are unacceptable, period. Even plenty of muslims within Lebanon and hopefully other places to not have sympathy toward Hezbollah.

Israel is doing them a favor.

But Syria is a problem joining in, and yes Iran is behind the whole thing. Iran is a serious problem and I wish we had not spent so much resources going into an occupation of Iraq.

But we can still do an air strike of Iran and knock out their nuclear facilities, and so can Israel. Israel may just end up being our vehicle, with our support. Nothing would surprise me at this point. And that crazy Iranian leader needs to kind of disappear. He's laffin about us being mired in Iraq and wants Israel "wiped off the map"; well he's a threat to those around him and his own people.

 

[Marthatex]

Iran and Syria, terrorist havens, are behind this problem. Iran is going to be our #1 threat in the very near future. We need to watch them very closely because a worse proposition than us going to war with Iran is Iran having nuclear capacity to take us out. Iran hates America.

Americans need to realize the global threat of terrorists. Unfortunately, we need to continue to take a tough (and apparently vastly unpopular) stance if we wish to remain a viable and free nation in the future.

I believe that Canada is providing us with 2/3 of our nation's oil, at this point. I think that's what I read not too long ago.

We need to allow for more drilling here. We also need to continue to research and develop alternatives to oil and fuel.

The above is as always just my opinion.

There is absolutely no way that Canada is providing us with 2/3 of our oil. If that were true, we'd be energy independent!

Canada is the top exporter, but the top 5 countries, including Saudi Arabia, provide 70% of our oil. The other 30% is provided by a myriad of other countries; ourselves included I suppose.

Canada is considered an energy giant for the future, and China is courting them royally.

 

[Details]

Yeah, it's war. Israel has problems, to be sure, and the nations around it are unfriendly, but they also bring a lot on themselves with overreactions and their history. I've got no problem with killing terrorists, but when they treat all arabs and palestinians as terrorists, and take actions that kill innocents, that needs to be something they are very, very careful with - and they haven't been.

This all started when the world decided to give away the Palestinian's land, then ignored what happened next. We wouldn't react well to that either. And while the situation is more complex than this - how would we react if there was a group of radical terrorists hiding out in America, attacking Mexico, and Mexico starts bombing our airports and suburbs trying to kill those terrorists and punish us for not catching all of them?

 

[hockeymom]

Yeah, it's war. Israel has problems, to be sure, and the nations around it are unfriendly, but they also bring a lot on themselves with overreactions and their history. I've got no problem with killing terrorists, but when they treat all arabs and palestinians as terrorists, and take actions that kill innocents, that needs to be something they are very, very careful with - and they haven't been.

This all started when the world decided to give away the Palestinian's land, then ignored what happened next. We wouldn't react well to that either. And while the situation is more complex than this - how would we react if there was a group of radical terrorists hiding out in America, attacking Mexico, and Mexico starts bombing our airports and suburbs trying to kill those terrorists and punish us for not catching all of them?

I don't think it would ever come to that . If the situation occurred we would have done everything in our power to help the Mexican gov't,not support the terrorists. The middle east does not want Isreal to exist,period,thus they harbor and support terrorists.
I do think that over the years,Isreal has made mistakes,but they have finally followed through on their end,and it still didn't matter. They were not the aggressor this time.
Whatever the case,the world is a scary place right now. When I was in school,in history,when we studied the big wars,the way they would present it was ,"steps to the Revolution,steps to WWI,etc". You would learn about what was happening that finally escalated into war. Whats going in the world now, reminds me of that,radical groups terrorising people,crazy dictators,Europe basically apathetic,not wanting to accept reality,and just appeasing these nuts,hoping they will go away. I am very scared for us right now.

 

[Cypros]

Yeah, it's war. Israel has problems, to be sure, and the nations around it are unfriendly, but they also bring a lot on themselves with overreactions and their history. I've got no problem with killing terrorists, but when they treat all arabs and palestinians as terrorists, and take actions that kill innocents, that needs to be something they are very, very careful with - and they haven't been.

This all started when the world decided to give away the Palestinian's land, then ignored what happened next. We wouldn't react well to that either. And while the situation is more complex than this - how would we react if there was a group of radical terrorists hiding out in America, attacking Mexico, and Mexico starts bombing our airports and suburbs trying to kill those terrorists and punish us for not catching all of them?

Good post, Details. My sentiments exactly!

 

[Marthatex]

I believe that Israel just moved out of the entire Gaza strip. Did the Palestinians react to that in any kind of productive way? No, they don't care what Israel does or what concessions Israel makes, they want it gone.

They elected Hamas, and they live by accepting money from countries who support their efforts against Israel. Do they have any real economy or inititiative at all to support themselves?

Israel is self-sufficient, Democratic, and has a culture that originally wanted peace. Have we forgotten all the suicide bombings, the deaths in Israel market places, malls, etc? over the past years?

I hate for Lebanon to be bombed too, especially Northern Lebanon. Nothing was ever done about Hezbollah so I guess Israel sees it as something that has to be done. As of last night their goal was to not kill civilians, but I guess we'll see how that goes.

 

[Marthatex]

I don't think it would ever come to that . If the situation occurred we would have done everything in our power to help the Mexican gov't,not support the terrorists. The middle east does not want Isreal to exist,period,thus they harbor and support terrorists.
I do think that over the years,Isreal has made mistakes,but they have finally followed through on their end,and it still didn't matter. They were not the aggressor this time.
Whatever the case,the world is a scary place right now. When I was in school,in history,when we studied the big wars,the way they would present it was ,"steps to the Revolution,steps to WWI,etc". You would learn about what was happening that finally escalated into war. Whats going in the world now, reminds me of that,radical groups terrorising people,crazy dictators,Europe basically apathetic,not wanting to accept reality,and just appeasing these nuts,hoping they will go away. I am very scared for us right now.

That's what I'm feeling, too. I think we should just airlift the Israelis to a new place - in Australia, or New Zealand; it might be easier than carrying on wars. Let them start anew; although they've made a beautiful country there.

They were moved from one hostile environment to another.

 

[nanandjim]

Yep Nan, we get most from Canada, and secondly from Mexico...

Thanks, Tom'sGirl. I thought that I had read that somewhere.

ETA: To be honest, my husband first told me that Canada was our largesat supplier. He does a lot of business in Canada. Then, I read it....not that I didn't believe him...

 

[nanandjim]

There is absolutely no way that Canada is providing us with 2/3 of our oil...

MT - Did you see the information that Tom'sGirl posted? Canada is indeed our largest supplier.

 

[nanandjim]

...I've got no problem with killing terrorists, but when they treat all arabs and palestinians as terrorists, and take actions that kill innocents, that needs to be something they are very, very careful with - and they haven't been...

Unfortunately, innocent people are always killed when there is war. Even when countries are being extremely careful, it's still going to happen.

 

[TisHerself]

Yeah, it's war. Israel has problems, to be sure, and the nations around it are unfriendly, but they also bring a lot on themselves with overreactions and their history. I've got no problem with killing terrorists, but when they treat all arabs and palestinians as terrorists, and take actions that kill innocents, that needs to be something they are very, very careful with - and they haven't been.

This all started when the world decided to give away the Palestinian's land, then ignored what happened next. We wouldn't react well to that either. And while the situation is more complex than this - how would we react if there was a group of radical terrorists hiding out in America, attacking Mexico, and Mexico starts bombing our airports and suburbs trying to kill those terrorists and punish us for not catching all of them?

This is not the problem right now, and continuing to lament about what has happened in the past is going to help nothing. Israel is/was not the agressor this time. Hezbollah/terrorism is a huge problem not only for them but for all world peace they are tied to Iran. You can go on and on about Israeli and Palistinian this and Israeli Palistinian that it makes no diifferance. We are way past that nonsense.

 

[nanandjim]

...We are way past that nonsense.

In addition, the Israelis have their own point of view concerning this supposed Palestinian land. The ones that I have spoken with do not see it as Details has posted.

 

[TisHerself]

I don't think it would ever come to that . If the situation occurred we would have done everything in our power to help the Mexican gov't,not support the terrorists. The middle east does not want Isreal to exist,period,thus they harbor and support terrorists.
I do think that over the years,Isreal has made mistakes,but they have finally followed through on their end,and it still didn't matter. They were not the aggressor this time.
Whatever the case,the world is a scary place right now. When I was in school,in history,when we studied the big wars,the way they would present it was ,"steps to the Revolution,steps to WWI,etc". You would learn about what was happening that finally escalated into war. Whats going in the world now, reminds me of that,radical groups terrorising people,crazy dictators,Europe basically apathetic,not wanting to accept reality,and just appeasing these nuts,hoping they will go away. I am very scared for us right now.

I totally agree with you it's like look the other way and it will all go away, it is not going to go away. And blaming it on everyone else it not going to make it go away either.
I am with you the world is a very scary place right now and even scarier because Europe and many others want to bury their heads in the sand. The Terrorists are NOT going away, Iran is NOT going away, the leader of Iran is a total wack job. He wants to annihilate Israel (with the help of Syria and whoever else) then move on from there.

 

[TisHerself]

In addition, the Israelis have their own point of view concerning this supposed Palestinian land. The ones that I have spoken with do not see it as Details has posted.

Oh are you ever right!!!!!!