Tens of thousands demand Iraq withdrawal

[Logan13]

Terrorism works because the population gets fooled into thinking there exist is a realistisc risk.
In reality the risk is so miniscule that it is neglible compared to everyday risk like driving a car or walking over the street.
If people realised this then terrorism wouldnt work, there would be no terror.

How do you propose to win the war on terror? Like I said above, can you shoot faith or kill a idea?

So you are saying that terrorism is similar to "Global warming" than........

[Kärnfysikern]

It's kind of funny that you are telling the rest of the world not to fear terrorism, being from Sweden and all. I'll bet that you would have told us not to fear Hitler either pre-WW2, since your country sat that one out as well. Hitler was an idea, and we did kill him and his cause, even without Sweden's help................

As usual skimming around the question by trying to criticise where Im born. Whats next, you going to tell me Im only 22 and clueless?

Do you suggest going all out against the entire middle east, just like with germany and japan? Bomb them to the stoneage and then defanatisise the entire region?

Why shouldnt I be afraid of terrorists, afterall they hate our freedom

[Kärnfysikern]

So you are saying that terrorism is similar to "Global warming" than........

Well if you choose not to belive in the scientific consensus that is your problem.

I regard loosing 20% of world BNP a bigger risk to the world than a few towelhead with a bit of c4.

What has killed most, the big depression in the begining of the 20th century or al-qaida?

Terrorism can not even be compared to polution regardless if GW is happening or not. Tens of thousands of people die premature deaths each year in the EU because of polution.

[Logan13]

As usual skimming around the question by trying to criticise where Im born. Whats next, you going to tell me Im only 22 and clueless?

Do you suggest going all out against the entire middle east, just like with germany and japan? Bomb them to the stoneage and then defanatisise the entire region?

Why shouldnt I be afraid of terrorists, afterall they hate our freedom

Eveyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it is wrong.

[Logan13]

As usual skimming around the question by trying to criticise where Im born. Whats next, you going to tell me Im only 22 and clueless?

Do you suggest going all out against the entire middle east, just like with germany and japan? Bomb them to the stoneage and then defanatisise the entire region?

Why shouldnt I be afraid of terrorists, afterall they hate our freedom

Seriously Johan, would you take advise on how to stay warm during the bitter winter months in Sweden from someone who has lived in Florida their whole life, come on man?

[Logan13]

Tens of thousands demand Iraq withdrawal

By CALVIN WOODWARD and LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writers 30 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Convinced this is their moment, tens of thousands marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration linking military families, ordinary people and an icon of the Vietnam protest movement in a spirited call to get out of
Iraq.
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Celebrities, a half-dozen lawmakers and protesters from distant states rallied in the capital under a sunny sky, seizing an opportunity to press their cause with a Congress restive on the war and a country that has turned against the conflict.

Marching with them was Jane Fonda, in what she said was her first anti-war demonstration in 34 years.

"Silence is no longer an option," Fonda said to cheers from the stage on the National Mall. The actress once derided as "Hanoi Jane" by conservatives for her stance on Vietnam said she had held back from activism so as not to be a distraction for the Iraq anti-war movement, but needed to speak out now.

The rally on the Mall unfolded peacefully, although about 300 protesters tried to rush the Capitol, running up the grassy lawn to the front of the building. Police on motorcycles tried to stop them, scuffling with some and barricading entrances.

Protesters chanted "Our Congress" as their numbers grew and police faced off against them. Demonstrators later joined the masses marching from the Mall, halfway around Capitol Hill and back.

United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, had hoped 100,000 would come. Police, who no longer give official estimates, said privately the crowd was smaller than that.

At the rally, 12-year-old Moriah Arnold stood on her toes to reach the microphone and tell the crowd: "Now we know our leaders either lied to us or hid the truth. Because of our actions, the rest of the world sees us as a bully and a liar."

The sixth-grader from Harvard, Mass., organized a petition drive at her school against the war that has killed more than 3,000 U.S. service-members.

More Hollywood celebrities showed up at the demonstration than buttoned-down Washington typically sees in a month.

Actor Sean Penn said lawmakers will pay a price in the 2008 elections if they do not take firmer action than to pass a nonbinding resolution against the war, the course Congress is now taking.

"If they don't stand up and make a resolution as binding as the death toll, we're not going to be behind those politicians," he said. Actors Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins also spoke.

