a tad controversial

[The Captain]

All countries have their flaws, America's are just the most prevelant because our actions have repercussions everywhere, even places we might never visit. Still, we are guaranteed certain liberties, which I enjoy using to its fullest extent, and for that alone, I am grateful that I was born here. Yes, we have corrupt politics. When the creater of a voting booth that will be used in the upcoming elections, says he wants "George Bush to win", that could spell corruption, but sadly, it's everywhere. The question is, what will we actually do about it? I'm happy I can actually ask these questions, and attempt to find answers.

Take care all.

[DarkNation]

Originall posted by emerald aeris:
[q]
They're not freedom fighters. The US wasn't invading them.
[/q]

Actually you are wrong. There was a very interesting documentary on bbc the other day which investigated the real osama bin laden and his past and all that. The reason why al qaeda started up was because american troops were setting foot on what they saw as their "holy land". This was years ago when american troops entered saudi arabia (i think it was saudi arabia anyway). Whatever country it was, it contained the two most important cities in their religion (two holy cities, dont know what they are called but their religion states that certain holy events happened in these cities in the past). Their entire goal was to get america off this holy land. It is not something american culture can really understand but its the truth. Osama bin laden made repeated threats to america to stop tresspassing unrespectfully on this holy land and eventually these people saw what america was doing as a declaration of jihad or "holy war". In their minds, america started the war and it is their duty to fight america according to their religion. The point im making is that yes, al qaeda really do see themselves as being right.

The thing is that the american media is extremely biased in their reporting. Over here, sky news has some agreement with CBS and we get to see CBS's news reports. Compared to the media over here, we can see how CBS only gives one side of every story. I can guarantee you that americans would be amazed to see some of the unbiased stuff we get over here. We also get to see ABC's reports through the bbc and its the exact same situation.

Just to clarify, i have no sympathies for al qaeda. I think that the way they choose to express their point is entirely wrong. They should not kill innocent people, but america probably should have had more respect for the islam religion and culture and stuff.

[Doomgaze]

But we didn't INVADE Saudia Arabia.

[DarkNation]

Well the point is that the troops were there to fight and they were there to fight on holy land. That was all that mattered to al qaeda.
Anyway, just out of interest, what do americans feel about the biased reporting thing. Do ye realise whats going on? Are there people who are against this. Do the general public take it all in. Do ye have ways of getting the full stories behind events?

[Big D]

Al Qaeda'a major gripes are with the widespread influence of the US's culture and moral values throughout the Middle East, as well as international military action and interest in the area.
On the first count, they could simply choose to ignore western literature and music; on the second count, they should leave it up to individual governments to deal with military matters. As it stands, Saudi Arabia was quite happy to host US military personnel, yet Al Qaeda directs most of its hatred outward.
As with any group of religious fundamentalists, they won't be happy as long as there are forces in the world that don't share their extremist views. Fanatics look down on anyone with different views; Al Qaeda doesn't have a problem with killing liberal Muslims.

Of course, there are reasons for Al Qaeda's actions, and they believe their cause is righteous, but none of that vindicates their actions.

[The Captain]

In all honesty, all media will be baised one way or the other, because they are run and reported by human beings. It is impossible to remain completely objective forever on every single issue, so every once and a while a story might have a bit of personal opinion involved. That being said, I find the best balancing act is to read and watch news from several points of view. I'm a die hard New York Times reader, but I also read papers from England, Spain, Australia, the Middle East and the like because it gives different perspectives on matters. I think by getting all different accounts, then you can really see the whole picture. If every single paper says the same thing, then I'll take it as being more or less true and not so much baised in view. However, if a certain detail is different or opposing, then it really pays to see both sides before passing any sort of judgement.

Take care all.