I need help with an email response concerning Islamic terrorism

[hillertexas]

So I have been emailing registered Republicans in Florida about Ron Paul and I just received the following response. There are so many things wrong with what this guy is saying that I am having a hard time knowing where to start. I want to address all of his misconceptions in the shortest and most concise way possible. Or should I not respond at all and consider it a lost cause?
___________________
Dear XX:
Thanks, but no thank you! I want someone who will protect my children, and their children, and future generations from these, Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. These animals hate us, and always will because, we are free to choses. Women can vote, work, etc. If you do not believe in Ala, they believe you, and myself must be exterminated for believing in any other religion, or belief, and not theirs no matter where you live. Not all Muslims are terrorist, their good people. But damm it, every terrorist attack has always been a Muslim. Ron Paul is a good man, and it is true of the things you mentioned to me about him. He's a doctor, and we need more good Doctors in our world. I would not raise taxes either. I don't think anyone in their right mind would.

Please remember that this country was attacked on our soil, our land, and over 3,000 innocent, Women, Men, and Children were murdered in a matter of 2 hours on 9-11-2001. Why? Because Ron says it is our fault? Over 6,000,000.00 innocent people, (children), were exterminated because it was America's fault? Please give me a break! What would have happened if America did not get involved in world war 2? All of Europe would have been defeated, and who knows what this world would be today. We dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, and now they are one of our closets allies.

Yes, I agree that the United Kingdom, and the US, and the UN security council did not get perfect info. But if you were commander of a free, civilized country, and you got information from what you believed was solid info that Suddam was building an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, would you just sit back and do nothing? The Israeli government, believe me is very happy today that Suddam H. is gone! This man was paying $25,000 to every family who wore a bomb around their body to walk in to an Israeli town with innocent women, and children, and murder them. He also sent scud missles into Israel. WHY? Was Israel bothering him? How many of his own people in Iraq did he exterminate? Bottom line is Kelly, we are at war with these Jihad Islamic terrorist all over this world, and we need a leader who will not back down to these devils.

I would love a canidit to see the light, and touch on just a little bit of about what I mentioned in my e-mail to you. Please reconsider your vote for a leader. the choice is yours.

Sincerely,
Edward
_____________________
FYI: This is what I originally sent him:

Dear Edward,

My name is XX and I am a homemaker in Houston, Texas. I am writing to ask you to consider voting for Dr. Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President in Florida's Republican Primary this coming Tuesday.

Ron Paul is a 10-term Republican Congressman, a former flight surgeon in the US Air Force, and a medical doctor (OB/GYN) who helped to deliver more than 4,000 babies. He never took payments from the government as a doctor. Instead, he would do the work for free or a reduced fee.

In Congress, Dr. Paul has never voted to raise taxes and never voted for an unbalanced budget. He does not participate in the lucrative Congressional pension program because he does not think it is fair to taxpayers. Ron Paul even paid for the college educations of his five children instead of letting them have government loans. He has a clear plan for restoring value to our dollar and improving the economy for everyone.

Dr. Paul has received more donations from active military personnel than any other candidate. He is also the only candidate in either party who is a medical doctor (40 years of experience), so you know he understands the problems with our health care system.

Ron Paul is a principled man that I think anyone would be proud to vote for. He has been married to his wife Carol for over 50 years, he is extremely honest and genuine, and you always know where he stands. He believes in following the Constitution and the rule of law, and is exactly what our country needs. He is the only true small government candidate on the ballot this election.

Please consider voting for Dr. Paul at the primary this Tuesday, January 29, 2008. If you'd like to learn more, call Ron Paul's headquarters toll-free at 1-877-RON-PAUL (1-877-766-7285) or visit one of these websites:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA&feature=related

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
XXX

 

[hillertexas]

bump

 

[jeffersonT]

Edward appears to be waist-deep in Hannity-like "logic" (and some spelling and grammar problems).

Once you've accepted that 9/11 and the reaction is in any way similar to the situation of the second world war, I'm not sure you can dislodge the ensuing irrationalities.

Someone more people-friendly should probably help you out.

