In article , "Tim W" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
...
In article , "Tim W"
wrote:

A thought for you. Bin Laden and the terrorists who committed those awful
crimes can only have wanted one thing - to provoke a war.

Nonsense. Bin Laden's own public statements demonstrate a considerably
different objective.

The nonsense is your own. Bin Laden was concerned with Israel-Palestine and
with foreign (US) troops in Saudi Arabia. When Bush characterised 9/11 as an
attack on freedom he was just plain wrong. Bin Laden wanted to draw the US
into a Middle Eastern War which they could not win.

This is completely false. Bin Laden wanted the U.S. to get out of Saudi
Arabia, and stop supporting Israel.

The US government
owed it to every one of those innocent dead not to do what the terrorists
wanted. They have all been betrayed, bigtime.

To suggest that we "owe" it to our innocent dead to not retaliate, to fail to
avenge their deaths, and have "betrayed" them by doing so is, to put it
mildly, bizarre.

Revenge is not the business of a civilised government,

Defense of our citizens is a constitutional responsibility of the government
of the United States.

not least because of
the innocent suffering involved.

"The innocent suffering involved" is at the hands of the terrorists, not the
U.S.

Civilised governments recognise that
starting an unecessary war is the greatest of all war crimes.

*We* didn't start the war.

And besides
the US has conspicuously failed to bring to justice any of the perpetrators
of 9/11 because that idiot Bush decided he would invade Iraq instead.

Another demonstrably false statement, that shows you've been paying *no*
attention to the news. Hint: the name Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should ring a
bell.

Bin Laden himself has stated specifically that American
failure to respond forcefully to previous attacks -- under all three
administrations previous to the current one -- emboldened him to carry out the
one six years ago. It's worth noting that, in the wake of the vigorous
response that followed, there have been no further successful attacks on our
soil.

I have never heard that,

Just shows you haven't been paying attention.

but I don't see the relevance. What would be the
point of further attacks in the US when there are so many americans in Iraq
and Afganistan?

Shows (again) that you haven't been paying attention -- and also shows that
you have no understanding whatsoever of what terrorism is all about.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.