| |
Let me just say that we, as Americans, should not be so sheepish to jump on
the war bandwagon. War against whom? How in Heaven's name will killing other
civilians ever make things better in the world? That is not justice, that is
revenge and no one has the right to condemn the citizenry for the sins of
it's government or leadership. The attack yesterday is proof of that, we
shouldn't make the same mistake and become "indiscriminate" murderers.
Yesterday morning I went to get my hair cut and the hairstylist was
commenting on the attack. I only said that I hope the people responsible
will be brought to justice. She said "They're all Iranian." Hopefully such
ignorant comments are few and far between. If we resort to such thinking we
are no better than those who carried out this attack, Arab or otherwise. It
is yet to be determined who carried out this attack (usually a group will
step forward and claim responsibility).
We should avoid stirring up hatred against Arabs. I recall the hours after
the Oklahoma City bombing and the immediate call to arms against certain
Arab nations, not considering that it may have been one of our own citizens.
At this point, we still don't know who is behind this. And if it turns out
the ethnicity of the attackers is Arab, it does not justify blanket hatred
of Arabs. We'd be no better than the Nazi's with regard to the Jews of Europe.
Regarding the scenes of Palestinians cheering after the attack, I have
learned that the footage shown (or several portions of the footage) was
possibly before the attack, and was the Palestinian reaction to Israeli
troops withdrawing from that town. Around the Arab world, the feeling is
mostly one of shock and outrage. If the Palestinian footage is indeed in
celebration of the attack, then such behavior is very disappointing. But I
want to remind everyone that the Palestinians are a people who have suffered
under brutal military occupation for nearly 50 years. Their cheers are
perhaps no different than our own when the bombs rained on Baghdad, even
though innocent civilians were being killed in both cases.
What happened yesterday was a murderous and destructive act of hatred
against our nation. But it should also be considered a wake up call to our
government for it's unarguable role in fostering aggression and hatred
around the world, and within our own borders as with Oklahoma City. The
innocent shouldn't be condemned and suffer and die for the sins of the
leadership. We should seriously examine why someone, or some group, would
feel compelled to carry out such a horrible act. There are several lessons
to be learned here, the main one is that killing innocent men, women and
children is wrong. Most important, let our comments rest on peace and
justice, not war and revenge.
Dan
|
|
Message has 6 Replies:
 | | Re: War
|
| (...) I didn't actually hear anyone advocate attacking civilians. I guess I only assume when various gov officials say war, they mean war on terror, on the terrorists. I may be wrong, of course... (...) if any group would to claim responsibility for (...) (23 years ago, 12-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: War
|
| (...) This whole letter strikes me as a political letter. I disagree with so many points that I think I must cool off before replying. I think the whole political debate is unappropriate at this hour and (as was commented to me before) is (...) (23 years ago, 12-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: War
|
| (...) Well said, although I can't agree with the timing of bringing up the last two paragraphs--it's still far too emotional a time to start dragging the political roots of terrorism into it. But I agree 100% with the first part of this *and* its (...) (23 years ago, 12-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: War
|
| (...) Brave words. But they are words I agree with. It is time for everyone in the west to see and understand the full implications of our "foreign policy". I hope it is a gross exaggeration, but I heard last night that the sanctions in Iraq had (...) (23 years ago, 13-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: War
|
| bin Laden declared war on the US some time ago. We were fools for not paying attention. But that's what we do, we ignore small pests until they get out of hand... (...) Correct. (...) Correct. It is indeed a wake up call. (...) You're full of it (...) (23 years ago, 13-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: War
|
| (...) War is a terrible thing and no one should jump on the war bandwagon without a very good reason and only after he has considered all the possible alternatives. (...) Pick a war in history in which you think the winning side was right to go to (...) (23 years ago, 14-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
|
177 Messages in This Thread:
(Inline display suppressed due to large size. Click Dots below to view.)
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