Fonda was a lightning rod in the Vietnam era for her outspoken opposition to that war and her advocacy from Hanoi at the height of that conflict. Sensitive to the old wounds, she made it a point to thank the active-duty service-members, veterans and Gold Star mothers who attended the rally.

She drew parallels to the Vietnam War, citing "blindness to realities on the ground, hubris ... thoughtlessness in our approach to rebuilding a country we've destroyed." But she noted that this time, veterans, soldiers and their families increasingly and vocally are against the Iraq war.

The
House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record), threatened to use congressional spending power to try to stop the war. "
George Bush has a habit of firing military leaders who tell him the Iraq war is failing," he said, looking out at the masses. "He can't fire you." Referring to Congress, the Michigan Democrat added: "He can't fire us.

"The founders of our country gave our Congress the power of the purse because they envisioned a scenario exactly like we find ourselves in today. Now only is it in our power, it is our obligation to stop Bush."

On the stage rested a coffin covered with a U.S. flag and a pair of military boots, symbolizing American war dead. On the Mall stood a large bin filled with tags bearing the names of Iraqis who have died.

A small contingent of active-duty service members attended the rally, wearing civilian clothes because military rules forbid them from protesting in uniform.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Tassi McKee, 26, an intelligence specialist at Fort Meade, Md., said she joined the Air Force because of patriotism, travel and money for college. "After we went to Iraq, I began to see through the lies," she said.

In the crowd, signs recalled the November elections that defeated the Republican congressional majority in part because of
President Bush's Iraq policy. "I voted for peace," one said.

"I've just gotten tired of seeing widows, tired of seeing dead Marines," said Vincent DiMezza, 32, wearing a dress Marine uniform from his years as a sergeant. A Marine aircraft mechanic from 1997 to 2002, he did not serve in Iraq or
Afghanistan.

About 40 people staged a counter-protest, including Army Cpl. Joshua Sparling, 25, who lost his leg to a bomb in Iraq.

He said the anti-war protesters, especially those who are veterans or who are on active duty, "need to remember the sacrifice we have made and what our fallen comrades would say if they are alive."

Bush reaffirmed his commitment to his planned troop increase in a phone conversation Saturday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The president was in Washington for the weekend. He is often is out of town during big protest days.

"He understands that Americans want to see a conclusion to the war in Iraq and the new strategy is designed to do just that," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Manning and Kasie Hunt contributed to this report.

Did anyone see O'Reilly Factor last night? His Talking Points were great! His producer went to this demonstration to ask sarandon, robbins, penn, and fonda questions. It is amazing how ignorant they are about the cause that they are driving against. Here's a link: http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of anti-Iraqi war people demonstrated in Washington, D.C. Not a huge showing, but a very intense, dedicated one.

The gathering was sponsored by a group called United for Peace and Justice, made up of primarily far left Americans, who believe the USA is doing a bad thing in Iraq.

Now many of the protesters say the Iraq war is illegal and immoral. Of course, they are absolutely wrong about the illegal part. After the first Gulf war, Saddam signed a cease-fire, which among other things, allowed the United Nations to inspect his military operations. Saddam violated that part of the cease-fire 17 times.

On the first violation, the USA and Britain had the legal authority to go in and remove him. As for the immoral part, here's what the far left is putting out there:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNSARA TAYLOR, ANTI-WAR ACTIVIST: A war of aggression is a war crime. If you haven't been attacked, you have no legitimate claim to self- defense, that it's preemptive, that's by Nuremberg standards a war crime. We should not commit war crimes. We should not be engaged in the illegal war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

All right, now Ms. Taylor believes that America has to be directly attacked to justify any military response. That is secular progressive, far left position.

This becomes problematic when a nation like Iran, whose president wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, violates the U.N. nuke treaty, for example, seeking nuclear weapons. But for the left actor Sean Penn, who consistently sides with America's enemies, that really isn't much of a problem at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PORTER BERRY, "FACTOR" PRODUCER: I'm talking about the Iranian nuclear program that the U.N. has told them to stop, but they haven't stopped their enrichment of uranium. And some are concerned that they might develop nuclear weapons. How do you think we could handle that kind of a situation?

SEAN PENN, ACTOR: By understanding that they're concerned that we've already developed nuclear weapons. And by talking to them having not defied the United Nations ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Now if I understand Mr. Penn correctly, and that is not an easy thing to do, he's saying that because the USA has nukes, Iran should be able to have them, or we should understand their quest. Incredible!