But, as far as fact-based reactions go:

Thanks, but no thank you! I want someone who will protect my children, and their children, and future generations from these, Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. These animals hate us, and always will because, we are free to choses. Women can vote, work, etc. If you do not believe in Ala, they believe you, and myself must be exterminated for believing in any other religion, or belief, and not theirs no matter where you live.

This Giuliani-drunk explanation for “why they hate us” goes completely against the facts.

First: Bin Laden himself (http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-24-2002-30919.asp ) contradicts these assumptions by listing out a myriad of American/Western interventions in different countries, all of which caused a good deal of civilian death—not to mention obliterating the rights of a nation to self-determination/national sovereignty. True, he does use the Islamic religion in the letter, but he would have no backing—suicide bombers, “martyrs”—if not for a real world cause to “get active.” That cause has usually been, similar to most third world situations in the past 150 yrs (from Vietnam to India to whatever), foreign—American, French, British, or otherwise—intervention in the affairs of other nations.

Second: Ron Paul does not believe that we should not deal with Islamic terrorism; he just thinks, quite rationally and in line with the founders, that one should not attack an entire nation—one not associated with the original enemy—in response to a band of terrorists who have no nation. Meaning: why would one attack Iraq—something all other candidates on the Republican side supported, and still support in the form of escalation of violence—further inflaming a region of the world already resentful in regards to past US interventions (two important ones: 1953 Iran, overthrew the democratically elected prime minister to protect British petroleum; first Gulf war and ensuing sanctions, killing an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 people, mostly children) and to continued US aid to Israel, and support of Israeli operations against Palestine and Lebanon. Would anyone in their right mind do this with the stated objective of protecting children and ending Islamic terrorism?

Ron Paul’s message is trade with all nations, peaceful relations, but no foreign entanglement—would this not immediately deplete the level of resentment and hatred toward the US, allowing for more precise targeting of specific terrorists, instead of whole nations?

(I have a feeling, though, that unless you can present this information in some less straightforward manner—which I’m not sure how to do—Edward will merely write you off as a “blame America first” personality.)

Not all Muslims are terrorist, their good people. But damm it, every terrorist attack has always been a Muslim.

Edward should study a little more history.

Wikipedia has a list of “terrorist incidents” through 1969: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents

They also have a list of terrorist groups:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_organizations

They’re not all Muslims—“damm it” (...)

Ron Paul is a good man, and it is true of the things you mentioned to me about him. He's a doctor, and we need more good Doctors in our world. I would not raise taxes either. I don't think anyone in their right mind would.

Ron Paul’s the only candidate I’m aware of who has not raised taxes. Romney? Pssh. Huckabee? Give me a break. Giuliani? (...) McCain? Bullshit. Democrats? Well, obviously.

Please remember that this country was attacked on our soil, our land, and over 3,000 innocent, Women, Men, and Children were murdered in a matter of 2 hours on 9-11-2001. Why? Because Ron says it is our fault? Over 6,000,000.00 innocent people, (children), were exterminated because it was America's fault? Please give me a break! What would have happened if America did not get involved in world war 2? All of Europe would have been defeated, and who knows what this world would be today. We dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, and now they are one of our closets allies.

Here’s the association I don’t understand. How does he jump from 9/11 to the holocaust?

1. One should consider the deaths of those not living in America, but caused by US interventions and policies. Hint: it’s more than 3,000. By a long shot.
2. World War II, as many if not most scholars would agree, was directly related to the horrible policies surrounding the first world war, and then following treaties surrounding the rise of Hitler. This is fact-based history. One can try to follow history logically, or you can pursue the “eternally good US” vs. “eternally bad whomever” line of anti-logic.

Yes, I agree that the United Kingdom, and the US, and the UN security council did not get perfect info. But if you were commander of a free, civilized country, and you got information from what you believed was solid info that Suddam was building an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, would you just sit back and do nothing?

