Rumsfeld urges Asians to join US-led war on terror; pledges continued U.S.

[Judi Lynn]

Rumsfeld urges Asians to join US-led war on terror; pledges continued U.S. military presence

ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer
Friday, June 4, 2004


(06-04) 21:15 PDT SINGAPORE (AP) --

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged Asian nations Saturday to join the United States in taking the offensive against international terrorists, and he offered assurances that planned reductions in U.S. troop levels in Asia are not a sign of waning U.S. interest.

In a speech to an Asian security conference, dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue, Rumsfeld described the global war on terrorism as a battle against ideological extremism, and he said it had just begun.

"Because it cannot be appeased, it must be confronted on many fronts by all civil societies," he said.

The remark echoed comments he made Friday that any government hoping to "make a separate peace" with terrorists would be mistaken, just as were Europeans who had hoped to appease Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/06/04/international2125EDT0768.DTL

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From the article: "dubbed the Shangri-La Dialogue...."

Is THAT vile or NOT? "Shangri-La Dialogue?" "Dubbed" by whom? The half-witted Tom Delay Republican rioters who stopped the vote recount in Miami-Dade?

[teryang]

1. The analogy to WWII is absurd

I'm glad the nation's propagandists are so stupid. To compare the so called "war on terror" to WWII is so patently ridiculous it undermines American credibility every time it is made.

[whistle]

2. Why is Donald Rumsfeld not under arrest?

...This man has no credibility and he needs to follow George Tenet's example.

[chenGOD]

3. The Shangri-La dialogue...

Is actually the name given to the conference. It's in it's 3rd year now, and is held every year in Singapore. I don't know how they came up with the name, as Shangri-La is supposed to be somewhere in the Himalayas...

Ridiculous anyways, to give a defence conference that name.

[2Design]

4. they are out of the country what are they up to

With Bush and Rumsfeld out of the country....what are they up to....they are going around trying to 'strong arm' countries into being part of their gang...they remind me of the mafia....They are the biggest gangsters and ciminals ....

[cliss]

5. One of the many things I've learned here at the DU,

is that senseless wars have a tendency to spill over, to enlarge, to move across countries and pull them in, as well. When the VietNam war was reaching critical stages, it moved into other countries and threatened to increase the warfare exponentially.

This is the elusive nature of guerrilla warfare, which is what we've got in Iraq.

This is true particularly when you have a war of ideologies, like "the spread of communism", or "terror". When it's difficult to identify and put a label on your sworn enemy, the whole thing becomes more abstract and difficult to follow. "not all muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are muslims".

And of course, this is what the war planners want. They want to be able to embroil the entire world in the war of their making. Rumsfeld himself clearly states this: "because it cannot be appeased..." What he really means here is, "I cannot be appeased".

There is no rational end to this kind of warfare. The day will never come when we can say, "whew. We finally put an end to all that terrorism. Every last terrorist is now dead, and there are no more threats to free society".

It just won't happen.