More on the WTC Disaster (Updated) [Sep 11, 2001, 8:30 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Of course this is not game related (we do not expect to be doing any further
game coverage today), but with the legit news sites being almost impossible to
access at times today, we've been getting loads of requests for more information
about what's been going on. Here is the latest as of about 9:00 PM EDT:
- President Bush addressed the nation 8:30 PM EDT. Here's a wire report: WASHINGTON (AP) - A grim-faced President Bush condemned ghastly attacks in Washington and New York on Tuesday and vowed to "find those responsible and bring them to justice." In the second Oval Office address of his presidency, Bush said the United States would retaliate against ``those behind these evil acts,'' and any country that harbors them.
To recap:
- In two separate attacks, hijacked planes struck both main towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan this morning, and both of the "twin towers" subsequently collapsed.
- A hijacked plane struck the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and part of it has collapsed as well.
- A hijacked plane crashed in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Reports indicate the hijackers planned to crash this plane into Camp David in Maryland.
- 47 Story WTC building seven, one of the five (relatively) smaller buildings in the World Trade Center also later collapsed from ancillary damage.
- The White House, the Pentagon, and the Capitol Building were all evacuated, all domestic flights in the US have been grounded through at least noon tomorrow.
- Other closings include most federal offices, the stock markets, the Disney theme parks, and the cancellation of today's Major League Baseball schedule. The President's speech announced that all federal agencies will be open for business tomorrow.
- Broadcasts out of Afghanistan showed evidence of missile attacks and antiaircraft fire, but what connection this has to today's apparent terrorist attacks in the US is not clear at this point. The US has denied involvement in these attacks.
- In the first hints of any sort at the scope of casualties, the New York City Fire Department has estimated that as many as half of the 400 firefighters dispatched to the scene are missing. CNN has said that 78 Police officers are missing. Also, the death toll from those on the four hijacked planes has been placed at 266. The number of dead and injured at the Pentagon has been widely reported as about 100. No estimates of the number of victims from the World Trade Center have been made.
- People throughout the United States have are being urged to donate blood to help offset significant shortages in New York and Washington. The American Red Cross in Greater New York or the American Red Cross are places to contact about donating blood or money, or both.
- Some news sites seem to be back online. Here are some links that have been more reliable: CNN.com; CNET.com; Yahoo; The New York Times; washingtonpost.com; usnews.com; ABCNEWS.com; FOXNews.com; MSNBC; and BBC News Online.
All of our thoughts go out to the victims of these attacks and their families and friends in what must be an incredibly difficult time.
Brief recap:
1. America fights Israel's wars in the Mid East for them for several decades.
2. Israel's enemies take a swipe at the US (today) for obvious reasons.
The only question that remains to be asked, is, why have we been bombing Arab countries for the past two decades?
Do we really have an interest in the Mid East? If our interest is oil, shouldn't we ally ourselves with the coutries that have oil, rather than the country that does not even have water, much less oil?
I agree with the guy who said that today's bombing is simply the result of our US foreign policy. We have been shooting cruise missiles into Arab states for quite a while now, and finally they strike back (not that two wrongs make a right).
The question is, why have we been picking on the Arabs in the first place?
Traditionally, America stays out of foreign wars. We let the europeans war against themselves every century or so, we let the asians have their wars, we should let the Arabs have their wars, and stay out of it. Some say that Sadam was as willing to sell oil to the West as Kuwait was. Do we really have an interest?
Is it our moral imperative to defend countries like Saudi Arabia, where they arrest anyone who holds a religious gathering that is not Islamic?
All the arab countries are a little wacky, and even the most "Western" one, Saudi Arabia, is a horrible persecutor of religious freedom, which is a basic human right. Our foreign policy should be to maintain amiable relations with all of them, and let them have their own wars, and stay out of it.
American foreign policy has two possible routes:
- Leave the world alone, and the world will leave us alone, or
- Police the world effectively, and remove all the bad rulers and put the good guys in power.
Either of these routes would be ok. But we have been following a third path that is not ok:
- Harrass countries just enough so that they hate us, but not enough so that we effectively cast out the bad guys and put the good guys in power to stabilize the region.
Our Arab policy has been like the Vietnam War: fight just enough so that the victim country hates us, but not enough to effectively overthrow the baddies.
If you're going to police the world, then do it right. Otherwise leave everybody alone. None of this intermittent bombing every year or so. All that does is generate anti-american sentiment, and invites terrorist attacks in America.
1. America fights Israel's wars in the Mid East for them for several decades.
2. Israel's enemies take a swipe at the US (today) for obvious reasons.
The only question that remains to be asked, is, why have we been bombing Arab countries for the past two decades?
Do we really have an interest in the Mid East? If our interest is oil, shouldn't we ally ourselves with the coutries that have oil, rather than the country that does not even have water, much less oil?
I agree with the guy who said that today's bombing is simply the result of our US foreign policy. We have been shooting cruise missiles into Arab states for quite a while now, and finally they strike back (not that two wrongs make a right).
The question is, why have we been picking on the Arabs in the first place?
Traditionally, America stays out of foreign wars. We let the europeans war against themselves every century or so, we let the asians have their wars, we should let the Arabs have their wars, and stay out of it. Some say that Sadam was as willing to sell oil to the West as Kuwait was. Do we really have an interest?
Is it our moral imperative to defend countries like Saudi Arabia, where they arrest anyone who holds a religious gathering that is not Islamic?
All the arab countries are a little wacky, and even the most "Western" one, Saudi Arabia, is a horrible persecutor of religious freedom, which is a basic human right. Our foreign policy should be to maintain amiable relations with all of them, and let them have their own wars, and stay out of it.
American foreign policy has two possible routes:
- Leave the world alone, and the world will leave us alone, or
- Police the world effectively, and remove all the bad rulers and put the good guys in power.
Either of these routes would be ok. But we have been following a third path that is not ok:
- Harrass countries just enough so that they hate us, but not enough so that we effectively cast out the bad guys and put the good guys in power to stabilize the region.
Our Arab policy has been like the Vietnam War: fight just enough so that the victim country hates us, but not enough to effectively overthrow the baddies.
If you're going to police the world, then do it right. Otherwise leave everybody alone. None of this intermittent bombing every year or so. All that does is generate anti-american sentiment, and invites terrorist attacks in America.
Date
Subject
Author
258.
Sep 11, 2001Sep 11 2001
A brief recap:
anon@198.83
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