From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Wed Sep 12 2001 - 02:48:16 MDT
Adrian `Guru Zeb` Harper wrote:
>
> A dark day for the planet, one which i feel will drag on for a long time.
> Make no mistake
> the situation which i see developing from these events is going to be very
> nasty on both sides.
> Already US officials are talking of full blooded retaliation and "Acts of
> war" ( something i
> thought was only possible between Nation States ) reports are coming in of
> explosions in
> Afghanistan.( which like many other reports around this incident remain to
> be verified and attributed )
They are attributed. It is 2 or more factions fighting each
other. Perhaps the ones who approve[d?] of this fighting the
ones who don't?
> Retaliation of course will make much of the population of the US feel good.
> But will guarantee yet another
> cycle of internecine conflict. Unfortunately i cannot envisage the current
> administration, considering
> the mood of the US population, taking any other course of action.
>
I hate to say it but I don't see how any other course of action
would accomplish anything except to say "kick us, we won't kick
back". The response should be surgical to take out the problem
without a lot of extra unneeded vengeance and saber-rattling.
But it should be made very clear that no group can do things
without swift and costly consequences. We cannot not act
because we fear more attacks. We must act if we fear more
attacks and act to lessen their likelihood by taking out key
players who could launch such an attack.
> But where did all this come from, lets be frank. Acts like this do not
> spring up in isolation.
> Many years of nee-jerk support of Israel's warts and all policies in the
> region, combined with
> pointless willingness to be confrontational with Middle Eastern nations.
> Has resulted in the USA
>
The Mid-East situation is much too complex for simplistic
analysis. And many of those Middle Eastern nations were quite
confrontational with us, with one another and with our allie
Israel from the get-go. Some of their governments are run by
religious fanatics who consider jihad a sacred duty. Some of
them seek to wipe Israel off the map and consider us the Great
Satan.
Not that we haven't done some slimey or at least very
questionable things in the region over the years. But nothing
that justifies this kind of attack and nothing that should stop
us from finding and stopping the attackers.
> These of course are not the only contributory factors, they are however the
> ones that IMHO most US
> citizens will choose to ignore. Which is almost certain recipe for another
> full cycle of violent retribution
> on both sadly misguided sides.being regarded as International enemy #2 in
> the eyes of much of the Muslim world.
>
What full cycle? The terrorist groups (very finite number)
capable of such attacks will either be stepped on or severely
curtailed one way or another. From that point on where are such
full attacks likely to come from?
> Add to this mix Muslim nations with a suspicious attitude to US motives.
> Religions and cultures that
> find much of the others distasteful or repugnant. Many pockets of Muslim
> poverty, ignorance and
> strict adherence to a perceived fundamentalists credo. And a sense amongst
> many Muslims that the West
> and the US in particular would never support one of their causes no matter
> how just.
>
Blasting the shit out of US territory is not the way to get
support for any cause. That message must be loud and clear.
> Please don't for one second imagine that i am in any way justifying actions
> such as the ones
> committed today. My own dear sister was probably saved, only by the fact
> that rather than working
> in one of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's WTC offices, she now works in the
> Braodway offices.
> However i do feel that ignoring the elements that have help to shape the
> perspectives of the ( suspected )
> perpetrators, is not the best way to sech a long lasting solution.
>
The terrorists will be taken out first. Then we can work on
settling long range tension with the more reasonable parties.
> Humans are rather nasty violent primates, with huge propensity for ignoring
> the suffering of "others"
> this i know from experience, but we have to change at some point.
>
I agree. But giving the message that you will not defend
yourself or strike back regardless of what comes is not a very
good idea at an international level. Human groups just don't
work that way.
- samantha
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 08:10:31 MST