Great post as usual Salmo...

Youve asked the key question. The answer I think lies in your description of the Muslims you know and why they bear resentment towards the united states.

To me its simple, at least to write. The US needs to get off its diplomatic high horse in Israel and exert some meaningful pressure on them to straighten a few things out...

Quit building settlements in Gaza or lose US $$. Establish a sovereign palestinian state by 2010. Hold them to it to the same degree that we held sadaam responsible for not having wmd's (that seemed to work in hindsight didn't it ;\) )...

Eventually someone has to be the better man, to take the philosophical high road as it were. Since we are America and we are always right I say why not us? (Waves flag)

Why shouldn't we have 'turned the other cheek' as I believe Jesus would have wanted us to do after 9/11? Why aren't we loving our enemies? How far would the 100B plus we are spending in Iraq to blow people up could we have spent in say, Lebanon or Gaza building kindergartens with western teachers and islamic culture? Hospitals anyone? Orphanages...win the trust and minds of the youth while still malleable and you are doing something meaningful to negate terrorism.

Invading a country merely because we don't like their leader is not a step down the road to peace.

Like it or not Americans we are in trouble for not practicing what we preach. When are we going to take responsibility for this as a nation?
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"Christmas is an American holiday." - micropterus101