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Hello everybody,
let me express my deepest sympathy with the victims of the terrorist attack
as well as their families and friends. I hope no one of the LUGNET community
was affected, directly or indirectly.
When I was watching TV the evening after the attack, I found it hard to
believe what happened, even though the pictures were repeating over and over
on all channels. As you in the US have probably seen by now, an overwhelming
majority of people in Europe (where I live) and elsewhere are with you in
these hard days.
On the downside, there have also been those pictures about radicals in
Middle East cheering the death of thousands. Sure enough, these were among
the most disturbing in the last three days. On the other side, at least some
of the reasons for their value system to erode so badly are obvious: They
have lived in a world of violence and war for more than one generation now.
And they have learned to hate Israel from their childhood on. The US, as the
strongest and most committed ally of Israel, may have seemed invulnerable to
many, including themselves. Obviously, this is no longer true, which creates
strong emotions on both sides: Fear on our, and delight on their side. I
know this explanation is probably grossly incomplete, and my english words
may not be as well chosen as the issue mandates. Therefore, I want to make
sure what I wrote is not seen as any kind of justification for what these
terrorists have done.
So, yes, I am encouraging to give those terrorists the answer they deserve,
instead of what they want. However, they may calculate that what they
deserve, if carried out in the "traditional" way, is also what they want.
That's why I strongly feel that the US and NATO should rethink their prior
strategy of striking back. In too many cases, they, too, have killed and
injured innocent people. We must remember, that the radical muslims, even
though their number may have increased over the last decade, are a small
minority within their religious community. Let's try and make sure that they
remain exactly that, instead of driving more and more people into their
arms. Escalation has proven no worsen instead of fix the issue, so we are in
urgent need of a strategy that works a lot better. I am not in a position to
offer such a strategy, unfortunately. I just hope that the reaction of the
US and NATO will not be too much affected by the first (and well understood)
emotions. We need to think what really makes sense, in order to defend (as
opposed to violently evangelize!) our values best.
I would be glad to hear your thoughts on the issue, either by email, or in
<lugnet.off-topic.debate>, whichever you think is more appropriate.
Greetings from Germany
Horst
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