From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> It looks like the terrorists that perpetrated this disaster had some ties
> to the middle east. Suppose we do find out they are part of some
> organization or group -- maybe even dispached by Osama bin Ladin --
> whatever. So, we go over there, kick some butt and kill them all. (I
have
> my doubts we could 'kill them all', anyway). Tomorrow there will be some
> other religious or otherwise leader to take the place of the one who has
> gone.
>
> I'm with Marvin on re-evaluating our policies. We need to start thinking
> in different ways about the hotspots that give birth to this kind of
> terrorism. We could learn from WWI and WWII. After WWI we dessimated
> Germany, they rebuilt in a few years and "voila"... WWII. After WWII we
> helped them to rebuild, and now we have a great ally for democracy *and*
> capitalism.
I agree. In the short term the terrorists must be brought to justice.
Ideally they should receive a fair trial, like any other criminal,
though I won't object if they die resisting arrest. We should try
and hold to all our values, including the rule of law, whatever
the provocation.
In the long term the idea of terrorism as an acceptable solution
to problems must be eradicated. Some cultures, such as Northern
Ireland and Palestine, are rotten almost to the core. Such cultures
can not be tolerated. They must be changed, by both stick and carrot.
The hatemongers must be silenced. No one should be allowed to
peddle the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as the Palestinian
media have been doing, or any other incitement to hatred. Such
doctrines belong on the same shelf as Mein Kampf.
We should also pump money into those area, suitably directed.
The suicide bombers are largely recruited from among the poor,
people who think they have nothing to live for. People with a
comfortable life are much less likely to practice terrorism, especially
if they get a chance to see the west as people just like them, not as a
faceless enemy.
>
> Just as we did during WWII, I think we need to learn from Great Britian.
> They taught us all how to keep going and live our lives during nightly
> rocket attacks. Now they've lived for years with terroism that hasn't
shut
> them down either.
The total death toll from Northern Ireland is circa 3000 over 30 years.
The blitz killed about 43,000 over 5 years. More people were killed
on Tuesday than on the worst night of the blitz. More Britons may
have been killed than in any single IRA attack.
I will not pretend that the UK has ever experienced terrorism on
this scale. This is worse by far than anything the UK has suffered,
but the human spirit is indomitable. Just as we have coped with our
much smaller problems, so I am confident that the US has the
inner strength to cope. If the example of the UK's endurance
can help in that, so much the better.
--
Robert
