What role did ideology play in Iran's support for terrorism in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution? What, if anything, has changed since then with respect to ideology? The success of the Islamic Revolution caused a kind of manifest destiny for the new Iranian clerical elite. Their ultimate desire was to export Islam until the entire world was one mighty caliphate. Iran, unfortunately, was a weakling at the playground; in addition to the other more secular Arab nations, there was a...
Should Hezbollah be considered a terrorist organization in that it provides services to the public and participates in electoral politics? The words: "Absolutely!" spring quickly to mind. And here's why... With apologies to Forrest Gump, Terrorist is as terrorist does. The bombings of the Marine barracks in Beirut was attributed to them, along with a decades-long campaign against the West and Israel (Bynam 84-5). So despite the fluffy niceties of political correctness and t...
I do believe that the longer people just accept that this is the way the 'east' thinks...and this is the way the 'west' thinks...then we are in for even more milennia of stuck in the mud progress. But it's so much easier to pigeonhole one culture (especially the opposing culture in a war) as being beyond (or beneath) reason. If we truly believe that the Muslim people of the world are bitter and irreconcilable, then we better just kill them all off and poof! No more threat. But to enga...
Wow. I have been busy busy busy. First of all, I have been working 40+ hours a week at my great job . I love my job, but I've been having to work through lunches and some overtime in order to get things sorted out. The life of a worker in my field is never done. Then when I get home, I have four kids to take care of. They are wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they keep us very busy. Ben is now 10, Dylan is 8, Emilie is 5, and Zachary is 19 months old. I will post pictures so...
From the Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2007: Consider The Irony Of Guantanamo Bay By Thomas P. Sullivan What an irony, what a contradiction! Although the trial may have been flawed and the execution precipitous, the Iraqi government afforded a mass murderer, Saddam Hussein, basic rights before judgment was pronounced. Hussein was presented with written charges, provided the assistance of lawyers, the government was required to introduce proof to support its charges through competen...
Evaluate the assertions by Ehrlich and Liu that differential population growth rates between Israelis and Palestinians “may exacerbate the conditions that breed terrorism.” What information do they provide that supports their contention that the different rates do actually contribute to terrorism? Potential terrorists are predominantly young adult males (Ehrlich & Liu 2002). Ehrlich and Liu cite that with poverty, a general lack of responsibility, and general indifference towards mor...
Evaluate Hoffman’s conclusion that the PLO was a model for certain types of terrorist groups. What types of groups? What were the features of the PLO and its actions that seem to have been adopted by other groups? Hoffman was quite explicit in how the PLO's efforts have been emulated in regional and international terror groups. Their ruthless efficiency in 1972 Munich made the whole world stand up and take notice. "The undivided attention of some four thousand print and radio journa...
Explain and evaluate Hoffman assertion that terrorists ordinarily act rationally. The terrorist always fights against a better-armed foe. In order to go up against such an enemy, there must be undying fervor and burning desire within the fighter. The training starts from birth. The child is taught to dehmanize the enemy, and that killing them is part of the natural order. Hoffman calls this an "inverted sense of normality" and it is instilled throughout society. [The Pale...
The turnout of the recent elections gives Americans the opportunity to mend our spendthrift ways and become fiscally responsible, both governmentally and personally. Otherwise, they fear the American economy will lose its status as the standard for world economic stability. Probable Democratic solutions for the problem at hand are as follows: 1. Raise taxes. 2. Cut benefits. Raise the minimum retirement age to save Social Security. 3. Adopt a "pay as you go" philosophy to federal sp...
According to the National Intelligence Council 2020 Mapping the Global Future report, what are the major changes that may occur in the international landscape—and who might the major players and states be? The overarching challenge for the next 14 years is globalization. Humanity must use it to its fullest potential; through globalization, humanity's lot will be permanently improved. The countries best positioned to benefit from globalization are Brazil, Russia, India, and China. ...
Another great oversight in the supposedly democratic, fair, and even-handed liberal free trade environment is the IMF voting procedure. The IMF has doled out its voting privileges to each participant nation based on its donations to the IMF. Unlike a democratic system in which each member country would have an equal vote, rich countries dominate decision-making in the IMF because voting power is determined by the amount of money that each country pays in...
Can markets really be "moral?" Can they function with morals or must ethics be imposed from outside? Discuss.
The government's printing presses work every day making American $100 bills. The bills have red and blue fibers woven into the fabric. Watermarks and security ribbons are painstakingly put into the paper. Ink is pressed onto the paper by huge intaglio presses, cut exactly to size, and bundled for distribution around the world. And the government making those US $100 bills is North Korea. Sadly, those American $100 bills are coming from Pyongyang, North Korea. They are perfect, fr...
Is the UN "law" on the unilateral use of force, articulated in Article 2(4), irrelevant? Does it serve any purpose(s)? The UN banned the unilateral use of force in order to defer all war to the decision of a consensus of nations, as presently embodied in the United Nations. As far back as the Hague Conferences of 1899, groups of nations have tried "to limit the national use of armaments" (Slomanson 485). Instead of banning war (which was politically impossible), they settled for a ...
The price of oil hit an all-time high of over $77 per barrel today. Okay, please somebody explain this to me: The price is skyrocketing because of a war... over no oil reserves? Israel and Lebanon have essentially gone to war. Neither nation has oil, so no oil reserves are threatened in their battle. Their skirmishes do not cross any oil shipping lanes, like the Suez Canal, so they're not disrupting the flow of oil through the region. They're not jeopardizing any pipelines. Oi...