RE: Letter to Osama bin Laden

[Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLBD/BGM/SVM/SGM]

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: Horn, John [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Verzonden: Thursday, September 13, 2001 6:55 AM
> Aan: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> Onderwerp: Letter to Osama bin Laden

> My wife wrote this.  I think it is appropriate to post it here (I have
> her permission(.  It sums up many of the feelings that we have
> discussed:
> 
> ----------
> 
> What I would like Osama bin Laden to know:
> 
> I am not a Muslim, Jew, or Christian; nonetheless I am human.  I am not
> evil or without love for my fellow human beings.  Yet after the World
> Trade Center towers collapsed, I wished with all my heart that I could
> hold a knife in one hand and your neck in the other.  I completely 
> understood the wish for revenge at that moment more than at any other
> time in my life.

This is exactly why I think it is not appropriate to post this. As a citizen
of a civilised Western nation, I believe that a person is innocent until
proven guilty. Maybe Osama bin Laden is guilty; or maybe he is not (he has
already denied accusations in that direction). But until a court finds him
guilty, based on ample evidence, our Western notions of justice dictate that
he is innocent.

The kind of response your wife wrote (as well as responses like those from
Gautam) does more damage than good. It fuels hatred. Hatred is a bad thing
to base actions on. If the US bases its actions on hatred, many innocent
people will suffer from it. If the US bases its actions on the principles it
holds so high, only those who are guilty will be punished.

No purpose whatsoever is served by blaming someone for the attack, when the
persons responsible have not yet been identified.


Jeroen

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