Re:A Fighting Faith
Hey JMM,
Just needed to respond to the talk about that Beinart article that's currently making the rounds. I read it, and I wasn't too impressed about it at all. Mainly because it was assuming that the conventional wisdom is the only way to go with this, at least as it comes to fighting terrorism.
It's not.
The reality is, the "boredom" you see among those on the left, is mainly
because of the realization that, for a variety of reasons, we're not going to be taken seriously anyway. We're just going to get mocked and laughed at and derided. Ok, that usually happens. But because of the emotional trauma of 9/11...which still affects everybody, we just don't have the heart this time.
I'm not speaking for everybody, but I am speaking for myself. I'm a hawk on terrorism. I've always been a hawk on terrorism, from everything from para-military groups to hate crimes (which I believe are a particularly bad form of terrorism.) That includes the series of US-inspired groups that have sent terrorism throughout the globe in order to maintain hegemony.
When I saw the bombs start to drop, my first thought that we basically surrendered the war on terrorism. To me, and others like me, fighting terrorism means discrediting terrorism as an acceptable tactic. It means you have a mature discussion with the world about what terrorism is, apologize and make amends for past mistakes, and you get serious about making people
realize that civilian targets are off-limits. Period. Then, the US, and the West by proxy are NOT the bad guys anymore. The terrorists are. They are not freedom fighters, or patriots. They are criminals. But not everything is terrorism. The attack on the USS Cole, as wrong as it was, is not a terrorist attack. Same with attacks on the troops in Iraq. I hate them, and wish they wouldn't happen. But terrorism? No.
But because of 9/11..nobody wants to talk about that. Can't blame them really, everybody..and I mean everybody in the world is still traumatized from that. It's a simple black and white issue. But if we make it a black and white issue, to the other side we're the evil guys. And that makes
terrorism an acceptable tactic. And that allows the terrorist groups to gain funding, resources, cover and supporters. Exactly the things we need to be taking away from them.
So that's what it's all about. Nobody is really ready for a serious talk about terrorism. They may never be ready. So those of us that DO take it VERY seriously, well..we await the day that it moves out of black and white, and we can actually help eliminate terrorism once and for all.
Just needed to respond to the talk about that Beinart article that's currently making the rounds. I read it, and I wasn't too impressed about it at all. Mainly because it was assuming that the conventional wisdom is the only way to go with this, at least as it comes to fighting terrorism.
It's not.
The reality is, the "boredom" you see among those on the left, is mainly
because of the realization that, for a variety of reasons, we're not going to be taken seriously anyway. We're just going to get mocked and laughed at and derided. Ok, that usually happens. But because of the emotional trauma of 9/11...which still affects everybody, we just don't have the heart this time.
I'm not speaking for everybody, but I am speaking for myself. I'm a hawk on terrorism. I've always been a hawk on terrorism, from everything from para-military groups to hate crimes (which I believe are a particularly bad form of terrorism.) That includes the series of US-inspired groups that have sent terrorism throughout the globe in order to maintain hegemony.
When I saw the bombs start to drop, my first thought that we basically surrendered the war on terrorism. To me, and others like me, fighting terrorism means discrediting terrorism as an acceptable tactic. It means you have a mature discussion with the world about what terrorism is, apologize and make amends for past mistakes, and you get serious about making people
realize that civilian targets are off-limits. Period. Then, the US, and the West by proxy are NOT the bad guys anymore. The terrorists are. They are not freedom fighters, or patriots. They are criminals. But not everything is terrorism. The attack on the USS Cole, as wrong as it was, is not a terrorist attack. Same with attacks on the troops in Iraq. I hate them, and wish they wouldn't happen. But terrorism? No.
But because of 9/11..nobody wants to talk about that. Can't blame them really, everybody..and I mean everybody in the world is still traumatized from that. It's a simple black and white issue. But if we make it a black and white issue, to the other side we're the evil guys. And that makes
terrorism an acceptable tactic. And that allows the terrorist groups to gain funding, resources, cover and supporters. Exactly the things we need to be taking away from them.
So that's what it's all about. Nobody is really ready for a serious talk about terrorism. They may never be ready. So those of us that DO take it VERY seriously, well..we await the day that it moves out of black and white, and we can actually help eliminate terrorism once and for all.
posted by Karmakin at 4:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home