Mister Bush, do feel free to use this

[gerbie]

It took a while before we learned what we did wrong. It took a big attack, in which thousands of innocent lives have been lost, before we realised that the way we are dealing with the rest of the world was wrong. I am very sorry that this has had to happen. From here there are two possible options. A third world war or a continuation of what we have been doing over the last decade, a cold war against everything we Americans considered wrong. It would make the cold war look like a fight in kindergarten. We shall take none of these options. As a true Christian, we will turn the other cheek. The only way this cycle can be stopped as by not reacting. No retaliation, no attacks on possible suspects. I shall repeat this, read my lips, NO RETALIATION.

It is time for us to admit that we had this one coming. Fifty years of interfering everywhere in the world whenever it suited us has come to a bloody final. Now we see what we have done in Korea and Vietnam. In Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In Haiti and Guatemala. In Nicaragua and Chile. In Panama and Somalia. And in dozens of other countries. Thousands of innocent Americans have become the victim of an idiot who wanted us to know what we did wrong. Until now we knew, but thought we could get away with it. We couldn't.

From now on we shall do whatever is necessary to help all those families in this tragedy. But not only the thousands who have died in the last 24 hours, but also those thousands who died in the last 50 years, because we considered our position in the world more important than the lives of individuals. The whole budget from defence will go to welfare, social benefits or third world development. We will finally pay off our billions of debt to the UN. We well recognise the UN as the true world power, the voice of the people of the world. We will do as the majority wants us to. We shall propose the abolishment of veto's for countries who happen to have too much power.

Finally I shall resign from my position as President of the United States of America. We will soon have new elections in which every vote is counted, in which democracy will really work. Until then I shall hand over the power to the senate.

Let our thoughts be with the ones who have lost their lives. Thank you for your attention, God bless America and peace on earth!

Comments

[jellyrose.livejournal.com]

Wow.. I just have no words but wow.

wow

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

I have posted the same story in 'protest'(another community, I'm crap at linking here) and got a quite a few reactions that were not very positive. Does it take an European to see what is happening?

[thegreenquetzal.livejournal.com]

i agree with you. retaliation..will just make everyting worse...and kill even more innocent people..

this is just so awful..

[kita.livejournal.com]

I completely agree. What happened to the innocent civilians yesterday was a tragedy, but thousands of innocent civilians have been killed all over the world thanks to the US or due to US intervention.

The cycle must be broken. If only the government had your outlook...

[(Anonymous)]

Applause...
...but there is no way we'll ever hear wise words like that coming out of Bush's mouth :-(

/ToHell, Sweden

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

Thank you. They are not that wise, anybody with a bit of common sense could have written them. So if Bush decides not to use them, I'll take that as a compliment.

[mattrix.livejournal.com]

Why not say 90 years of "interfering everywhere in the world"??? There's a distinct possibility you would not have been born if not for US meddling in European wars.

We well recognise the UN as the true world power, the voice of the people of the world. We will do as the majority wants us to. We shall propose the abolishment of veto's for countries who happen to have too much power. ... which gives the UN too much power. I don't remember too many times when the UN agreed on anything. And does the UN represent the entire world, every nation, every point of view??

Heck, if you want a single world government, when are we going to have a house-of-representatives type UN body which is based on population?

UN ambassadors aren't taken from the streets of cities .... they're generally well-connected people, like all politicians. I don't see how your "speech" would markedly improve jack-doodley.

I am not in favor of retalliation simply because whereas before we had individuals who had a grievance against the United States that may be without sufficient basis, for the US to make good on its recent words, we'd give people plenty more reason to hate the US. That is, I forsee more problems if the US steps up and slaps people around. For this is the same sort of meddling that your speech was apologizing for.

But if you are not willing to fight and you have those who are, how do you expect to prevail?

What is the just thing to do in a case like this? Say the hijackers had magically survived? What would be done with them in a "civilized" country such as yours?

For that matter, what would be done with a serial killer in your justice system?

