A bit of universal political philosophy for the evening...

[Noah]

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"  Ronald Reagan....

... for some reason, I feel as though even typing this I may be put on some national "watch list" lol... hope I don't get any slack tryin' to board a plane next time 

... just a question for yall to chew on... what extremes would you be willing to go to should someone invade your country and tell you how to live your life?

... For the sake of this argument, let's say the Chinese invaded the USA... came in and said, "look, no more Christianity.... everthing you own now belongs to us.... and began hunting down and wiping out anyone who dared to defy them...

... I, for one, would be willing to go to a level unimaginable by modern standards to defend my country/deter the invaders... ESPECIALLY given "unfair" odds...

 

[Noah]

If a person could spend some time in "his enemies" shoes and vice versa, there would be much more understanding in this life.

[djhogdogger]

 Any invaders that come down into these East Texas woods and marshes would most likely never be seen again. 

[Noah]

Hahaha, I agree... as long as the proposed invaders come in a-horse-back, sporting muskets 

... just imagine trying to defend yourself in the backwoods from what our country is using against the Afghanis right now...

Satellite surveilance, drones, FLIR, anti-personell armaments capable of pinpoint accuracy at night from MILES away...

How are you gonna fight that other that go to the source and do what you can.

[BA-IV]

Those people are fighting for a belief that has been instilled in them from birth.  It's what they believe in and it's all they've ever known.  It's a religion older then many, so 10 years isn't anything but a hiccup in the big picture.  They fight to the death and have no fear of dying, I know this personally.

You may not like them, but you'll learn to respect an enemy as dedicated to our death and destruction as they are.  Simply put, if I was in their shoes, I'd do the same.

[charles]

 noah, them afghanies have been eluding our military for years and taking high casualties while doing so, but they aint been doin to bad for a bunch of halfa$$ moutnain boys. they have had us over there for 10 srtaight yrs. they must be doin somethin right to not be wiped out from the one of the most powerful countries in the world. as far as the hypothetical question, archery is quiet, fire blanket keeps a lot of heat trapped insideif blended in with a ghile suite and them backwoods sure will get a person lost most ricky tick

[Noah]

Simply put, if I was in their shoes, I'd do the same.

Excellent point.   For the most part, we are who we are born/raised with...  if you were born in Israel... you'd most likely be a Jew... If you were born in Palestine... you'd most likely by a Muslim...

... the ability to understand where your advesary is coming from(can't think of the dang word right now lol), to "imagine" yourself in their shoes...

[Noah]

noah, them afghanies have been eluding our military for years and taking high casualties while doing so, but they aint been doin to bad for a bunch of halfa$$ moutnain boys. they have had us over there for 10 srtaight yrs. they must be doin somethin right to not be wiped out from the one of the most powerful countries in the world. as far as the hypothetical question, archery is quiet, fire blanket keeps a lot of heat trapped insideif blended in with a ghile suite and them backwoods sure will get a person lost most ricky tick

Was waitin' on you Charles     How can a fighting man not respect what the Afghanis have been able to hold up to?  Hard to imagine, regardless of whether they deserve it or not...

... I hear you on the foil blanket, good tip... 

[charles]

 i do respect them, but i dont like their smell, but their food is good. thats if you can get past the bread, knowing they kneed it with their feet. they been fighting for a cause for 100s of years. what causes or beliefs do we have to have to fight back the terrorists?

[charles]

 oh and noah, im not gonna get on my high horse about it.  my voice is horse from speakin and not being heard, just thoughts that im crazy

[Noah]

oh and noah, im not gonna get on my high horse about it.  my voice is horse from speakin and not being heard, just thoughts that im crazy

Coming from someone that has never met "the enemy" that is Afghanistan... I am always keen to hear first hand examples from those who have personally dealt with them... no matter their opinion... all information helps illuminate a "dark" area in our war on terror...

[charles]

 they fight a gurilla type battle, same battle we fought during the 60s-70s in se asia. a gurilla war is hard to beat, there are no determined lines of defense, just foward advance and rearward fall back. its a yo-yo effect. our war on terror starts and ends with terror on both sides. those that fight for a cause and determination will always come out on top in some form or fashion. i admire their passion for war for their beliefs.

[Noah]

Empathy... that's the word... 

"Empathy is the capacity to recognize and, to some extent, share feelings (such as sadness or happiness) that are being experienced by another sentient or semi-sentient being. Someone may need to have a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion...."

[Reuben]

China population; 1,300,000,000
USA population; 250,000,000

China will be the country that rules the world some day...but in my opinion, the only way to prevent China from ruling over us is for us to have the technology so great that they will respect us regardless of our size and population...

An Albert Einstein quote "don't know what technology will be used in the next world war...but the following world war will be fought with sticks and stones..."

I believe that the environment will change enough one day to the point that there will be great famines in different parts of the world...and when these famined countries become desperate...desperate as in hunger and hopelessness...then it will become worthwhile for them to go to war even against the greatest of nations...

[Bar W]

I agree Rueben we (the world) are addicted to oil and gas when some ones supply is exhausted the have nots will have no choice but try and take what is left from the haves. But necessity is the mother of all invention so someone might invent cold fusion before it gets to bad.

[cantexduck]

We have the technology,but we need someone who will use it. NATO is a crock. I am sure it will happen at somd point,I doubt in puff lifetime.

[pigrig]

the chinise arn"t going to invade u noah they have a new fangled western approach called capitalisim they are going to buy u out .

[charles]

the chinise arn"t going to invade u noah they have a new fangled western approach called capitalisim they are going to buy u out .

you are correct. they already own a 1/4 of our country in IOU bonds.

[RL]

I enjoyed this post.  Excellent read and depth of thoughts.  Thank you all.

[RyanTBH]

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"  Ronald Reagan....

... for some reason, I feel as though even typing this I may be put on some national "watch list" lol... hope I don't get any slack tryin' to board a plane next time 

... just a question for yall to chew on... what extremes would you be willing to go to should someone invade your country and tell you how to live your life?

... For the sake of this argument, let's say the Chinese invaded the USA... came in and said, "look, no more Christianity.... everthing you own now belongs to us.... and began hunting down and wiping out anyone who dared to defy them...

... I, for one, would be willing to go to a level unimaginable by modern standards to defend my country/deter the invaders... ESPECIALLY given "unfair" odds...

 

Noah, I WILL do anything in my power to protect my family and my country!!! PERIOD! That's all I have to say about that...