HOW America can retalliate against whoever deemed responsible.. READ
Robertson has put forward proposal to invoke Article Five of NATO charter
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO members are discussing a draft document that would give military or logistical support to the U.S..
For the first time in the military alliance's history, the 19 member states are considering sending support of any kind to the U.S. in response to Tuesday's attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
The draft proposal would look to invoke NATO's self-defence charter, diplomatic sources and State Department officials told CNN.
The proposal, put forward by NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, would call for support of Article Five of the alliance's charter, which is the basic reason for NATO's existence.
It spells out the requirement that if one of NATO's members is attacked, all its allies would defend it.
One official put it this way: "A hit for one is a hit for all."
It is the first time that an attack has taken place on the soil of a NATO member during its 50-plus years of existence.
Previous NATO activity has been carried out on non-member territories, such as in the Balkans.
NATO would require the U.S. to give it details of who had been responsible for the attack before any retaliatory action was offered.
The U.S. would have to go back to NATO to ask for specific kinds of support, but officials say invoking Article Five would provide on an "expedited basis" use of air space by the allies and make other kinds of assistance available.
European Union foreign ministers joined NATO's secretary-general in issuing a draft statement prepared for a unique session on Wednesday, which expressed "the most profound disgust at the terrorist attacks."
Robertson said: "We stand together. We are two organisations with one voice, one strong voice, that we will not stand for this terrorism."
EU Commission President Romano Prodi said: "In the darkest days of European history America stood close by us and today we stand close by America."
Security had been visibly tightened at both EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
What this means is that in the UN charter, it will be "legal" for the US and any allies to go in and blow the sh!t out of whever did this.
Credit: CNN
Get those that did it, but please, spare the innocent.
I HAVE NEVER REALLY LIKES PRESIDENT BUSH I WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR AL GORE, BUT IN SEEING HOW HE IS HANDLING THIS I SEE THAT THE U.S. MADE THAT RIGHT DESCION IN ELECTING PRESIDENT BUSH. I ESCPECIALLY AGREE IN HIS STATMENT THAT THEY WOULD MAKE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THOUGHS WHO COMMITED THESE ACTS, AND THOUGHS WHO HARBOR THEM. I AGREE WITH THAT. GOD BLESS.
UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL
at 9/13/01 4:33:45 PM
The United States does not make it habit to attack the innocent and I highly doubt that they will in this situation. Attacking the innocent only makes us as terrible as those who've attacked us. Unfortunately, some civilians may die as a result of an attack, but I am sure they will not be the intended target.
I am for a powerful attack against the resources, military and government of a nation that supports terrorists or the terrorists organizations themself. I have to side with most in saying that they should pay for their latest actions. I am confident that President Bush and our government will do the right thing.
In the past the American government has been to lax when dealing with terrorists. Finally I think our goverment means war and it is about time we take action.
Eric
at 9/13/01 7:41:50 PM
I say strap anyone involved in the attacks or past attacks to a Tomohawk missle aimed at their point of orrigin!
received this email this evening... :)
An Open Letter To Terrorists
Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You
hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American
bodies, to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman,
you STILL missed America.
Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America
isn't about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about
military centers, America isn't about a place, America isn't even
about a bunch of bodies. America is about an IDEA. An idea, that
you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure
out how to, live for the most part, like you envisioned living, and
pursue happiness. (No guarantees that you'll reach it, but you can
sure try!)
Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist
Web Link Include a web link on your post, plealitany: “If you can not see my point, then feel my pain.� This
concept is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't
have to see your point. But you're free to have one. We don't
have to listen to your speech. But you're free to say one. Don't
know where you got the strange idea that everyone has to agree
with you. We don't agree with each other in this country, almost
as a matter of pride. We're a collection of guys that don't agree,
called States. We united our individual states to protect ourselves
from tyranny in the world. Another idea, we made up on the spot.
You CAN make it up as you go, when it's your country. If you're
free enough.
Yeah, we're fat, sloppy, easy-going goofs most of the time. That's an
unfortunate image to project to the world, but it comes from feeling
free and easy about the world you live in. It's unfortunate too,
because people start to forget that when you attack Americans, they
tend to fight like a cornered badger. The first we knew of the War
of 1812 was when England burned Washington D.C. to the
ground. Didn't turn out like England thought it was going to, and
it's not going to turn out like you think, either. Sorry, but you're
not the first bully on our shores, just the most recent.
No Marquis of Queensbury rules for Americans, either. We were
the FIRST and so far, the only country in the world to use nuclear
weapons in anger. Horrific idea, nowadays? News for you bucko, it
was back then too, but we used it anyway. Only had two of them
in the whole world and we used them both. Grandpa Jones worked
on the Manhattan Project. Told me once, that right up until they
threw the switch, the physicists were still arguing over whether
the Uranium alone would fission, or whether it would start a
fission chain reaction that would eat everything. But they threw
the switch anyway, because we had a War to win. Does this tell
you something about American Resolve?
