Anyone who would cheer on 9/11 is just a scumbag, plain and simple. kanineplus simply isn't worth dealing with/debating under any circumstances after that. You're going to say that and dare to lecture us on democracy or anything else?!?!?

and that's on top of being another annoying Yank (I cheered on 9 11) - kaninelupus

Yeah - that's kind of scary. Somehow I don't remember cheering about Chernobyl ...

Given that the comment was made to specifically goad an @rsehole who has been using the rating system to pay out for my disagreeing with him (as well as publicly abusing and insulting anyone who doesn't share his point of view), you can take it as you like.

While I may not have cheered, I certainly hold no sympathy. You may not like that, but I can't forget the fact that both Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were funded, armed and empowered by your country, all in the name of playing out its own political agenda in everyone else's backyard... that's not counting the many other countries that have similarly been played with. How many millions have died as a result of that?? Or the war started in Iraq, based on nothing more than fear and out-right lies? While I may never have liked Saddam or anything he stood for, I still cannot accept the fact that the US had some god-given right to go in and blow the crap out of the country for its own motives (same as a large portion of this country was mad as hell when our government sent even a token force in... my brother-in-law being one of them). I actually have more sympathy for your troops than those effected in 9 11, as not only are they often left to pay the consequences when fools get voted in, I would imagine that voting would be far higher amongst the armed forces; both because of a higher sense of civic duty, and because they know first hand the importance of getting it right.

While I may pity the individuals, I have no sympathy for your country itself... what that day cost your country is nothing short of minute when compared that which many many other countries have suffered all because of the way your country has gone about its business; because the same sorts of fools keep being put into power; because even after 9 11, few if any stopped and wondered why exactly your country draws so much animosity across the globe. It could have been a catalyst for a positive change... but that never happened.

THIS is why I get so damned angry about the apathy displayed at the voting polls, or the general ignorance both national and international politics. When you guys allows idiots to take the helm, that doesn't just effect your country... it effects the rest of us who had no say over who gets elected over there at all. We're just left to pay the price!

Don't kid yourself. It wasn't directed at one person. You posted it in a place where everyone could see it. It was directed at all of us. There are twenty million things you could have posted if you just wanted to go after one person. You picked 9/11, something designed to enrage every American (and hopefully the entire civilized world).

So did you cheer or not? You already said that you did. So did you make it up just to make us (like I said before, no insult involving 9/11 is directed at one person) mad?

Yes, a huge part of the Australian public was against the Iraq invasion. But fortunately, very very few of them would approve of you cheering on 9/11. The vast majority of Australians realize that there is nothing to cheer about for 9/11 and that we have a common enemy in al Qaeda in spite of any disagreements they have regarding our foreign policy. Seems to me al Qaeda killed quite a few Australians in Bali. Perhaps you read about that?

Tell the troops you cheered on 9/11. They'll tell you where to put your sympathy. And you've already expressed by cheering how much sympathy you have for those affected by 9/11.



Petunia Rose is 100% correct. You don't cheer when stuff like this happens, whether it's Chernobyl or 9/11. And if you do cheer, take responsibility for the blackness in your heart that causes you to cheer. Don't pretend that your cheering has anything to do with our foreign policy.

Because you did not. Any decent person did recognize the human tragedy, and the seriousness of the incident. I would risk to state that most likely you felt sympathy as many would had done. Even if their government policies were at fault.

No, it was posted on feedback board, which considering few ppl scan other ppl's profile to see what feedback is given, was fairly discretely placed... and given that no matter how the shot was fired it would have as likely been pasted in here.....

Cheered - no. Sympathetic - no. Surprised - no. You will no doubt not like hearing this, but given the way your country has been playing backyard politics in everyone else's backyard, I'm highly surprised it has taken this long for something like this to happen. I may not approve of the actions they took, but can very much understand the anger and the blatant hostility.

I mean let's review... your government, funded, armed and empowered Bin Ladden because it suited their cause in during the Cold War and side-conflicts with anything USSR. Your country then cuts him loose, plays politics in his backyard, etc. When it backfires in the form of 9/11, rather than stepping back and figuring out how to break the cycle they actually began, they first prey on the fears of your country's citizens and bomb the crap out of a country which already detests you (as well as being poverty stricken for the most part), and then completely disrespecting their culture, simply because it isn't the "American Way", tell them they need to be more like you!

THEN, just because the party had already started your insane President decides to finish the war his Daddy started. The UN refused to sanction it, so not only was the response along the lines of "we're America, we'll do as we please"; the American media absolutely ridiculed those who openly opposed (ie, France and Germany). Your allies then got bullied and blackmailed into supporting you guys, putting not only your own troops at risk, but everyone else's as well!!

I'm SO glad you brought that one up, as it has a HELL OF LOT TO DO WITH THE ANGER AIMED YOUR COUNTRY'S WAY! After all the weeks of constant media play on 9/11, Bali got all of five minutes of coverage in America... really nice! After the way our country's armed forces got dragged in to support your forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, we got left to deal with Bali on our own!

