Should the U.S. pursue truce discussions with Osama bin Laden?

[rodeodance]

i say yes---

Should the U.S. pursue truce discussions with Osama bin Laden?
Yes
31%
No
69%

Total Votes: 369

http://capitalnews.org/

[marmar]

1. That's assuming a lot...

including that the video tape was not pure kafka.

[rodeodance]

2. there is some discussion at the DU thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2053981#2054178

[MakeItSo]

5. I'd say definitely not, but....

you can't bargain with a dead man anyway.

The CIA put out all sorts of misinformation about Iraq. No one to my knowledge from the CIA has been fired for this, so the incompetents and/or corrupted CIA officials who are responsible for that misinformation are still working for the CIA, and their superiors are apparently all right with that.

Why on earth would anyone take anything the CIA says at face value? That includes analysis of alleged OBL audio tapes.

[Matt Jordan]

4. And besides...

...everybody knows we don't negotiate with terrorists.







You know, except for when we do.

Matt

[rodeodance]

9. yes, many have fallen into the Cheney trap.

[kentuck]

3. Very bad politics and diplomacy...

to dismiss the opportunity for a truce. We lose if we dismiss it so lightly, even rhetorically.

[rudy23]

8. Truce? Are you serious?

This is exactly what the Repubs want. This tape was a trap to get liberals to give OBL legitimacy, and see who would take him up on a truce. Do you think he would honor that truce? I can't believe what I'm hearing.

[rodeodance]

10. Cheney dismissed it as hogwash--and people bowed to his wishes.

[minyks]

6. In a word

NO!!!!!!!!!

[SteppingRazor]

7. Wow... how dumb can 31% of the people be?

I mean, what do we do after talking truce with Osama?

Elect Charlie Manson president?

I think the war on terror has been botched, and the war in Iraq should never have happened in the first place. But truce with Osama? Not a chance. What diplomatic footing does he stand on? It's not as though he represents any nation-state or other legitimate political entity. The guy's a psychopathic nutcase.

[rodeodance]

11. yes, I understand your point--yet, there must be some 'group' out there

to talk with.

[SteppingRazor]

14. I read a good Time article a few weeks back...

That reported on clandestine meetings that are going on between us and Iraqi groups -- not the foreign terrorist ones like Zarqawi, mind you -- but groups of insurgents made up of Sunni Iraqis.

So, such talks are already quietly taking place, and I think they're directed at the proper groups. Nationalistic insurgents who are angry over American occupation can be understood and reasoned with. Radical muslims who want to blow themselves up to get to heaven cannot.

[MakeItSo]

16. Playing right into KKKarl's play book

I suspect that someone who wants to help Bush has put fake OBL tapes out before. The timing and message invariably helps Bush without providing any tangible benefits to OBL. Why are we to assume that THIS tape is genuine? Why on earth would you trust the CIA to verify the tape, especially after they displayed such a level of incompetence and/or corruption when it came to pre-war intelligence in Iraq?

If OBL was indeed alive, we'd be seeing lots more tapes, and we'd be seeing videotapes. There is no logical reason for him NOT to use video tape.

The tape that came out right before the 2004 election was video, but obviously makeup and lighting cost money. It's also risky. The first OBL tape that came out back in 2002 was ALSO fake. In that one, "OBL" conveniently took blame for 9/11, for the first time.

Use your eyes. Do these two HONESTLY look like the same person?

[SteppingRazor]

19. Oh, I'll certainly grant plenty of skepticism as to the authenticity...

of the tape. Whether faked by us, faked by al Qaeda or some other organization and erroneously verified by the CIA (or purposefully falsely verified by the CIA), or whatever. There's plenty of organizations that would like Osama to be alive, the CIA has demonstrated its incompettency on countless occasions, and besides, the statements it issues to the public should always be taken with several grains of salt.

What I'm saying is, assuming everything to be on the up and up, it's still the height of idiocy to try to reason with this guy.

[Nederland]

12. No wonder

...we lose elections.

[stray cat]

13. 9-11 occurred before Iraq and Afganistan

absolutely not. The truce talk is just an excuse to give the US a chance to repent before Al Queda sympathasisers kill another batch of civilians

[The Magistrate]

15. The Only Reason To Pursue Negotiations, Ma'am

Would be to collect leading lights of the jihadis into a known position for easier targeting with lethal force....

[ret5hd]

17. Do you mean "should the U.S. pursue truce discussions w/ CIA?" n/t

[IronLionZion]

18. Every time the Republicans are in trouble,

Osama releases a video. Strange timing indeed.

[Lexingtonian]

20. don't bother...

All Western governments I know of have lied about this. Everyone says "We refuse to negotiate with terrorists" to the cameras, but the record shows that they invariably jump at the chances terrorists give them. Especially the supposedly toughest governments. It's all hypocrisy and catering to the stupidest voters' egos. The Bush people have already tried their darndest to negotiate with Zarqawi in Iraq.

The Bush Administration's domestic power diminishes with every bloody Al Qaeda attack in Western countries- in truth, if you look at their polling, they are ridiculously dependent on Bin Laden not hitting the U.S. again, which would collapse their moron followers' "faith" (i.e. magical belief in their efficacy against The Dark Side).

The Bush people can't take more than one more major bloody attack in western Europe and one more inside the U.S.A. That's the real math in this game. Bin Laden has them by the balls.

[OneBlueSky]

21. hard to negotiate with a dead guy . . . n/t

.

[AngryAmish]

22. Read his speech

There are many good points that he makes. he points out the war profiteers. We should listen to him because he says many truths.

[renie408]

23. I am thinking not just no, but HELL NO

Who could trust OBL? And it would be political SUICIDE to even suggest such a thing.