The following was a response to the responses one of the Fisk articles circulated from a friend of my sister's. It should be of interest, even for those who want war. >I have been meaning to answer for a while now, but haven't had a moment to >do so. Suraya Sadeed, born in Afghanistan and now an American citizen, and >a humanitarian, wrote a similar (but even better) letter to Bush last >Saturday. Judith, Marie, Marcia, do you still have this? I have it in hard >copy, but unfortunately I deleted the electronic copy. I am quite aware of >the Taliban and what it has done. "Religious students", indeed! Following >their own reading of the Koran - bs. Most of them can't read, and just go >by what they are told. This means no rights for women - no jobs, no medical >care, no education, can't leave the house. No freedom of religion or >speech for anyone (there is no tv in Afghanistan any longer). > > >When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler > >A little too simplistic. The Taliban are reprehensible, but I doubt they >have the power to get rid of bin Laden, even if they wanted to. We'll have >to see, won't we? He's got money; they don't. They depend on him. He's >better armed than they are. Not that I have much sympathy for the Taliban, >you understand, I just think it's even more complex than many people >realize. On top of that there is the "outlaw appeal" of bin Laden. I saw a >thing on one of the news mags a few nights ago - young, upper class >Pakistani boys at an elite schoool - who couldn't wait to die for the >cause. Yes, I think they have been indoctrinated, but they are also >teenagers, with romantic views. It doesn't help. > >Btw, the Taliban took over in '96, not '97. And getting bin Laden won't >solve everything. It's just a start. He's got bases and training camps and >educated, sophisticated, well-trained lieutenants all over the world. These >are not scruffy, nutso terrorists, but dedicated, well-educated fanatics. > >Unfortunately, I think we *must* retaliate - against the terrorists, and no >one else. Not against the poor Afghans, whom we can't bomb back into the >Stone Age, because the Taliban has already put them there. I would love to >bring bin Laden to justice; that's my fantasy as well as Mr. Fisk's. I am >afriad, however, that it is probably just that: a fantasy. If Mr. Fisk or >anyone has a good idea how to get hold of bin Laden, I'm sure there are >plenty of people with more power than I have who would love to hear it. > >In interviews, bin Laden has said that his goal is to kill as many >Americans as possible and to destroy the US completely. He began his >planning for the Trade Towers attack over a year ago, when it looked as >though the US would succeed in brokering a peace between the Israelis and >the Palestinians. This is not what bin Laden wants. He wants us dead, and >the US broken up at any cost. He does not care, for example, that Muslims >died in the embassy bombings in Africa, because their fate was "written" by >Allah. Kind of hard to negotiate with that sort of mind-set. > >I think we need some sort of Marshall Plan. The West has a lot of enemies >because of poverty. Some people have been encouraged to hate the West, >especially America, by their own leaders, because it takes the heat off the >leaders who don't want to or can't do anything about poverty, etc. >Unfortunately, those leaders in those countries are now in a tough place. >They know the terrorists will target them next (bin Laden has said so), and >they want to cooperate with the US, but they know their own people will not >want them to. > >I think we have to approach this problem from several sides. We have to >encourage peace, give aid to countries that need it, try to get the >terrorists (and only the terrorists), and defend ourselves, all at the same >time. We cannot bomb indiscriminately, or allow "collateral damage" (hate >that phrase) among the innocent, or we become of the same character as our >enemies. Then we have lost. > >I wish it were possible for someone to check out everything George W. says >*before* he says it. When he called for a "crusade" against terrorism, do >you suppose he disturbed moderate Islamic leaders much? Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/~JDevine
