Thread: 9/11

Originally Posted by Marcus

Но атаковали-то Пентагон. Если б это было возможно, как же Америка смогла победить Советский Союз, который был гораздо сильнее, чем все Аль-Кайды вместе взятые.

[a light going on...]



Hmmmm... so if America didn't plan 9/11, and it really was done by Al-Qaeda, then...

...that would suggest that the USSR was weaker or less competent than Al-Qaeda, which succeeded at something the USSR never managed to do, namely make a big smoking hole in the Pentagon. Since it's manifestly absurd that the USSR was weaker than Al-Qaeda, America must have planned 9/11, QED.

Sheesh, is that what this is about for you, Marcus?

Anyway, I would question your some of your assumptions, here:

Америка смогла победить Советский Союз

I'm sure Ronald Raygun would be delighted to hear you say that "Америка победила Советский Союз," but I don't think that's a fair description of history. Rather, I would borrow a quote from Хрущёв and say that "Америка похоронила Советский Союз" -- we didn't defeat you guys, we have outlived you (thus far!) and were still around to attend your funeral, to use Khrushchev's metaphor. Moreover, in whatever sense we "defeated" you, we did so not on the battlefield, but mainly by having more disposable cash to spend on hugely expensive nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, Al Qaeda has so far not managed to either победить or похоронить America -- they succeeded in killing a bunch of people, destroy some valuable NYC real estate, and cause some expensive damage to one side of the Pentagon (which has long since been repaired).

And apart from that, the USSR's ambitions towards America (whatever they may have been) were obviously restrained by the fact that the Soviet political and military leaders were essentially rational and they took the nuclear "MAD" threat seriously.

But Al Qaeda may have had the luxury and advantage of not caring whether the US nuked Mecca in response to 9/11 (since the destruction of Mecca would have either caused a worldwide uprising of a billion Muslims, or possibly triggered the Second Coming Of Muhammad in a majestic fiery chariot from heaven -- either way, it's win-win from Al Qaeda's perspective).

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

[a light going on...]

Moreover, in whatever sense we "defeated" you, we did so not on the battlefield, but mainly by having more disposable cash to spend on hugely expensive nuclear weapons.

This point is arguable, Throbert, in that America paid for much of the weaponry used by the Taliban (or as we used to call them back then - "Afghan freedom fighters") to defeat the Soviets. That in turn had significant economical ramifications for the USSR. Ultimately, yes, it was an economic war - but make no mistake, people died on the battlefield as a result.

Charlie Wilson's War, anyone...?