X-Message-Number: 18780 From: "George Smith" <> References: <> Subject: Re: CryoNett #18774 Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:34:24 -0800 In Message #18774 David Verbeke was precisely right. I fully expect that a major European city along the coast most probably will be the first terrorist nuclear attack on a city. London or Paris seem likely targets. The current crop of Europeans as a whole now lacks the survivors of WW II to personally remind them that the world remains a brutal place due to the immaturity of short lived human beings. Hitlers happen. The current crop of Americans are sustained by a mythos of military macho which fortunately serves the purpose of inserting a safety net of honesty regarding combat and self defense. John Wayne and Rambo movies, along with the Davy Crockett and Zorro stories on television and in the cinemas keep the US population as a whole pro force in regard to war. My European friends do not yet grasp that almost every home and vehicle in the US has a displayed American flag now. "United We Stand" is not an idle phrase but a deeply held American attitude now. It is not 100%. But it is definitely a majority. What is not yet understood by the now pacified and disarmed civilian populations of Europe is that WW III has begun. And it is not over. Whether through insight or naivete, Americans DO as a whole understand the authentic stakes in this "game". The stakes are survival. That Israel has acted as a lightning rod for radical Islamist aggression seems to be missed by most. If there had been no Israel where would that focus of hate been placed all these years? The belief that Israel CAUSES this hate seems clearly to stem from a lack of understanding in regard to the MOTIVES behind Islamist hate. If it wasn't Israel, they would find someone else to blame. If there had been no Jews in Germany, Hitler would have picked some other group to blame. However, the distance the North American continent has from the Euro-Asian hotbed remains a formidable defense in its own right. It is simply easier (now) to lob a nuclear missile from Iraq to Paris than to Detroit. It is simply easier (now) to load a nuclear weapon on a ship and cruise it up the Seine or under London Bridge than to cross the Atlantic to New York harbor. I have no doubt that China has already targeted for about two years US West coast cities. For the US this is a serious problem. Hopefully capitalism will eventually undermine the communist autocracy in that never changing nation of China before something "bad" happens. Hopefully Coca Cola will eventually undermine communism. Frankly I can think of no location in the world better for storing cryonics members that the US. Better to place your assets and loved ones in an armed fortress than in the center of the armed conflict. In this regard I see the governments of Europe overall in denial. I hope they can sleep through the present dangers and never have the rude awakening I see as likely. This is a bottleneck in history. But the belief that politics can continue as usual in Europe (see this week's Economist for a fair run down on this issue) and that the problem simplistically stems from supporting Israel, is not supported by the evidence of history. Daniel Pipes is a recognized authority in this area and he has consistently expressed the view that force is required to control the Islamist radical movement. It is the only thing which has EVER worked. If we can get past this bottleneck and grow up as a species, things can and will be different. I would suggest that it is important to not let the whims of national identity cloud our minds. We are not Belgiums, Americans, French, British, etc. We are Immortalists. We need to try and identity the authentic trend of things so we can realize our personal goals in a world still run by children. I remain optimistic. I want to mine the asteroids. George Smith CI member Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18780