[(Anonymous)]

The civilized and moral way to handle the situation is by law and justice. Find the guilty, get them handed over by whatever nation is housing them, prove them guilty, inprison them for life. Credits for the USA who is following the civilized way, for now (The israelis wouldn't).

The final exam comes when you are sure enough it is, say, Bin Laden, to want him handed over for trial: If the Talibans refuse, you will be like the terrorists youself if you try to get him by military force, and that would legitimate more terrorist attacks on YOU (the civilized world wouldn't accept more terrorist deeds, but YOU would signal it is an acceptable way). The civilized way is by political and economical sanctions. Civilized adults don't use violence, that's basic and someone should tell you already when you hit your friend who borrowed your toy-car in the sandbox.

And even if USA does suprise us and handle this all the way by the civilized manual, I'm quite afraid that you'll fall anyway, on the very goal line: NO civilized nation in the world should be barbaric enough to use the death-penalty.

ToHell, Sweden (maybe I should get myself a livejournal account :-)

[mattrix.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your comment as you quite lucidly expressed your viewpoint.

For the USA to make good on what it seems to be saying, that they'll hunt down the baddies and not put up with nations that harbor them, we would be guilty of what bin Laden and others have claimed as grievance against the USA. Using our might to push the world around. I'm concerned about that. I am not enough of a student of recent history to see how the world sees the USA. No matter, it could be a self-fulfilling prophesy.

My problem with this is the notion of civilized and moral... on whose morality do you judge someone? On yours or on theirs? If a person is willing and able to murder, their morality must say that murder is somehow acceptable. Or, some other extenuating circumstance. If you, as society-at-large don't think so, that's fine. But it's hard to deal with if your society has a lot of people who think differently.

But, it still doesn't seem just or fair. Do human rights belong to everyone no matter how they act towards their fellow human? No matter whether they act in a way that respects other's human rights?

I am guessing that your answer is that incarceration is for those who violate this contract. But even prison seems too cushy for some of these, for lack of a better word, people.

To ask a blunt question, if any of the perpetrators of genocide were tried today in Sweden or the Netherlands or any other of the nations who deemed death-penalty "beneath them", they would be locked up for life as a sentence for the death of thousands and millions?

And as far as the US requesting other nations to try and convict those responsible for various crimes committed in the US, what's to say that that nation won't be more inhumane than the US?

Even though the US does generally consider the death-penalty cruel-and-unusual, in general it seems the justice systems here do all they can to make sure that nobody who is deemed undeserving gets it. Since there have been recent revelations of fraud in the system as evidenced by DNA techniques, then perhaps the system is fundamentally flawed.

But to say that a butcher deserves to live at the courtesy of the state, that seems a bit hard to take.

Of course, there's always the question why there's so many people who are locked up here and who do get tried for crimes that could lead to the death-penalty. That, I have no answer for.

It's not a deterrent from the looks of it... if anything, laws like California's three-strikes seem to be worse in some senses. You get people who are facing their third-strike and resist arrest like crazy since they don't want to go down for life.

Re:

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

I know that I wouldn't be writing this if the US hadn't helped during the second war. As a joke I have said several times that the US have chosen the wrong side in each war SINCE WW2. But possibly I would have written this entry in German. And however horrible it may be to live in a fascist country, I have wondered what really would have happened had the Germans won the war. I don't think it is right that the Americans have taken over the world the way they have since ww2. Economic dependence is not much better than direct overthrowing. Often the US have combined these two to gain influence in a certain part of the world.

In a "civilized" country like mine, (I consider myself lucky to live in one) a surviving hijacker would get a fair trial. And probably be sentenced to life on prison. A serial killer would be the same category in my opinion, would end up in the next cell therefore.

It is also true that the UN hasn't been as useful as it should be. But too much power is impossible. I'd rather have an independent organ have to much power, than a single country. The UN should represent us all, it is the closest thing to world democracy, if it would work well.


"What is the just thing to do in a case like this?"
I wish I knew. Actually, I wish I shouldn't be having to think about it. In an ideal world one wouldn't have to think about it.

