Arguing over the definition is pointless. One man's insurgency is another's fight for freedom. One man's targeted attacks are another's indiscriminate murders. Bottom line is, there are muslims in china blowing stuff up for religious reasons.
Ummm.. No and No on both counts. "Muslims" are not blowing stuff up, Uighur separatists are. There are other Chinese Muslims, like the Hui (ethnic Hans) who have never been reported to engage in any violence at all and account for a large chunk of China's "Muslims". And 1 or 2 terrorist attacks don't make an entire historical community terrorists. Secondly, it is patently NOT for religious reasons. That's a bit like saying the Tibetan rioters were ransacking Chinese owned businesses in Lhasa for Buddhist reasons. The Uighurs are a different ethnic group that have historically never been ruled by the Chinese. They have a different language, race, and religion and want to have a separate homeland just like Tibetans. The fact that they happen to be Muslims is a secondary factor.
Try telling that to the people whose family members were killed during the troubles in Northern Ireland both on the UK mainland and in Europe, try telling that to the US familys that lost fathers and sons in Beirut when US Gov't installations were destroyed. I'm no fan of the US gov't or the UK gov't now or then, but I would hardly call them tyrannical.
Try telling that to the 250,000+ Iraqis who were murdered. Try telling that to the hundredes of wedding attendees killed by American bombs. Try telling that to the dozens of Afghan orphans bombed in their own orphanage. Try telling that to the people of Beirut whose city was ground to rubble by invading Israelis backed by American dollars and support. We can play this game forever, eh? Everybody thinks their a victim so don't bother with that tired terrorism line. No sympathy here. None.
Depends what you aspire to. Last time I checked, we were supposed to be the Democratic World™ and China was villified for violating human rights. Now you admire them? Perhaps Bush is on to something after all. How does killing some innocent people make up for the killing of other innocent people? It's a game best not played at all, because there are only losers.
hahaha. Every country has poor leaders at some point. @Nexxo, I cleaned up my original post because it was poorly explained. I in no way promote the restriction of human rights or freedoms. I in fact enlisted to fight for my people and my country not for my government or to go play in unlawful wars. The Armed Forces of the US has been given another black eye because of our poor leadership. As for a "Democratic world" that's going to have to happen from the inside out and even the most powerful nations can't change that.
I never said it is justified. I'm just replying to trying to guilt people into giving human sympathy over issues that are very dirty and political. There is nothing tragic about the bombing of American Marines in Lebanon or any attack on government facilities, especially if that said government is a partisan and participant in bloody and brutal civil war or occupation of foreign lands. Doesn't justify religious islamist terror, not for a second. But that doesn't mean I should be sympathetic to the other side either.
I disagree. The death of an American Marine is as tragic as the death of an Iraqi family man; or as the death of a Palestinian youth throwing rocks at an Iraeli tank, or an Israeli woman getting killed by a stray Hezbollah missile. It's all tragic. I think it is better to feel sympathetic towards both sides. A bit less cold hate or indifference and a bit more mutual empathy would go a long way in getting people to stop killing and start tolerating each other.
These apes ain't gonna go peacy anytime soon. That much you can count on. Only real hope for world peace is for that supercollider thingy to really tank and create a black hole and end it all.
@ spec, Yeah, but I'm going to pass on the next war. 2 years was enough for me. I lost to many friends and saw enough death to last awhile. Call me weak, I don't ****ing care even the most hardcore can't stand losing a friend. @ Hara, No crap the scientists are going to kill us before we kill each other.
Well, at least they got one thing right. Children shouldn't be forced into a belief system, religion should be a personal choice when you are of a sufficient age to make an informed decision. I find it sad that many children are effectively brainwashed at an early age to believe in the particular religion of their parents. This applies to all religions. However, I do feel that no administration should have the right to prevent adults from following their own beliefs, so long as that belief doesn't infringe in the rights of others.
Fixed. Thank you for serving, sir. And I truly hope that individuals will see that you served because you had to, not necessarily because you wanted to. And I hope none of them spit on you like some unfortunately did to troops coming home during the Vietnam "Conflict". I respect you for your service.