You’re assuming I trust George W. Bush to be honest, and not manipulate information, and to even have a “good will” toward anything. The fact is that the US scraped together justifications to attack "Suddam," back from the late 1990s on. Clinton is included in this; as are the future policy makers Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and company. They scraped together ANYTHING they could use, with the well-known, blatantly stated aim of justifying an attack on Iraq.

It is also a fact that Saddam’s regime was so weak he couldn’t have done anything if he wanted to. Sanctions had been draining the country for 10 years, and we had previously bombed out most of the infrastructure in the country. They were a threat to NO ONE.

The Israeli government, believe me is very happy today that Suddam H. is gone!

No fucking shit! (“Suddam”?)

This man was paying $25,000 to every family who wore a bomb around their body to walk in to an Israeli town with innocent women, and children, and murder them. He also sent scud missles into Israel. WHY? Was Israel bothering him?

Well, they bombed Iraq in 1981. Plus, there’s a little thing commonly known in Arab circles as....the OCCUPATION.

How many of his own people in Iraq did he exterminate? Bottom line is Kelly, we are at war with these Jihad Islamic terrorist all over this world, and we need a leader who will not back down to these devils.

Plus, the fact that Saddam was a bad guy is not the argument. But there are many, many horrible dictators. That’s not the issue. One could trace back through American foreign policy and discover how much we actually “care” whether a dictator runs a country or not. One could also look at the Pakistani situation. Pinochet, the Shah of Iran, the situation in Indonesia and East Timor (Suharto), Papa and Baby Doc....these are sufficient evidence against the idea that the “Noble US” have ever done anything without first checking out the business interests inherent in a policy decision.



As I said, you’d have to revise this to make it appear less confrontational. But that’s the jist of it.

Someone else may be able to better state it.

 

[nosebruise]

try to keep it on his level:

tell him ron wants to protect his family more than the other guys.

ron thinks we should protect nation at home, iraq wasnt going to attack us, and the russians had much more firepower during the cold war than the iraqis could even dream of having.

ron wants the intelligence to be more efficient and not so bloated and bureaucratic so 9/11 events will get caught before they have a chance to happen.

ron will deal with terrorists accordingly.

we've lost a lot of dont have much protection at home with our troops over in iraq. besides his children and grandchildren will be up to their eyebrows in government debt.


etc etc.

i'd throw some facts in and all but kinda keep stuff like that in there as it seems he wants to deal with it on a basic emotional level. tell him why ron would be better to protect his family and future generations, and why perpetuating the war would actually be harmful to his grandchildren. but keep it simple and emotional.

 

[ryanmkeisling]

Wow. This guy listens to Bill O. I would let that one go as a waste of time. You will never convince this person otherwise. It is hysteria. This person clearly believes that dropping a nuclear bomb is the way to peace and alliance? It is clearly one more American struggling to deal with his/her feelings regarding 9/11 and with an ego so big that they could never realize guilt or accept responsibility for our actions as a nation. We have been terrorizing the world for decades. By current definitions even JFK was a terrorist and every president that followed him did just a little more. It is a huge task to try and correct the common misconceptions about who and what we are as a nation, especially when there are so many people out there helping it along. The TRUTH is very disturbing...

 

[sheepledog]

How about just sending him this link to read:

http://www.ronpauliswrong.com/


(It's actually all about how 'right' Ron Paul is)

 

[phixion]

Tell your friend to get some perspective and remind him there are more prevalent issues to worry about if fear is his thing.

There's more chance his children will commit suicide or die at the hands of medical practitioners than being on the end of a terrorist attack.

The 9/11 event killed about 3,000 Americans. Since then, over 10 million Americans have died not because of age-related issues, most of them from causes that might have been prevented.

1. Heart disease killed between 2000-2005 3,119,142 Americans. Cases of death caused by heart disease are related to the obesity pandemics and metabolic syndrome that accompanies it. In 25 years the obesity rate doubled in US (reaching 33% and some say that by 2015 it could be 75 %!)

2. Smoking related diseases killed in the same period 2,652,000 Americans.
Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in the United States. Annually, over 400,000 Americans (276,000 men and 142,000 women) die from cigarette smoking. One in every five deaths in the US is smoking related, mostly lung cancer.