[mattrix.livejournal.com]

My father has said at various times that the US usually chooses the wrong sides. I can't say for sure since I don't know the history well enough and the history of the regions.

I've heard it said that Ho Chi Mihn requested American help and when he failed to get that, he got help from the Communists. Should we have been involved at all? Probably not. But since we were, we were on the wrong side and we were not even clear on what we were doing there. A total catastrophe.

Is the US on the right side of Israel vs Palestine? There are definitely who don't think so. At least, at how the Palestinians seem to be treated. But then, I've read a website where the author was attesting that there are no such thing as Palestinians as a nation but that these were Arabs who wanted to obliterate Israel.

And look at how heavy handed the creation and maintenance of that state has been and is!

Concerning your nation, my understanding was the Nazi Germans treated most of their neighbors to the west with some amount of care. As long as you didn't piss them off, you seemed to be alright. But if you did, there didn't seem to be a lot of patience. I don't know why they had it in for the slavs, for example. But even they were treated much better than the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc.

It helps to label people, to dehumanize them. It was probably easier for the Nazis to commit genocide on those they considered vermin. Undoubtedly, the terrorists on Tuesday are being labelled in similar manners.

As far as the US taking over the world in an economic sense, again this is a viewpoint that it's rather hard for me to understand. Here in the US, we're totally addicted to cars which require a lot of imports. We're addicted to cheap Chinese made things. You name it, we import it from China. Many of the things I can see from where I am sitting came from another country. My Microsoft mouse was made in China. My "Dell" keyboard was made in Malaysia. The only thing I can see that I know for sure was made in the US is my Nalgene (backpacker's) bottle.

I think the problem with the US's influence in the world is it's not clear why we care that much. Having neighborly relations is a good thing. Having trade is a good thing. These improve the life of the common man.

But there also seem to be a lot of situations where people at a much higher status than the average gal on the street are manipulating things for their gain.

This is my issue with the UN. It doesn't seem possible for six billion people to be well represented by such a small body. For one thing, I should like to see each country elect its UN rep. But how well would that work?

And even on things like Kyoto Protocol. I am an engineer and work with people who are fairly sharp individuals. I don't know what to think when they criticize the provisions as being based on junk science. A physicist friend of mine probably would have strident arguments against what my coworkers think. But here you have decisions that probably are good for the planet but you have people who disagree greatly on whether the basis of those decisions is right. Or whether it's seeing the whole picture.

Perhaps the conspicuousness of the UN keeps them honest and from pushing the interest of the few really rich people.

But then, what's the deal with the WTO? Why the protests? Some people like these bodies and some people don't and I can't keep straight what their interests are. We Americans though are suckers for protests -- we take them seriously and they seem to get our attention like a traffic accident does. If you as a wealthy individual don't like something, what's better, to complain yourself or to fund a group to protest? It goes from "your" will to the "will of the people".

Yes, in an ideal world, this and many more topics would be academic and only discussed by drunk undergraduates.

Life is crazy and complicated and chaotic and non-linear though!

[offencetaken.livejournal.com]

i, as a true christian, wish i could agree with you, but.. They're professed mission is to not stop until Israel is in the sea. Israel is our allies and they will not stop attacking us or attempting to (like theyve been doing since Israel became a seperate state) until we stop giving Israel Help, which i think would be a horrable thing to do. we have to retaliate.. but i dont agree with the war method. i dont want a full sized war.. we just need to take out this group.. there will never be peace in the middle east because the muslim religion preaches conversion by the sword... but this will help.. we can not just look away. we have to be big brother.. theyr our family

[lorelei-aisling.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying that USA should abandon Israel.

But Israel has committed atrocities too. It was founded by displacing Palestineans from their homeland. The tactics that they have been using closely resembles some tactics the Germans used.

I'm not for the whole warlike retaliation. I'm more for people just taking responsibility for their actions. To be held accountable. Then talk about it and do their best to make ammends.

I just hope that our government won't do something stupid.

Re:

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

Seems like a sensible solution/idea. Therefore, the cynic in me says that it will never happen. Unfortunately.

