[extropy-chat] POLITICS: terrorism and strategies

[The Avantguardian]

--- "Robert J. Bradbury" <bradbury at aeiveos.com> wrote:
 But I challenge
> you to present
> a case where the path(s) we are currently on will
> *not* require
> the ultimate use of nuclear weapons.
> 
> Robert
> 

          I accept your challenge, Robert. First let
me get one thing straight. You are right that your
solution would be temporarily effective, but the
karmic backlash from us using nukes on holy cities
would destroy everything Amercia stands for. Freedom
of religion for starters. The right to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness for another. At that
point, democracy becomes more of a sham than it
already is. We would be even more despised throughout
the world than we are already. And history shows that
it is the fate of all despised tyrants to be deposed.
       A potential alternate path that would
accomplish much the same thing without directly taking
human life or horrifying the moral sensibilities of
billions of people around the world is this:
      Start a "manhattan project" to end the War on
Terror. Take the top scientists from our universities,
put them on a military base in some desert, and give
them one year to come up with one or more alternative
energy sources to oil. The challenge would be to make
it so that the new fuel be easy to synthesize, store,
and allow existing gasoline and diesel engines to
operate on it with a minimum of upgrading. It would be
nice if it was less polluting, but as far as it being
a strategy to defeat terrorists, pollution is
irrelevant.
      Since all the terrorists are funded by the
billions we give to the middle east for their oil and
little else, this would flatline their economies. They
wouldn't be able to afford plane tickets after a
while, let alone WMDs. They would still be free to
practice whatever fundamentalist religion floats their
boat, but they would not have access to the technology
that makes them so dangerous. In essence, I am saying
if they wish to remain in the dark ages socially and
morally, we let them, just take away their toys. Then
they can go back to being bedouins riding camels from
oasis to oasis looking for fresh water again for all I
care.
  

=====
The Avantguardian 


"He stands like some sort of pagan god or deposed tyrant. Staring out over the city he's sworn to . . .to stare out over and it's evident just by looking at him that he's got some pretty heavy things on his mind."


		
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