You ask if we're safe and I don't feel as though that is a valid way to express this particular concern.
We're rarely "safe" from anything. Heart disease and cancer are all "threats" to ones' safety and if you stand on any corner in Harlem and yell out "I got 20K in my pocket and nobody around here is man enough to take it from me" will surely (and quickly) learn just how "un-safe" you are in America and that threat comes by way of other Americans.
Complications to the analogy occur because of "reasonable expectations of safety". If you eat poorly all through your life or smoke, it's reasonable to expect that you may have to pay a price later on and that price may very well be your own life. It's also reasonable to expect your ass is going to get jacked if you stand on a corner and yell out that you have money in a depressed neighborhood.
It's not reasonable to expect that when you get onto an airplane that someone on board is going to try and crash it into a buillding or blow it up. It's not reasonable to go to work and expect an airplane to be flown into your building
Because of the events of 9/11 we have to expect it now - but it's not reasonable.
Islamic fascists hate you and everything you stand for but it goes much further than that. If Tassy stood opposed to everything you support - they'd hate her too.. let me rephase that... they DO hate her and wouldn't think twice before beheading you or her and showing the event to the world.
Diplomacy will *never* work with these people. You can't muddy the waters with words of fairness and diplomacy when the people you are opposed to have no concious - no qualms against killing a child to get their message heard and that message is simple enough...
Believe what they believe, do as their teachings say you should do or you should die.... and they're more than willing to kill you if you don't.
I do disagree with you when you say that long term violence doesn't solve problems. Though it sucks to have to go through the process, you'll never again see Germany trying to overtake Europe or Japan the South Pacific and yes, I know this is an over generalization but my point is a valid one.
You can't use diplomacy to get termites to stop eating your house - they don't understand and though it is simple destruction, they don't see it that way. You have to kill them or lose your house. Islamic facists are the same way.
It sucks because they're "humans with communication tools" so you *should" be able to reason with them but until you come to terms with the fact that reasoning or diplomacy just don't work - it'll continue to mess with you as to why we gotta' do what we gotta' do to "protect" our way of life - hell just our very lives.
That's my
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