Then we can compare the way each event was handled..... after 9/11, the US response was bomb first, ask questions later! America felt perfectly justified in dealing with Afghani citizens under US law - even when it related to events not on US soil, including the detention of David Hicks, an AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN, not guilty of ANY crimes on US soil (was never even a combatant)... and fought tooth and nail when Australia held that America had no authority to detain and prosecute him (an we're supposed to be an ALLY!)

Compare that to Bali... Australian Federal Police got invited in, the worked in partnership with Bali authorities, treated the locals with respect, and finally allowed Bali to deal with the perpetrators under their own sovereign law... see a difference??

You talk of outrage... where was your outrage when your government was playing politics in others' backyards? Where was your outrage when ppl were dying at the hands of dictators your government put into power? Where was your outrage when your government used 9/11 to first strip away even more of your rights, continued the cycle of violence and hostility (making your country an even bigger target), sent your troops into two wars they should never have been involved, putting their lives at risk and sinking your country into ridiculous debt; and then heavily filtered any media coverage lest the public see too much of what was going on (a lesson learned from the first war in Iraq). Where was your outrage over the twisting of your country's laws by sending detainees to Guantanamo Bay so that prisoners had absolutely NO legal protections or representation? Shall I go on??

Sympathy?? Had your country actually learned a damn thing from those horrid events, then you'd get a world of sympathy. Had your citizens actually stood up and demanded answers, or decided to take your anger and concern to the polls, again, a world of sympathy. But that never happened!!

Apples and oranges.

Chernobyl was the result of negligence, poor safety policies/legislation, mismanagement, under-funding etc... a tragic event.

9/11 was the result of:

• The US constantly interfering with/disrespecting the politics and cultures of foreign countries with nought but your own interests in mind
  
• The utter ignorance/arrogance/apathy of US citizens in regards to foreign policy/practices of your government
  
• The way your government/media/citizens vilify anything non-American or that is contrary to your own belief-systems.

You guys claim "no civilised" person could condone or comprehend the actions taken on 9/11. Talking to returned Australian soldiers from the US-lead conflict, and their family members (the school I work in has a large number of military families), you have absolutely no idea the animosity from your "allies" who've witnessed first-hand the true effect of entering a war that should never have been. If you think only a few "black-hearted" individuals are either lacking in sympathy for the US over 9/11, or are disgusted with your country's conduct or the apathy of its citizens, you really have your head buried in the sand.... your country lost SO much sympathy over the way your country has behaved since 9/11.

You guys preach "democracy", forgetting that it was something (like with most democratic nations) that didn't happen by accident.... as a people, you fought for it - you chose it. Now, completely contrary to the whole concept of democracy, your country sees fit to try and force other nations, not only become democratic nations in their own right, but to adopt your own watered-down version of democracy! If that's not the very height of arrogance, I really don't know what is!

But at the end of the day, it really is not surprising that a vast majority of your country remains ignorant, not only in regards to your own political system or of the behaviour/practices of your own government, but also in regards to ethnic cultures & beliefs. When you have a political institution which spends exponentially more on the military than on education, it really is no wonder first-world country such as your own has a third-world education system, with third-world literacy, numeracy and general comprehension levels.... all the better to hoodwink you with I guess!

Putting Hicks in Gitmo was major overkill, no argument there. Everything I've seen about him shows he was extremely low level and a pretty confused guy who wasn't all that sure about why he was there and why he was doing what he was doing. Basically an adventure seeker who got in way over his head. Saying he wasn't a combatant is a real stretch though. From Amnesty International in Australia (it's not entirely clear to me who wrote this. No author is listed, but it's on Amnesty's website):

http://www.amnesty.org.au/hrs/commen..._story_so_far/

Key words : "Following the 9/11 attacks". He was cooperating with the Taliban in Afghanistan post-9/11 by his own choice. He was a combatant. 9/11 was a crime on US soil and not just a crime, it was an act of war against not just the U.S. Hicks had nothing to do with it, but al Qaeda admitted to it, the Taliban refused to cooperate and hand him over. The Taliban hence became our and Australia's enemy, so he's in a war zone fighting for the other side.


Perhaps if the Taliban had invited us in and helped us arrest bin Laden and kicked al Qaeda out of the country, we wouldn't have had to act militarily. Do YOU see a difference?

At first he couldn't camouflage the offending odor that a descomposing carcass starts emanating. Now, we see the result of the maggots oozing out to light.

So those are the three reasons, eh? No blame goes out to anybody but us? It, like everything else in the world, is all our fault. Is it even remotely possible that al Qaeda and the Taliban had anything to do with it? That the 19 hijackers themselves need to accept some responsibility? Does Saudi Arabia not have to look at its own society and perhaps ponder the fact that Osama bin Laden and most of the hijackers were Saudi and maybe there is a reason why that has very little to do with us? Maybe the indoctrination in the madrassas and the mosques around the world might possibly be contributing factors too? There's a lot of respect for and no villification of people who don't share the same belief system there, isn't there?

Nope, there apparently are three causes of 9/11 and they're all 100% our fault.