3. During this period 2,311,134 Americans died of different types of cancer, other than smoking related ones. 44,300 American women die annually of breast cancer, while in men, lung cancer and liver cancer are the most dangerous, in 90% of the cases related to alcohol consumption. 18.7 million Americans (7.7 % of the population) abuse of alcohol or are alcohol dependent.

4. 436,890 Americans died between 2000-2005 of diabetes. Most of the cases were type II (adult diabetes) linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome.

5. Medical mistakes killed 264,000 people in US during the same period, mostly by wrong medication.

6. Second-hand smoke is the culprit for 228,000 deaths amongst Americans in an interval of 5 years. Annually, second-hand smoke (environmental tobacco smoke) kills 3,000 people in US from lung cancer. Researches also link second-hand smoke with heart disease.

7. 180,000 Americans managed to commit suicide in the same period. 30,000 commit suicide annually, one at each 16 minutes and most have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder.

8. Obesity killed 154,884 US citizens in five years. Obesity is accompanied by two or three of these issues: diabetes and cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, elevated levels of the blood triglycerides (saturated fats) and low levels of the artery-protecting HDL cholesterol.

9. Lack of health care killed 108,000 Americans between 2000-2005.

10. Drunk driving is responsible for 102,000 deaths.

11. 96,000 Americans got killed in the same period (homicides). 2004 FBI data estimated a rate of 5.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, mainly by firearm.

12. Compare this with the 3,000 victims of the 9/11 events, when four U.S. planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. This is not all about the sheer number of deaths: families, friends and co-workers who lived their personal drama were left behind.

Regards,

Pete

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

here

1.) Dr. Paul voted for fighting those who attacked us on 9/11

2.) Dr. Paul wants us to find Osama Bin Laden and stop giving billions of dollars to countries who hide him out

3.) If his take on foreign policy is so flawed than why does our own CIA agree with him about the causes of middle eastern turmoil

4.) Saddam used to pay families of suicide bombers but we are paying those same people $10 every day to not shoot at us plus we are giving billions of dollars worth of arms and mmunition to middle eastern countries - all of this will stop under a Paul administration

 

[DealzOnWheelz]

Explain to him the Letters of Marque and Reprisal to hunt down OSAMA Bin LADEN

This guy is really out there.

Ask him if it is ok to go around shooting people in the US because you are scared they might shoot you first

 

[VoteForRonPaul]

We dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, and now they are one of our closets allies.

All the letter is a thing and this sentence sums everything

If I am from you, seriously I would send him a letter to thank him and ask him politely to vote for either Gulliani or McCain.

 

[hillertexas]

Thanks everyone...I think I have everything I need to respond to the guy.

 

[snaFU]

we Dropped A Nuke On Japan And Now We Are At Peace

Lmao Fucking Gold

 

[jglapski]

Tell your friend to get some perspective and remind him there are more prevalent issues to worry about if fear is his thing.

There's more chance his children will commit suicide or die at the hands of medical practitioners than being on the end of a terrorist attack.

Regards,

Pete

That won't convince him, for several reasons:
1. There's more chance his children will die at the hands of a medical practitioner than by being in war.
2. The next terrorist attack could be much worse.

The way to do convince him is to simply highlight Paul's record regarding Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden:
1. Ron Paul voted to go to war in Afghanistan in order to deal with the Taliban and al Qaeda.
2. He has been critical of the subcontracting out of US defense by tribal warlords, which contributed to Osama bin Laden's escape at Tora Bora.
3. Unlike John McCain, who considers Musharraf "One of the good guys," Ron Paul has been opposed to supporting third world dictators that currently harbor Osama bin Laden.
4. Unlike John McCain, Ron Paul never supported American foreign aid to the Taliban in the 1990s and to Osama bin Laden during the 1980s.
5. Ron Paul introduced HR 3074 "Air Piracy Reprisal and Capture Act of 2001" and HR 3076 "September 11 Marque and Reprisal Act of 2001" which allows for Congress to authorize private citizens to eliminate Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.