And then there's Jane Fonda, who is once again protesting a war. During the Vietnam conflict, Ms. Fonda actually rooted for the enemy to win. She did apologize, but has never really explained her thinking:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERRY: Ms. Fonda, we just wanted to follow up on the question about the people who died. And after people died in Vietnam, what about - what do you think might happen to the Iraqis? Are you concerned about what will happen to the Iraqis if we leave?

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: I'm concerned about what's happening to the Iraqis right now.

BERRY: What do you think about what happened to the three million Vietnamese and Cambodians who died after the U.S. troops left Vietnam?

FONDA: It's too bad that we caused it to happen by going in there in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

So according to Jane Fonda, America, we, caused the North Vietnamese to murder a million of their own people after the war was over and the Khmer Rouge two kill two million human beings in Cambodia after we left! We did that. Some force of nature somewhere.

Are you getting the picture here? You want more? Here's Susan Sarandon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERRY: One more question, Ms. Sarandon. Are you worried about civilian casualties in Iraq if the U.S. troops pull out of there?

SUSAN SARANDON: Do you know how many civilian casualties there's been already in Iraq? 650,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Six hundred fifty thousand? Well that's Susan Sarandon and the far left's number. The Brookings Institution, however, says about 59,000 Iraqi civilians were killed as of last July. The U.N. number is 150,000.

But it's clear, the war is a disaster for the Iraqis. That is certainly true. But "Talking Points" believes a cut and run strategy would be more disastrous and Iran would become an even greater threat.

Now the far left simply will not take that analysis into account. They dismiss it. Listen to Tim Robbins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERRY: Doesn't it maybe make the situation worse if we leave?

Yes, I think people are acknowledging that it's bad situation. But could it potentially get worse if we pull out of there?

TIM ROBBINS, ACTOR: No, I don't believe it can get worse than it is now. From what I hear from people that have been there, from the Iraq veterans that have come from there, they don't believe it can get worse if we leave.

BERRY: Even if Iran were to take over part of the country?

ROBBINS: Well, I don't know. You seem to have some kind of support for the war. You're pretty young guy. So maybe you should enlist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Ah, there you go, Tim. Nice answer to a legitimate question. Maybe he should enlist. Very intellectual, Tim. Very, very good. Thank you.

Fonda, Penn, Sarandon and Robbins sincerely believe the USA is a flawed country with a bad foreign policy. And they have that right to believe that.

But it's also the responsibility of the press to put these people and their movement into context, to ask them those questions. And you heard their answers. OK, we didn't cut their answers. You heard what they had to say.

Now I have a question for you: Do you believe removing Saddam Hussein was a war crime? Do you believe Iran should have nukes because we have them? Do you believe the USA should allow Iran to dominate the Persian Gulf and threaten Israel? Remember the war Hezbollah started last summer? Iran financed it.

The far left secular progressive movement wants to give peace a chance at the expense of our national security, ladies and gentlemen. They despise Ronald Reagan. They generally admire Fidel Castro. They hate President Bush more than Saddam. They call for unilateral action in Darfur, but not against fanatical Muslims.

Maybe you can figure all of this out, but these people frighten me. If America had intervened in Europe in 1938, millions of lives would have been saved.

If America had prevailed in Vietnam, millions of lives would have been saved.

If America had preemptively attacked Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, 3,000 Americans might be alive today.

I can cite many more examples, but clear thinking people get the point. Truth is that Fonda, Penn, Sarandon, Robbins and the rest are entitled to their opinions, but I believe their opinions put us all in grave danger.

I don't like the Iraq war. If we could go back in time, we don't do it. We pick another battlefield. But far left thinking is insane. And that was the reason not one big name elected politician showed up at that Washington rally. Not one.

And that's "The Memo."

[Kärnfysikern]

Seriously Johan, would you take advise on how to stay warm during the bitter winter months in Sweden from someone who has lived in Florida their whole life, come on man?

I dont se how that is a valid comparison?

In what way does say the avarage person in california have more personal experience with terrorism than I have?

The comparison would only be valid for those living in and around manhattan. neither of us(me and the cali dude) has personaly been anywhere close to a terrorist attack.

Eveyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it is wrong.

But what I realy want to know(in a completely non sarcastic way, totaly honest question) is how you think the war on terror will be won? Iraq didnt help it was to half assed. Going after Iran will be a disaster that will cripple any attempt of the moderates in Iran to bring reason to the goverment. It will also give radicals in west friendly countries like Egypt more power. I dont even want to think about pakistan.