KH Even now, is it too much to hope that the US State Department could start to think about peaceful incursions into those countries by making offers, such as funding for schools and medical centres, that even the most reactionary politicians could not refuse?
AC What's "in it" for the reactionary politicians? They most fear losing control. Any change might be a change for the worst. So they are presumably satisfied with the way things are going. arthur -----Original Message----- From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 3:13 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: The death of Daniel Pearl The death of the Wall Street Journalist, Daniel Pearl, in its own premeditated way and with the video tape of the murder itself, is, to me, just as brutal and shocking as 11 September. This will reinforce American anger and we can expect all sorts of further repercussions, particularly when we reflect on the fact that Osama bin Laden and the leading members of Al Queda have escaped from Afghanistan and are probably plotting further outrages from wherever they are. But there's a much more difficult problem than finding these extremists. All round the world there are now millions of desperate young men, particularly in the Islamic countries, who have nothing to do and no chance of entering interesting and gainful employment. Among these there are bound to be significant numbers of disturbed individuals able to be persuaded into acts of extreme violence. This situation will exist for many years, probably decades, yet. They want what we want, and usually are able to get. But they are held back by cultures which prevent the opportunity for even a half-way all-round education and opportunities for enterprise and employment. A huge effort is needed to implant the seeds of change in those countries. I think the chances of sizeable wars between America and Islamic countries is pretty high now. Quite besides increasing provocations from extremists, several countries -- for example, Saudi Arabia, Israel-Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia -- are highly unstable. Even now, is it too much to hope that the US State Department could start to think about peaceful incursions into those countries by making offers, such as funding for schools and medical centres, that even the most reactionary politicians could not refuse? Keith Hudson __________________________________________________________ "Writers used to write because they had something to say; now they write in order to discover if they have something to say." John D. Barrow _________________________________________________ Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________
