Blog to America

7 Responses to “enigmatikmike from Malta - The Tiny Islander”

1. #  Tantor 3/11/2007 10:13 PM

   enigmatikmike: "Take the Iraq war. It's irrelevant whether the war was justified or not in the first place. What really irritates me is that your political leaders didn't even bother to plan it properly in the first place. As a result young American men and women are dying for a botched cause, in a botched war. And you let them. Just because your political leaders say so."
   
   Actually, the war against Iraq was very well planned. We took Iraq down in a matter of weeks. If you want to see a poorly planned war, take a look at the Iran-Iraq war. It dragged on for ten years with a million casualties without a clear result.
   
   The war went just as we had planned in the Kurdish north of Iraq, not quite so much in the Shiite south, and not so good in the Sunni center. However, even in the Sunni Triangle, the insurgents are taking a beating.
   
   Stopping Saddam from killing his own people, threatening his neighbors, and supporting terrorism is hardly a botched cause. It is a necessary and just cause. We're not in Iraq just on the whim of our political leaders but because we the people support the war as a necessary thing.
   
   We should be praised for taking on a difficult task that needed doing for the common good, not the idle carping of European do-nothings.
   
   enigmatikmike: "Or take the fact that as the world's most industrialised nation you should be the ones tearing down barriers to scientific research, and yet there you are denouncing science in the name of God, just because your religious leaders say so. In the name of God? Since when have we slipped back into the Middle Ages? Over 40% of your people claim not to believe in evolution. How can one not believe in a law of nature? I can deny the existence of gravity but I'll still fall down if I jump off a cliff. It is quite ironic to battle religious extremism on one end of the globe while fostering your own version at home."
   
   America remains the leader in scientific research despite your absurd argument that we are not. We lead in scientific research because of our devotion to freedom of speech. Part of freedom of speech is allowing people to hold wacky opinions at odds with the mainstream. Every now and then, those wacky ideas turn out to be right. Your idea that everyone should hold one "correct" view is why Malta does not lead the world in scientific progress.
   
   It ridiculous to equate the Christian fundamentalists of America to the Islamic radicals of the Middle East. Surely, the news has reached Malta that Islamic radicals are engaged in a worldwide war of terror that includes slamming jets into skyscrapers, train bombings, school shootings, beheadings, snuff videos, suicide bombings, etc. The worst offense of American Christian fundamentalists, by contrast, is to bore people to death. The difference between them is vast. Equating them is sophomoric nonsense.
   
   enigmatikmike: "It is quite sad that being anti-American is cool. It is quite unfitting that young Europeans should choose to associate themselves with Communism just to spite America (because if they knew what Communism really stood for they wouldn't embrace it so lovingly). Yet it doesn't make sense to ignore your natural allies and go it alone. You may have all the power, but Europe has the experience."
   
   Europe has learned the wrong lessons from its experience and lacks the will to defend itself. We can't wait for the Europeans to stir themselves to action when the world is on fire. Europe could not summon the will to shut down the death camps in the Balkans, its own back yard. They needed America to lead them to do the right thing.
   
   enigmatikmike: "You are in your early adulthood. Physically powerful, and full of testosterone, you consider your weaker elders to be just cowards who are fit for nothing. Yet that is the mistake a lot of young adults make, and come to regret later on. In a world where your enemies are increasing, it would make more sense to consult more with your true friends."
   
   This is a bogus analogy. Europeans are not our elders nor do they possess some accumulated wisdom. If anything, Europe has served as a generator of some of the worst ideas in human history: Communism, Socialism, Nazism. Europe does not serve as an inspiration of what to do but as a warning of what not to do. For example, nations should not be based on tribes and territory, like Europe, but on ideas of human liberty, like America.
   
   As far as friends go, we have been far better friends to Europe than Europe has been to us. My two great uncles fought in WWII to liberate Europe, both of them cheating death by a whisker. What has your family done for America? What has America earned by fighting for your freedom, financing your prosperity with the Marshall Plan, and allowing you to create unsustainable welfare states by taking up the burden of your defense? What we have gotten in return is ingratitude, contempt, and slander. Some friends. It's almost better to have real enemies than false friends like the Europeans.
   
   enigmatikmike: "And even accept criticism with a smile once in a while."
   
   To be an American is to be subject to a torrent of abuse by smug and ignorant Euro-weenies. Your arrogant demand that we take your abuse with a smile is beneath contempt. When you slander America out of ignorance, you can expect a smackdown. Take that with a smile.  

2. #  enigmatikmike 3/12/2007 12:47 PM

   tantor: Actually, the war against Iraq was very well planned. We took Iraq down in a matter of weeks. If you want to see a poorly planned war, take a look at the Iran-Iraq war.
   
   Funny, I thought you were going to mention the US occupation of Iraq as an example of a poorly planned war. I don't query the fact that the US invasion was a spectacular success (I never expected otherwise). Yet the peace-keeping aspect of it (that is, AFTER the actual war) is a hopeless disaster.
   
   tantor:We should be praised for taking on a difficult task that needed doing for the common good, not the idle carping of European do-nothings.
   
