As I am typing this, I am watching a RAGING debate between two gals (one white, the other black) who keep referring to each other as "girlfriend" about whether or not Jesse Jackson should go to Afghanistan to try and broker a deal for the hostages, Bin Laden and his cohorts... Fair enough, it's a free country with freedom of speech.... HOWEVER, over on Fox, they are reporting that the Taliban NEVER invited Jesse Jackson over to negotiate anything!! Earlier this morning, I saw an "adjusted" report from Jackson's camp on Foxnews that stated he was contacted by "the families".. But that sure as heck isn't what he was saying yesterday... But anywho... I say send him. What do we really have to lose anyways? There is the old Chris Rock joke about Jesse Jackson negotiating with terrorists... "If you really wanna p*ss them off, give the hostages to me!" All they can do is tell him "no".... I do have to say that this is somehow familiar to what I've read following the assasination of Dr Martin Luther King in regards to Jesse's grandstanding for the media.. Last night on MSNBC, someone stated that King's widow accussed Jackson of smearing King's blood on himself and then heading straight for the news cameras.. What a piece of work this guy is..... Any takers?? Should we let him go?
Absolutely not, I agree 100% with Condoleeza on this one, the only end result would be to weaken our position and resolve. Two possible interim results: First, they tell him to screw off, which could be played off as a ploy by the Taliban to the world of Islam that the Bush administration has repented/reversed his decision but to save face sent Jackson. I could see this coming off very bad. Second, they release UBL. What do we do then? Will it still be 90% of the people agreeing to go in and dismantle the remaining parts of the terror network? Probably not, and we would be in a tough position in trying to stay united in a possible unpopular war. I say, keep him here, he has no interest in this except tv time. Of course, from what I read the last 2 or 3 times he went over were without the recommendation of the current administration...
Kes, Good points, especially about the "resolve" of the American peoplet an ObL capture... Instead of watching the media sit here and speculate about where our SpecOps are and what they are doing right now, I'd rather see the media do a better job of covering this story about the terrorists themselves. If I were a betting man, when this all comes out in the wash, ObL will be nothing more then the guy who facilitates funding and training to those involved. The "Cairo Dr" that you rarely see referred to by the American media with any detail is most likely the guy behind all of this. There is another man who is the "REAL" #1 terrorist on the planet whose name escapes me at the moment.. I believe he's in/from Lebanon... Recent rumors are that he underwent cosmetic surgery and the intelligence world has lost track of him. Those two IMHO are going to be the 'masterminds' behind all of this... I wouldn't be surprised to see the money trail lead back to both Iraq and Iran with Iran being party to these groups, but not knowing their full actions or intent in regards to these acts.. Many in the international media are shaking their heads at the Americans making the "boogeyman" out of ObL when in fact, (and this is quite scary) there are far more evil men that are most likely involved with this.. I think informing the American people of the truly evil MOFOs that are out there would strengthen their resolve to fight this battle...
Ahhhh I knew I'd find the name... He's Imad Mughniyeh... I found an article on Jane's that is pretty telling of what is "suspected" at this time in international circles... Before you read on, I would like to note something... How screwed up do you have to be in order to be referred to as the "psychopath" in this group of terrorists?!?!? They even go so far as to state that ObL is a schoolboy compared to him.. Anyways, enjoy the read: http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/fr/fr010919_1_n.shtml
Corey, What is more amazing than the fact that Jesse always shows up for Jesse but the fact that any news organization would waste their time with this guy and his track record. You wonder why the press is looked down upon all the time.
Corey, How could you tell that he was lieing? Were his lips moving again? ------------------ Tennessee Tom McCord Go Vols! '98 National Champions!!!<B> It's Football Time in Tennessee!!!</B> tbmccord@austin.rr.com
Tom, ROTFLMAO!! Did anyone catch the piece on Foxnews tonight? It was an absolute RIOT!! It was a bit of "behind the scenes" shot of the recent press conference with Ari Fliescher (sp?). One reporter stands up and starts in with the typical questions of 'Will we let Jesse go?' and all of the rhetoric that comes with it. Then an older reporter stands up and clearly states the position of the Taliban etc and wondered why Jackson was wasting the time of the SOS and wasn't meeting with the Atty General to discuss his finances The whole media area just exploded in laughter... I wish this guy would go away..I still think we should let him go though My stance on this issue is more based on comedy rather then actual policy but...... Couldn't you see the Taliban council leaders (after listening to two straight hours of Jesse Jackson talking NON STOP and making ZERO sense about anything) throwing down their headdress and yelling "just shut up and leave!! We will give you whatever we want.. just SHUT UP!!!"
Check out this Jesse Cartoon. http://www.gainesvillesun.com/EDITS/articles/jake.shtml --------------------------------------------- Gator Bill [This message has been edited by Gator Bill (edited 09-29-2001).]
Corey, We should definitely let Jackson go to negotiate with the Taliban. If we are lucky, they will keep him. If they were smart, they would send him back. If Jackson is such a disciple of King, this is what he should do. He should go to the West Bank and teach the Palestinians about King and lead a King type resistance against Israel. Of course, since he is not a desciple of King, this is impossible. Finally, freedom means that you have the right to be wrong. So when anyone comes up with ideas, regardless of how screwed up they are, it is an indicator that the American system is working.
Curtis, Agreed... The world would do better with a few more Kings and a lot more of others that sit in power..... BUT, sadly that is not how the world works... I don't think there's any way they could keep him though.. He'd just talk and talk and talk..............