Rumsfeld Fears Losing War on Extremism (lol!)

[Dover]

Rumsfeld Fears Losing War on Extremism

By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer

June 5, 2004, 10:40 AM EDT


SINGAPORE -- The United States and its allies are winning some battles in the terrorism war but may be losing the broader struggle against Islamic extremism that is terrorism's source, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Saturday.

The troubling unknown, he said, is whether the extremists -- whom he termed "zealots and despots" bent on destroying the global system of nation-states -- are turning out newly trained terrorists faster than the United States can capture or kill them.

It's quite clear to me that we do not have a coherent approach to this," Rumsfeld said at an international security conference.

..snip..


On Saturday he went further, saying that while terrorists must be confronted, the bigger problem is the extremist Islamic ideology that produces them.

"What you have is a civil war in that religion where a small minority are trying to hijack it," he said.



MORE

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-rumsfeld-terrorism,0,7283170.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines



LOL! But enough about you, Rummy..... :silly:

[Disandra]

1. Confused....

"What you have is a civil war in that religion where a small minority are trying to hijack it," he said.

I'm confused. Is he talking about Islamic fundamentalists or Christian fundamentalists?

Sometimes you monotheists really confuse the heck out of me. ;-)

[SquireJons]

2. Um.....

The is but one god; God is great

Allah Ak Bar!!! I mean, have you seen the size of his bank account (not to mention his, er... virility)?

Fundies are fundies, be they Hindu, Buddhists, Christians, Jews or Muslims. Here's one of my favorite quotes, from an eleventh century middle eastern philosopher:

"The Jews, Christians and Muslims all have it wrong. There are but two types of people in the world. Those with brains and no religion, and those with religion and no brains"

'nuff said...

[mulethree]

6. any / all ?

What are clerics? A small minority directing a majority through use of religious doctrines?

[stepnw1f]

3. This Is How The Insane Survive

They find counterparts like themselves and breed the same hate and paranoia.

It's sort of a call to arms of what some call evil. I just believe they are insane. The human race fights itself to survive as a whole. Sorta like we, the Phagocytes, recognize the the harmful guests and now we must rid them to keep our host alive.

[Peachhead22]

4. dammit!

That's the second irony meter I've broken this week.

[Triana]

5. Stunning Hypocrisy...

...if Rummy wants to stop 'zealots' and 'despots', he'd better start with a stark look in the mirror and at that extremist neo-con cabal he's working with.

Speaking of small, extremeist minorities hijaacking countries...I can hardly THINK of a better description for the bu$h regime.

[mulethree]

7. zealot - despot

Despot \Des"pot\, n. despo`ths master, lord, the second part of which is akin to
po`sis husband, and L. potens.]
1. A master; a lord; especially, an absolute or irresponsible
ruler or sovereign.

2. One who rules regardless of a constitution or laws; a
tyrant.

Zeal´ot Noun
1. Zealot - a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in
the first century who fought to the death against the
Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated
with the Romans

2. zealot - a fervent and even militant proponent of something

[charlyvi]

8. Is this "troubling unknown"

really a troubling unknown, or a known troubling unknown, or an unknown known troubling unknown, or a known unknown that is known by many unknowns or what? Scummy needs to clarify.

[doni_georgia]

16. I dunno. n/t

[dmr]

19. That's unknown, but troubling

You'd think after more than 20 years of experience these guys over at Bushco* have had in dealing (meddling) with the folks in the middle east, they'd have a grasp on the troubling knowns.

[Dover]

9. What Rummy means by "Insurgent"

From the article:

Rumsfeld: "In a question-and-answer session afterward, Rumsfeld praised Pakistan's government for trying to reform the school system there that turns out Islamic radicals. He also expressed a measure of frustration that too few countries see the depth of the danger.

"It worries me because if people talk about a global war on terror or a global insurgency or a struggle between people who want to destroy the state system and people who want to defend the state system, I don't see an effort going into that," Rumsfeld said.

____

Chris Floyd, in his latest article, Inside America's Animal House,
pointed out the significance of Rumsfeld's use of the word "insurgency" side by side with the word "terrorism".

...Rumsfeld also issued this stark warning to the world: the illegal invasion of Iraq is just "the beginning" of what is no longer merely a "war on terror" but is now an all-out death-struggle with what Rumsfeld called--in a major slip of the mask-- "global insurgency."

