Riz Khan - The long war - 16 March 09 - Part 1

Philip Bobbitt, who has advised six US administrations going back to the Carter administration in the 1970s, says that all the ideas US officials hold true about 'terrorism' today are wrong.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Al Jazeera
• Riz Khan
• Philip Bobbitt
• war on terror
• terrorism
• Bush
• Obama
• Osama bin Laden
• Al Qaeda
• USA

[oceanbound222]

This guy speaks BULLSHIT !!!

[Snoopies622]

This guy sounds like nothing but another Bush Administration hack.  Why is Al Jazeera wasting its time with him?

[blackxavior]

@Epsilon17Syn Any act of violence perpetrated by the US to advance its interests has the potential to be followed through with a conventional military victory. Therefore the US has never used terrorism.

[Epsilon17Syn]

@oceanbound222

It's always amusing to see an intellectually stimulating conversation on a youtube video followed by someone insulting it with zero justification. Ultimately, who do you think comes off better? The author of two revolutionary books, who went to Yale, Princeton and the best university in the world, Oxford, or some random person posting an unfounded insult? Perhaps you better revise your views...

[Epsilon17Syn]

@Snoopies622

You're being prejudicial, because of how he sounds. In fact if you opened your mind a bit and did some research before making blind criticisms, he, Philip Bobbitt, has actually criticized both the Bush administration and the Obama administration whilst simultaneously helping them as a consultant on the issue.

His party alignment is irrelevant. The topic is not associated with either the Democratic or Republican party. It is also not only an issue for the U.S.

[Epsilon17Syn]

@blackxavior

You defined terrorist more or less correctly. However remember that a terrorist and the concept, terrorism, are different ideas; you failed to define terrorism, which in your argument was definitely a required premise to make the invalid conclusion that you did - US has never used terrorism. This is also wrong because the U.S. has inflicted terrorism through use of institutions such as the CIA etc. These institutions commit acts of violence to promote U.S. political interests.

[elmazote]

bobbitt's most recent books (the shield of achilles; terror and consent) are cogent.

i would argue that these books deserve to be read widely, if only one takes these issues seriously and cares to refute them.

[blackxavior]

A terrorist is someone that commits acts of violence for political gain (mainly violent symbolic attacks against week targets) with no hope of a conventional military victory.

US has never used terrorism.

[micahgee]

he denies that the US is involved in acts of terror. He makes the statement that the US is fighting a war to protect civilians (while killing them).

The Afghani people would be better off without Foreign military intervention. The forces fighting, NATO/US and the Taliban, are both foreign occupiers who don't care about Afghans.

The US armed, trained and paid for the very same organizations it is fighting against.

Funny how 20 years can turn Afghan "Freedom-fighters" to "evil terrorists"...

[IdleBystander1]

Where does he deny that?

If more people would be worse off without us there, then we should stay. Leaving a nonfunctional state is what causes terrorism. When we merely kill people and leave, that makes terrorists. If we build schools, build infrastructure, and create jobs we make environments inhospitable to extremism. Not that I think we should have gone into Iraq, but we should be much more careful leaving than we were going in.

[micahgee]

he denies that the US kills thousands of innocent people every year so hes not reasonable...

How can you fight a war to protect civilians when fighting a war KILLS civilians???

[micahgee]

yea this was a good interview,

Bobbit is caught up in his own lies!

USA = the biggest terrorist state in the world

Hes an apologist for state terror.