Re:

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

"They're professed mission is to not stop until Israel is in the sea"
Whose mission? Where in my entry did I mention possible solution as to 'whodunnit'. You automatically assume that the FBI and the CIA are right. If they were so well informed, they would have at least informed people what was about to happen, if they weren't able to stop them. They were wrong in the Oklahama bombing at first as well, remember?

"we have to retaliate" Why? Who against? If you haven't got a known enemy, you can't attack them. Wait until the guilty are found, then give them a trial. Violence has never solved anything.

If you start reading, you would know that Christianity, Judism and the Islam have more in common than that they are different. Please don't judge people by their religion. People are worth more than just stereotyping them.

[(Anonymous)]

It really disturbs me that touchie feelie, UTNE Reader, tree hugging plankton like you are responsible for teaching our children. Get your head out of Richard Gere's ass a take a look at what's going around. I can't believe you've fallen for the "blame the victim" bullshit and want to accept this a 'payback' for US foreign policy 'sins'. They didn't attack the USA because the CIA and United Fruit Company took over Guatamala in the Fifties. Osama Bin Manson want Helter Skelter and we're gonna give him 22 megatons worth if we have to hijack a Russian nuke bound for Iraq to do it. Nuke the fuckers till they glow!

And don't waste your time with your 'laundry list' unless you're prepared to match list with every nation that's ever existed in the history of this rotten planet. Why don't we draw up that list and have the worst country get nuked? But we'd also have to list the contributions each country made to the betterment of the world as well.

I'm sick and fucking tired of the 'US can do no right' double standard when it comes to world affairs. Remember the standards the world holds us to - and doesn't even pretend to live up to - were created by us and -whether you want to believe it or not - we do ou r damndest to honor. The US has been looked on as'daddy's wallet' for far too long in this guilt trip happy world.

this wouldn't fit above

[(Anonymous)]

Your sainted 'Palstinians' were bussed in (or cameled in) form other arab nations after the WW I when other Arab countries got wind that maybe Jews of the world might want to resttle what was a desolate outpost of the defeated Ottoman Empire. They had no more 'claim' to their 'homeland' than the Jews but since the land was Englands to deal with the Jews got it after England botching of the Exodus affair. The Arabs saw this as a western intrusion on ther sandbox and attacked and lost. In the years they held the West Bank and Gaza they made not one fucking attempt to give your Palistinians a 'homeland' but used them as a pawn in the dump on Isreal and the West game. And they're still at it. So I don't give a fuck about the 'concerns' of Arab hypocrites.
And now that the Palistiniuans have their own 'Autonimous Territories', guess what? Given a choice Palistinians would rather take their chances in Isreal than live in jack-booted police state that the Palistinian 'Authority' has set up. It's easy for Amnesty International to dog the Isreali justice system - Jews don't count for shit in the court of public opinion. Who watching the Palistinians?

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

Excuse me for being ignorant, but I don't know what UTNE means, though judging by the words around it, it can't be a very good thing. Funnily I do not feel offended. I'm not teaching your youth, I teach students on the other side of the ocean. There are plenty of good things in the US, but also too many negative points. As in any country. If someone has critisism, you might read it and consider the why and the background, before from a sense of patriotism defend what is wrong.

Your suggestion to just nuke Afghanistan is ridiculous. First proof that Bin Laden IS in fact behind all this, then get him extradicted and give him a fair trial. That's the only way to do it.

I can't believe I'm actually discussing with somebody who writes ridiculous suggestions and doesn't even dare to put a name above it.

[(Anonymous)]

I've long ago given up on reasoning with conservatives as they're just too bigoted and closed minded. The same applies ot you liberals as well...

Re:

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

So is there anybody left you do reason with, or are you the last sane person on earth?

[frannywentzel.livejournal.com]

It slays me when I hear other Europeans sniff their noses at the US and US policies. I am in freedom thanks to their willingness to stand at the Brandenburg gate till hell froze over or till the East Germans fell.

If you think the Americans are so bad try having the Russians in your house. After the war the Russians looted us down to the lightbulbs in the bathroom. When the Russians wanted Berlin for themselves the Americans dropped not bombs but candy food and coal and broke the back of Russian starvation tactics.