So who just declared War on us? It would be nice to point to some real
estate, like the good old days. Unfortunately, we're probably at war
with random camps, in far-flung places – who think they're safe. Just
like the Barbary Pirates did, if I recall correctly. Better start
sleeping with one eye open.
There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this
country, looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, and looking for
freedom. Even if they misuse it. The Marielistas that Castro emptied
out of his prisons were overjoyed to find out how much freedom there
was. First thing they did when they hit our shores, was run out and
buy guns. The ones that didn't end up dead, ended up in prisons. It
was a big pain in the ass then (especially in south Florida), but
you're only the newest pain in the ass, not the first.
You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in
America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called.
And killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won't
change it. Most of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of
Spirit. Until we're crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes
an entirely different kind of Spirit.
Wait until you see what we do with that Spirit, this time.
Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming.
"Author Unknown"
I am not anti-war (although I disapprove of it in many scenarios), and I am not pro-terrorism.
Now that I've made that clear, what is there possibly left in Afghanistan to bomb. These people have NOTHING left. They have been overrun by a militant group frighteningly similar to the Nazis. Their rights have been taken away. Their bulidings have been destroyed. What is there to bring down in a military action?
What good will it do to get rid of Osama Bin Laden? That will only anger the terrorists. And what about Pakistan. There are militants in their country who could get access to nuclear weapons. What do we do then?
And what about our responsibility for these people? We sold them weapons. By giving them weapons, we put them in power. When is the U.S. going to live up to what we have done wrong?
I'm not saying these people have a right to do what they did. Murder is never right. However, most Americans don't understand why many countries in the middle east hate us.
It doesn't necesarily start with us. It's mostly Westernization and Globalization. For instance, in Iran around WWI, there was a Shah (whose name escapes me) who militantly took over the country. Then, during WWI, Britian used the country as an access point to the Soviet Union. The country of Iran was ravaged, and the people, in blantant racism, were mistreated by the British. This started the movement toward the backlash against the West. Going back to this Shah, he militantly took over the weakened country and tried to force Westernization on the people of Iran. While his intentions were good, his actions were not. He began to have those who didn't not follow him murdered. Thus, the movement against Westernization began.
We, the United States, are the epitome of Westernization. While it is a good thing for the most part, it has its drawbacks.
Most Americans have not taken the time to understand why these people hate us. If they did, maybe we wouldn't find ourselves in this strange position of "who do we retaliate against?"
What those people did was wrong on so many levels. They need to be brought to justice. They broke the law on American soil; therefore, they need to be dealt with under American law. Killing 7,000 people is punishable by death like trying to convert people to Christianity is in Afghanistan.
But putting signs up on your porch that say "God Bless America, Go Kill Those Bastards" does not even remotely make sense. The first commandment says "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Since when do people forgo that, suddenly become Jewish and start going by the Old Testament and turn around and say "But an eye for an eye!" Many people are simply fulfilling their sick desire to see people die. And that is just as wrong as the terrorist action.
We should not relataliate under the pretense of a "holy war." This is not a holy country. And this is exactly how Osama wants us to respond. He has been calling for a holy war for years, and all of a sudden, people are giving him what he wants. Those are his terms! If we fight under the name of a holy war, then killing becomes justified for him because it is done in the name of Allah. If we make this a crimes against humanity war (contradiction in terms, I know), then he is simply killing.
And one more thing in my rant. Another reason we should not allow religion to come into this military action is because religion is what got us into it in the first place. The Taliban promised these men that Allah was waiting in the Islamic version of heaven (I admit to my ignorance on what this is called). They were promised that there was nothing to live for on Earth and that they would recieve their reward in the after life. What a way to make someone no longer human! If you take away the humanity of the situation (how about, if you do this, you will die, and we can't guarantee you there will be anything once you die, but will you kill these people for us anyway?), then it makes it much easier to kill and be killed. These people were no longer humans, but shells of humans willing to do anything for an after life. How scary is that? Richard Dawkins said it best when he said "Promise a young man that death is not the end and he will willingly cause disaster." (see the guardian.co.uk and the title of the article is "Religion's misguided missiles")
How do we retaliate? We don't. We simply bring murderers to justice. And unfortunately, the only way to do that is to go in there ourselves and bring these people out with ground troops. Hopefully, governments around the world will have the capability to flush out people with connections to terrorism without discriminating against ethnic minorities (we see that isn't going well either).
Gracie (Sorry, this is something that I'm very concerned about being done right.)