Note carefully the change in rhetoric--the change in target--from "terrorism" to "insurgency." An "insurgent" is someone who rises up within a given domain to resist or overthrow the ruling power. George Washington was an insurgent; so was Pol Pot. But a perceived "global insurgency" can only be aimed at a global power--one whose domain encompasses the entire planet. What Rumsfeld is clearly saying is that anyone anywhere who resists the world-spanning will of the American Empire will be subject to "the path of action." That's the blood-and-iron terminology that Bush himself used to describe his policies in the official "National Security Strategy" he issued--just months before killing more than 10,000 civilians in Iraq.

No doubt the definition of "global insurgent" will prove to be every bit as elastic as "terrorist," in a world where Iraqi prisoners--70-90 percent of them completely innocent, according to the Red Cross--were "Gitmo-ized," treated just like the dubiously accused terrorists in America's lawless Guantanamo concentration camp; a world where even U.S. citizens simply disappear into the maw of military custody, held without charges, indefinitely, on the president's express order. If America controls your country and you don't like it, then you're an insurgent. If you're an American who doesn't like to control other countries, then you're an insurgent too. And the war against you is "just beginning."

"Global insurgency. Crack the hell out of them. The path of action. Anything that flies on anything that moves." They should chisel these words on the Capital Dome, spraypaint them across the pristine walls of the White House walls, teach them in every classroom across the land--for this is the system, this is the true constitution of the National Security State, this is the authentic voice of the American Establishment, the great and the good, the best and brightest. This is what they do, what they've always done. From the Indians to the Iraqis, anyone who gets in the way of their power and privilege--individuals, tribes, whole nations--gets trampled, broken, ruined, slaughtered. "Anything that flies on anything that moves."


It's a great article. To read it in full go to :

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd06042004.html

[mom cat]

13. Thanks for the link. Rummy's slip of the mask says it all.

[salin]

10. Hey Rummy... when YOU (while in the private sector)

over saw (as a Board Member) the business transactions sending nuclear (energy - which waste is widely known to help with nuclear weapons production) equipment.

while you have been Sec Def someone close up to you gave key intelligcence information to a person KNOWN to be tight with the Iranian intelligence service who passes it on and blows up our the ability to know what the Iranian's are doing with their nuclear weapons.

Seems you have done a lot to help the extremists.

[Just Me]

20. He does not yet get that he, himself, is an extremist.

Death is his tool.

He is beyond reason or humanity.

He is "meaningless" and advances "meaninglessness".

May he, as he has lived, die in that meaningless hole he projects.

[cliss]

11. Thanks Donald for those words of wisdom.

Now here's my opinion:

1) You went to war without having a clear concept of what you were fighting? ("it's clear we do not have a coherent approach to this") You idiot.

2) You mention extremism. It takes one to know one, Donald. You represent the most extreme elements in the Pentagon today, waging war against abstract concepts and emotions (terror). You fool.

3) You talk about Islamist extremists "hijacking" a religion. Again, this is something you're familiar with and have used to your advantage. Think of your underling, Lt. Gen. Boykin who professes to speak for all Christians when he shows up in church, in military uniform and talks about "Infidels" and "Satanic Islam". You insane, extreme moron.

I promise I will throw a huge party for my neighborhood the day you are ousted. I'll call it the "Had enough Rum" party.

[acmavm]

12. Your second point is the first thing that leapt into my mind. Rummy

is an expert on extremist behavior. He as shown himself to be one of the most dangerous, loony, delusional extremist of this millenia. And his extremism is directly responsible for a lot of what has gone wrong with our country.

[gratuitous]

14. Unencumbered by self-awareness

Rumsfeld blathers on!

But apparently, the way to win the war against extremists is to kill more people who haven't done us any harm, so it'll be easier to identify the extremists. I.e., everyone who's left.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

17. Oh yeah, it worked so well in VietNam, right?

[goforit]

15. Well.....DUH!!!!.......Who would of thunk it!!!

And what are you gonna F@#$ing do now Rummy?

[dArKeR]

18. Rumsfeld seeks more Asian help

REUTERS , Singapore
Sunday, Jun 06, 2004,Page 5


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US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pressed Asia yesterday to become more engaged in the war on terror, pledging closer security ties and military support from Washington.

Speaking to Asian defence ministers meeting in the wealthy island state of Singapore, Rumsfeld stopped short of openly requesting specific commitments on troops for the war in Iraq, saying every nation must find its own level of support.

He denied that Washington was pressuring its Asian allies to support the coalition in Iraq despite widespread opposition from people in the street across the region.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/06/06/2003173937