When the Russians built a wall the Americans didn't run even when your European peaceniks demanded unilateral disarmament.

You 'civilised' Western Europeans were the first to clamour for US action during the genocides of Jugoslavia and the first to damn America when she finally did anything - like always.

The first movie I ever saw about US was 'Roger & Me' about the layoff at Flint Michigan. Honneker made damn sure we saw all that was wrong in US. But I saw what was right. 'Roger & Me' was made by an American and shown in America and was big hit. Micheal Moore makes good money criticising US - enough not to have to sell rabbits by the roadside. Try finding a similar film made in DDR by and for DDR.

America was raped and left for dead last week. There can be no 'blaming the victim' this time.

By the way, thanks for doing such a great job hiding Anne Frank.

Thank you

[aquariusmama.livejournal.com]

I just happened to come across these posts. Thank you for yours. I think most Americans want to find a way to heal from this. Revenge is a first reaction, but there is so much more to it. When I see people putting down Americans right now it breaks my heart even more. I am amazed and proud of my country, I have never witnessed patriotism like this. I have never seen so many people crying and singing together. I have never seen so many American flags. The fact is that there is no reason for this. There is no "deserving" of the kind of destruction we had Tuesday. No reason for it at all. I think it has made America stronger because we must now respect our leaders and not take our rights and freedoms for granted. I will never apologize for taking those things for granted, though. I wish everyone in the world could, but I guess that would be spreading my "western" influence.

Re:

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

If you read well, there is no point that I blame America for what happened. Nobody ever deserves such a thing. However bad you might be.

You are forcing me to choose between Russians and Americans. In my opinion they have both gone the wrong way after the second world war, in which they were co-operating, as one of them might not have won it. I don't want to choose. It means going back to the cold war, I assume you wouldn't want that.

The sarcastic remark in the end can easily be returned: You mean the girl you chased out of your country and who was then chased again by your countrymen and eventually killed, just because she happened to be born into a family who had a different religion? That Anne Frank?

just so you know...

[olivethomas.livejournal.com]

'Finally I shall resign from my position as President of the United States of America. We will soon have new elections in which every vote is counted, in which democracy will really work. Until then I shall hand over the power to the senate.'

Accoring to the constitution should the President resign the Vice-President takes over. The line of succesion then goes to the Speaker to the House, the president pro tempore of the Senate, then to the cabinet positions in the following order Secretary of State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General, Sec'y of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health & Human Services, Housing & Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education and Veterans Affairs.

There is no provision in the Constitution for the President the call new Elections as we don't use the European Parlimentary system that puts the party (or coalition) that wins the general election in direct control of the executive branch.

After the Kennedy assassination an amendment was passed to allow the President to appoint a Vice-President should the office happen to be unfilled by death or resignation or the Vice Presidents accession to President. When Nixon's VP Spiro Agnew was forced to resign, Gerald Ford was appointed to take his place. When Nixon resigned Ford became the first unelected president in US history.

A lot of peopl don't like the Electoral College system but it was enacted for several reasons - the first of with was that the founding fathers never expected the US to have just a two party system, they figured on several candidates and had planned for that eventuality. Secondly they had wanted to make sure every state or at least region counted in the election and that the candidate didn't just concentrate their efforts on a couple of states. Without an electoral college system a candidate could easily win an election with the votes of a few big cities.

As bad as the fiasco in Florida was, the system worked even when there wasn't much in the way of legal or historical precedent to go on. (the last president to win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote was in the 1800s) Much of this had to be improvised on the spot, but it was in the open for all to see. And nobody had to get the support of the Army like in many countries. Power was passed more or less without incedent.

Re: just so you know...

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

Thanx for the history lesson. I assume you realised that the suggestion was nothing more than just yet. I might not be an expert on American law, even I knew that he couldn't just resign. And you're right in stating that the power passed on without any violence, unlike so many other countries. Still it wasn't exactly a display of a strong democracy, was it?