[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: politics and grief

On Mon, 9 Sep 2002, Sarah Herr wrote:
> What did our country do to possess someone to fly a kamakazie plane into
> a building to kill thousands of innocent people? If we try to understand
> why, perhaps we can fix the root problem so it doesn't happen again.

That was my initial reaction to the events of September 11, too, though I
think my mind phrased it somewhat differently (a la "What must a person
have gone through in order to choose such a course of action?").

> This is another reason I'm against war with Iraq unless absolutely
> necessary - I feel it will stir up more hatred against our country and
> give terrorists more reasons to attack us. We're the bully and they're
> the outcast kid coming to school with a loaded gun (in their eyes).

Thing is, the terrorists don't exactly *need* more reasons in order to
keep attacking us.  And they were attacking us long, long before September
11 (the 1993 WTC bombing, the embassy bombings in 1998, etc.; also, don't
forget the plans they had for the L.A. airport on New Year's Eve 1999,
plans which were thwarted when a customs officer caught one of the
terrorists trying to smuggle his bombs into the U.S. from Canada; the
bombs were actually prepared in a locally famous motel on Kingsway, here
in Vancouver, which those of you who have seen the Bruce Sweeney movie
_Dirty_ might recognize ... but that's neither here nor there).

So, the argument goes, it was our *lack* of response that emboldened the
terrorists to aim for bigger and better things.  Certainly, our lack of
response did very little to disrupt the terrorists' plans or to prevent
September 11 from happening in the first place.  According to this
argument, then, we can't afford *not* to respond in some way.

> Which reminds me. . .I actually think this way so much that I felt sorry
> for the Columbine shooters!

Hmmm, can't say I felt any such sympathy for them.  It's not at all clear
to me that they were "oppressed" or anything.  Sometime people just choose
to do evil things because they make evil choices -- we can't write
*everything* off as a by-product of social evils, etc.

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 If true love never did exist how could we know its name? -- Sam Phillips
          Happiness happens but I want joy. -- Marjorie Cardwell

---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/
References: