tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post1986001662419524105..comments2023-12-31T03:18:37.403-06:00Comments on "E pur si muove!": How bin Laden WonLester Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-24191184890881894372011-05-14T13:15:33.241-05:002011-05-14T13:15:33.241-05:00And your point is... ?And your point is... ?Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-61598176157009894972011-05-14T12:30:31.937-05:002011-05-14T12:30:31.937-05:00Blah, blah, blah...Blah, blah, blah...DirkStarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798032040590840735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-30714654197818788542011-05-12T12:00:16.070-05:002011-05-12T12:00:16.070-05:00Actually, that was John Derbyshire's count and...Actually, that was John Derbyshire's count and not mine, but thanks for the additions.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-34240342873816709762011-05-12T11:44:53.880-05:002011-05-12T11:44:53.880-05:00Your count is also low when you have not included ...Your count is also low when you have not included the cost of treating and serving the large army of veterins, wounded and tramautized physically and mentally, emotionally and psychologicall, after the wars end, if they ever end, and the impact on the families left behind, many of them became disabled and have to rely on government support. Think the long term cost of all these.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-82141433973371674952011-05-11T21:55:25.158-05:002011-05-11T21:55:25.158-05:00Your count is too low. You neglected the 2000 US ...Your count is too low. You neglected the 2000 US contractors who were killed. The 44,000 soldiers wounded. The innocents among the (depending on who and how they estimate) 150,000 to 1,000,000 of "them" that we killed. You failed to mention the human cost of 3,000,000 refugees. And then the direct financial cost to the USA is $1.2 trillion and counting; the indirect cost is closer to $4 trillion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-53345254766802147192011-05-10T14:38:02.393-05:002011-05-10T14:38:02.393-05:00Sorry, there were two sentences that by virtue of ...Sorry, there were two sentences that by virtue of their juxtaposition gave the wrong impression as to what I meant. I meant that the war brought the recession on sooner, not that the election of John Kerry would have delayed it.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-41194801513214051362011-05-10T12:23:53.274-05:002011-05-10T12:23:53.274-05:00Sorry this is seriously off-topic, but I'm rea...Sorry this is seriously off-topic, but I'm really curious as to why you think Kerry would have delayed the recession?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-27006836014023163172011-05-09T13:23:04.532-05:002011-05-09T13:23:04.532-05:00My second question was not a joke. Given that his...My second question was not a joke. Given that his re-election as a wartime president was possible only because of a 2 percentage point win in Ohio, it seems entirely plausible, and perhaps probable, that George Bush would not have won in 2004. However perhaps debates about this are akin to debating about angels dancing on the heads of pins. <br /><br />While OBL claimed, in 2004, that his goal was to bankrupt America, That is an after-the-fact rationale. Once he had seen the US reaction, he took credit for it.<br /><br />What contemporaneous evidence suggests that OBL thought that his attack on 9/11 would lead to an invasion of Iraq or Afghanistan by the US? His previous attacks on US embassies did not result in invasions. Neither did the previous terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. OBL, who did not know that the attacks would result in the towers collapsing and the resulting carnage, was aiming for a disruption in world trade not a war. While he did evil and intended to do evil, it is giving him too much credit to suggest he understood how much the United States would invest in trying to catch him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-43088612239479157182011-05-09T12:23:02.907-05:002011-05-09T12:23:02.907-05:00So you think his short term goal was "I'l...So you think his short term goal was "I'll commit the most spectacular terrorist attack in the history of their country, and then their presence in the Middle East will decrease"? Come on, he was not that stupid. That was long term, not short term. And just wait, he will get that one, too. The very first thing I blurted out when I was told the attacks was that they, whoever they are, wanted to provoke us into doing something really unpopular and expensive. Which we did.<br /><br />Actually, we don't have to wonder what OBL's strategy was. He told an interviewer that it was to "bankrupt America." Well, hasn't he?<br /><br />As to your last question, if it wasn't a joke, if John Kerry had been elected, Obama still would not be president. More importantly, we would not have had the Great Recession (as soon). It would be a better America, and a better world.Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-43873960838770552772011-05-09T08:53:05.697-05:002011-05-09T08:53:05.697-05:00I suppose it depends on how one defines winning. ...I suppose it depends on how one defines winning. As I understand it, OBL's short range goal was to lessen American's involvment in the Middle East. The opposite of that has happened. His long range goal, was the restoration of the Caliphate. That goal seems unllikely to be met.<br /><br />When you say there is little doubt that President Obama would not be in office without 9/11 do you mean that George Bush would not have been re-elected without the war?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-89716991517227143982011-05-08T21:50:09.571-05:002011-05-08T21:50:09.571-05:00Oh, and Happy Mother's Day, Yan!Oh, and Happy Mother's Day, Yan!Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-73668648070583712592011-05-08T21:44:12.284-05:002011-05-08T21:44:12.284-05:00Yes, I think there's no doubt that if it were ...Yes, I think there's no doubt that if it were not for 9/11 and Bush's overreaction to it, Obama would not be president today. The damage OBL managed to do was literally incalculable. But he had a lot of help!Lester Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14746157071827337723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22657443.post-55244348375638365302011-05-08T20:48:47.179-05:002011-05-08T20:48:47.179-05:00"Our government had other ideas. We sent grea..."Our government had other ideas. We sent great armies into Afghanistan and Iraq" for their oil. I believed 911 provided some people at white house with the much-sought excuse to go after Iraq and control its oil, which has nothing to do with 911.<br /><br />The significance of 911 is the fact that it has initiated the irreversible downward movement for the country by getting the country deeper into the debt (deficit), giving little Bush a chance to be an undesirable man and making Obama a nice one in contrast, which enabled him to grab the white house, and Obama's attempt at redistribution of wealth, together with other bad economical factors... You can trace many things back to 911 and the unwise reactions to it.momwritenoreply@blogger.com