   That is quite a subjective opinion. Research from various US think-tanks shows that the world is less safe now than when Saddam was allowed to torture his own people.
   
   tantor: The worst offense of American Christian fundamentalists, by contrast, is to bore people to death.
   
   Holding back research in the world's leader in scientific research is an even worse offense you seem to forget.
   
   tantor: Your idea that everyone should hold one "correct" view is why Malta does not lead the world in scientific progress.
   
   That, and just maybe the fact that we are an insignificant rock floating in the Mediterranean Sea and not the world's only hyperpower. ;p
   
   tantor: Europe has learned the wrong lessons from its experience.
   
   Vietnam. Had you taken the experience of the French you would never have entered into that cul-de-sac. Yet the French are cheese eating surrender monkeys, right? What possible knowledge could be gained from them?
   
   Algeria. Once again the French. Winning over Arabs using brute power will not work out in the long term. The Arabs have a fiery temper and long memories. Should sound hauntingly familiar to American soldiers in Iraq.
   
   Afghanistan. The British AND the Russians. Ok, so you had to invade - you really had no choice here. Yet the experience of Russian troops in the mountainous areas should have forewarned you of what was to come.
   
   Or does America forget that Europeans have been engaging in wars world-wide since before America even existed?
   
   tantor: For example, nations should not be based on tribes and territory, like Europe, but on ideas of human liberty, like America.
   
   To summarise Europe as based on tribes and territory is a very very lax misinterpretation of thousands of years of history.
   
   tantor: We can't wait for the Europeans to stir themselves to action when the world is on fire.
   
   And yet you forget that it was America who chickened out of the Suez war, and whose meddling cost a great deal to both Britain and France. Had they succeeded in wresting control of the canal from Nasser we would maybe have a more favourable balance of power in the Middle East.
   
   tantor: It's almost better to have real enemies than false friends like the Europeans.
   
   Even your blinkered White House has realised that Unilateralism will not get America anywhere but to a bloody stalemate.
   
   tantor: When you slander America out of ignorance, you can expect a smackdown. Take that with a smile.
   
   And you seriously believe that?  

3. #  Anonymous 3/12/2007 1:43 PM

   Tantor just sits here all day and writes lies. The republican party should be paying him.  

4. #  shlemazl 3/17/2007 6:14 AM

   Some excellent points, but (in my view) wrong conclusions. Take research... Yes, the US does not spend on certain things that it should like stem-cell research. It still has most Nobel prize winners, the best universities, discovers most new drugs... Take any scientific area and guess who is in the lead?
   
   True, there is a civil war in Iraq and it's a terrible mess. Is America to blame though? Don't you think the responsibility is with shiite and sunni terrorists who murder innocent people? Sure, US politicians did not plan for that properly and for that they can be blamed. However the US is doing its best to help even sacrificing its own soldiers to help Iraqis rather than sitting on the sidelines and enjoying the US problems like some.
   
   The 40% anti-evolution number is just wrong. Perhaps you should visit the States.  

5. #  enigmatikmike 3/17/2007 7:36 AM

   I never said the US is not the leader in scientific R&D. Good for you. However, any impediment of research for purely faith-based reasons can in no way be justified. It's all potential scientific advancement thrown down the drain for no good reason.
   
   There's a difference in staying the course because you know that this will yield results, and staying the course because you can't admit you were wrong in the first place.
   
   The 40% number is taken from serious scientific research.
   http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060810-evolution.html
   with detailed results on
   http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/21329204.html  

6. #  Anonymous 3/17/2007 12:50 PM

   Tens of thousands of Americans will be marching through cities across the country tomorrow to protest the war. Approval ratings for the war are below 50%, I beleive. So although there are some who buy into the right-wing propaganda, the majority of us don't support the war, and are trying not to let Bush send more men and women to die.
   
   There are also thousands of soldiers who've gone AWOL, and many who've turned themselves in to face prison rather than fight a war they beleive unjust. Their experiences on the ground would seem to indicate that the US has played a significant role in the violence there. Sunnis and Shias have lived peacefully in Iraq for thousands of years - and yet the US has no responsibility for the conflict that didn't start until after the occupation? That's simply illogical.
   
   The Christian fundamentalists are a minority, enigmatikmike, albeit a dangerous one with political clout and a desire to limit personal freedoms. But they aren't America. Yet.  

7. #  leo 3/26/2007 6:46 PM

   enigmatikmike,
   
   Actualy, stem cell research is not impediment nor any other research.
   Government merely says (and I believe it is wrong) that it is not going to finance it. However, you can always use private capital.
   
   As to being young.
   You are right, US is young as country. But. It has encapsulated experience from all over the World. It has all the caltures you can imagine. So, is US realy that inexperienced?
   
   Yes, it is sad that being anti-American is cool. But fear non. It is just a trend, which will pass soon enough. We'll wait.  

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