Crazy Idea : TALK

After hearing US Defence Secretary nominee Robert Gates tells his confirmation hearing the US is not winning the war in Iraq, here's a mad, crazy idea. Why not for once TALK to the 'enemy' ? At every juncture of this current mess the US just dismissed everyone & everything point blank & come out all gung ho.
Talk to your 'enemies' people & organisations & be a little fairer in the eyes of the World for a change & maybe we would see some some progress !

Question is how do you open negotiations with people like the insurgents?

Didn't Bush mention sometime ago that we dont negotiate with terrorist?

Yeah, I'm sure nobody has thought of that before. While it would be wonderful if the world were just that simple, unfortunately it's not. Every since I was a kid, I always wondered why can't everybody just get along? Why does there have to be pain and war? But I've learned through the years, that there are just plain greedy and selfish people in the world and you can't always reason with everybody.

Ever try to reason with a really selfish a-hole? People like that don't just sit there and try to calmly listen to you. They shoot down everything you say and twist your words to make it sound like it's your fault. Ok, now think about doing that on a global scale. Some people just don't want to talk and some just don't want to listen!

How can you expect America come to terms with a bunch of fanatics that send children and mothers to die in the name of God, or an idealogy that demands you kill all infidels if they refuse to covert to Islam?


The answer is you can't........

You are all entitled to your opinions but I think the current stance of non negotiation fails miserably. Look at the carnage every day on the news, its very very sad with the innocent lives lost.
As proven in countless campaigns around the world most recently the UK with the IRA (funded in part by the by the US !) talking to each other works.
Maybe some leaders have other agendas as the oil companies & weapons companies have never had it so good, lots of money to be made by someone. Anyway if the talking failed what would we have lost ... nothing.

Originally posted by OldBoy

As proven in countless campaigns around the world most recently the UK with the IRA (funded in part by the by the US !) talking to each other works.

Big Difference between Sunni/Shiites and Irish Catholics.

ANd who do you talk to? Dozens of independantly operating factions are carrying out Terrorist attacks, cant win.

Originally posted by OldBoy
You are all entitled to your opinions but I think the current stance of non negotiation fails miserably. Look at the carnage every day on the news, its very very sad with the innocent lives lost.
As proven in countless campaigns around the world most recently the UK with the IRA (funded in part by the by the US !) talking to each other works.
Maybe some leaders have other agendas as the oil companies & weapons companies have never had it so good, lots of money to be made by someone. Anyway if the talking failed what would we have lost ... nothing.

You do realise it took us over 30 plus years of fighting and negotiations before we actually solved this mess, right? And even then its still not finished.

Originally posted by IspyU
Didn't Bush mention sometime ago that we dont negotiate with terrorist?

Yeah he did. A grave weakness on his part if you ask me. Lots of this can be avoided if people would put aside their petty differences for a moment to talk about everyone as a whole.

Wow what a difference TALK can actually make huh ?

I remmber before the USA invaded Iraq..

Saddam hiself asked.. .almost BEGGED bush for DIRECT dialogue to break any barriers between them...

Bush, refused. because he felt talking to saddam, who was activley holding wmd's to threaten the world with, wasnt worthy of talk.

Looky looky..

talking to the man America would not be in the HORRIBLE position it is now.
100,000's of people would be alive, enjoying there childerens laughter, and there families home...

Nkorea asked for direct talks with the USA..
the USA refused.

NOW look where that got us, they have detonated a nuclear device, and have put them selves front and centre.. and boy isnt the US po'd about it.

Imagine if we hadda TALKED!

Iran is asking for direct talks with the US, but the US refused to talk to terrorists states...
Now Iran are contuing with there plans, while screaming death to Israel and death the USA.
who knows WHATS going to happen, but i think you can gaurantee, we'd all have a lot better handle on the situation had we of accepted there offer to TALK!

I personally think the time to talk with the insurgent groups in Iraq has come and gone.
It should of happened in 2004, 2005 at the LATEST.
Its now almost 2007, civil war has brocken out, and a large marjoirty of death and destruction in Iraq has no direct link with the US.
the US caused it to become this way, but no matter WHAT the USA does now, its going to continue regardless of what happens.

The feature that differentiates us from animals is the ability of reason.
We become as stupid as door knobs when we refuse to achnowledge that wonderful gift of nature.

