Rational Discussion of Threats and bush's deal

[Dennis]

> "Minor threat" is relative and subjective.  The question that
> occurs to me -- and recall that I have near-victim cred -- is
> whether Al-Qaeda or the capitalist empire is a bigger threat.
> I think it is obvious which one is likely to kill, maim,
> impoverish or imprison a larger number of people in the next
> ten years, regardless of whether the rhetoric of one is
> kinder and gentler than the other.
>
> Of course this is treating them as separate entities, whereas
> I think in fact they complement, reflect and energize one
> another, as the U.S. and the Soviet system did in the era of
> the Cold War.
>
> -- Gordon

I agree completely, but I think many here feel that if they view al-Qaeda as
a real threat, they are buying into the administration's propaganda --an
administration that would use al-Qaeda to attack its other enemies if it
needed to and could pull it off. (Vidal asked recently why Bush just doesn't
buy off bin Laden, bribe him to cease and desist. "It worked for Julius
Caesar," he said.)

DP