Had we of talked, reasoned and negotiated with various nations in the past decades, the world would be a hell of a lot better.

I wonder, does george refuse talks simply because he is stupid?
Surely the leader of the free world needing help understanding someone talking to him, would look pretty stupid.

Spot On Catfish.
Lets talk & stop funding the miltary & the propaganda that fuels it.
Ban all leaders from secret society memberships & tell israel to get bent.
Wasp it is a difficult question for someone like the mentalist bush, surely not you.
How do you start a discussion !

Agit8dchop mabye you've noticed the "diffrence" that the EU has had when talking to iran? Bugger all.
Civil war has broken out has it? Take it your qouting from the leader of an orginisation that (who I still support) has FAILED to enforce its own rules, hell it cant even get its own members to contribute to its peacekeeping forces (not to mention most people in the US think the UN is useless.) With respect to koni where is the UN fleet off africa stopping the fighting between warlords?

I'll tell you where, sitting in thier respective countries bases because no one is willing to risk thier troops and become labbeled rapists or baby killers because they have to stop fighitng with force.

Oh and to answer your question, if sadam did ask bush to talk but bush refused why did Sadamm not talk to the other forces involved?

Originally posted by OldBoy

How do you start a discussion !

Unfortunately I don't really know. Step one would to be tossing aside your differences. It's easier said than done though, obviously.

[edit on 8-12-2006 by Catfish]

Originally posted by devilwasp
Agit8dchop mabye you've noticed the "diffrence" that the EU has had when talking to iran? Bugger all.
Civil war has broken out has it? Take it your qouting from the leader of an orginisation that (who I still support) has FAILED to enforce its own rules, hell it cant even get its own members to contribute to its peacekeeping forces (not to mention most people in the US think the UN is useless.) With respect to koni where is the UN fleet off africa stopping the fighting between warlords?

I'll tell you where, sitting in thier respective countries bases because no one is willing to risk thier troops and become labbeled rapists or baby killers because they have to stop fighitng with force.

Oh and to answer your question, if sadam did ask bush to talk but bush refused why did Sadamm not talk to the other forces involved?

How exactly are the UN Able to 'enforce' their own rules to begin with?
Saddam didnt bother talking to the other forces involved, because it was BUSH beating the drum for war.
It was BUSH declaring saddams WMD Aresenal.
It was BUSH's FATHER that was at war with saddam earlier and slapped on the sanctions.

War should be the LAST resort to any issue.
Saddam asked to talk to bush, bush flat out refused.

That to me says it all.

Bush wouldnt DARE of talked to sadam prior to the invasion, because saddam would of said we have nothing, please come and inspect my entire country, just keep it quiet as i hve to appear able to stand up to the evil iranian's.

Talk... why was talking to saddam so bad in 2003?

AFter all that has happened, dont you think TALK is exactly what we needede to do ?

Innocent americans and Iraqi's and various other nations are dying in vein, for nothing.. OVER LIES! Talking, if BUSH had of been an HONEST and LEGITIMATE leader would of stopped all this before it happend.


A Curropt, murderous TYRANT would REFUSE to talk, and declare war without even directly speaking to the man your wagin war against.

BUSH and CO HAVE TO HANG FOR THIS .

IF they dont, the AMERICAN PUBLIC will for ever be hated, and publically SHAMED.

the public dont want this war, the president does.


George bush sacrifieced your citirzens to GET INTO IRAQ.
now he's willing to sacrifice your NATION, over pride.

Jesus... Im at a loss to see good hearted americans still siding with this total failure of a human being.

So is there actually a clear definition of what the 'terrorists' want, or how we could get them to stop threatening us?

Or is it just because "they hate us for our freedom"?

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
How exactly are the UN Able to 'enforce' their own rules to begin with?

The whole point of the UN is there to keep the peace and keeping the peace requires force, unfortunatly no one in the UN seems to be willing to use that force.

AFter all that has happened, dont you think TALK is exactly what we needede to do ?

Yes it IS what was needed but then WHY didnt he just talk to americas number one ally? If he cared so much about his country then he would have tried EVERY option, not just talking to bush.

Jesus... Im at a loss to see good hearted americans still siding with this total failure of a human being.

Are you a pilot? You seem to have target obsession, and peopel wonder why we cant have diplomacy when we have people obsessed like so.

If president bush wanted to talk to you , would you do it? Or would you call him a murdering scumbag and spit in his face...