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Posted October 23, 2001
What Will It Take
I
went to your site today. I found
it rather different, open minded
and a true example of what this
country calls "freedom of speech."
I
want to ask all those out there
that are "antiwar" a question.
What will it take before it is okay
to strike back? Should your family
die, should your friends die, should
we give up our way of life because
some foreign militants?
I don't want to go to war (no one does) but I will defend my family, our way of life, our country. It could have been my mother, father, wife, or my son on those planes or in those buildings. It's easy to write "protest" articles at arms length unless faced with the destruction in person. I wish every "protester" would go to the Pentagon or the rubble that was the World Trade Center , or better yet to go to the morgues and see the bodies. See first hand and then imagine if that was your mother, father, wife, or son lying there. Tell me, how loud would you protest then.
Eric Garris replies:
We have many articles that advocate limited action. According to the latest reports, our bombing as had little impact on the Taliban (who are only guilty of harboring Bin Laden, no one has accused them of being behind the attacks), virtually no impact on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and have killed several hundred innocents.
It is certainly not moral or effective to kill large numbers of innocents in order to possibly wipe out some people who are "probably" guilty. In the 1970s, the Symbionese Liberation Army, which had committed violent acts, disappeared into the Los Angeles black community of Watts. Instead of blaming the residents of Watts for protecting the SLA, the police hunted down the perpetrators and either killed or arrested them. Using the Afghanistan model, we would have bombed Watts to get the terrorists. In the 1980s, the Philadelphia police blamed the residents of the black community with protecting a "terrorist" organization known as MOVE. They dropped incendiary bombs on the Philadelphia neighborhood, killing the guilty and innocent alike. I certainly support the former, but I find the latter action to be immoral and repugnant.
In addition, it is difficult to ignore the fact that the US continues to support regimes like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan that have been shown to be currently financing Al Qaeda and other terrorists.
Just War
[Regarding Justin Raimondo's column of October 15, "Peaceniks":]
Is it not true that the US, during the Gulf War and afterwards, has bombed and blockaded Iraq, and that this campaign has resulted in the deaths of possibly as many as a million Iraqis? Is it not true that the US has supplied billions of dollars in military aid and equipment to Israel, which it has used to maintain a regime of apartheid domination over the Palestinian people? Is it not the case that Western support (beginning with British backing of Ibn Saud in his raids against more peaceful Arab tribes, and extending continuously to the present day) has been a crucial factor in propping up the Saudi royal dynasty? Haven't all these issues been discussed extensively in Raimondo's columns?
Please explain to me why none of this is sufficient, according to "just war" theory, to create a right of retaliation on behalf of the long-suffering Islamic people?
It might be argued that only sovereign governments have the right of retaliation. Thus, if Saddam Hussein's armies are shattered; if the PLO under Arafat, having lost at the negotiating table, is left with no alternative to accepting abject defeat; if the Saudi Arabian people have no ability to replace their theocratic monarchy with its humiliating, decadent dependency on Western petroleum trade; then, as a matter of realpolitik, obviously there is no one remaining to enforce any right of retaliation.
...If Bin Laden, a sovereign individual human being, claims to raise this right of retaliation; when Arab governments have completely failed to protect their people against a foreign aggressor; when other like-minded sovereign individuals hear that call to arms, and respond by pledging their lives; when this is happening, apparently, across perhaps as many as sixty countries -- how does the libertarian Raimondo dare to deny their right? Among the billion and a half Islamic people, how many (either openly or quietly and privately) share Bin Laden's desire to drive US armies and influence completely out of the Middle East, by force of arms if necessary?
Freedom and Peace
Thank you so much for being there. I am mailing my check to help support the cause for freedom and peace!
What
A
Waste
[Regarding Stella Jatras's guest column of ..., "From Camp Swampy to Camp Bondsteel":]
...The Burger King at Camp Bondsteel doesn't rival those found in malls throughout the USA, not by a long shot. Bondsteel a money pit? You better believe it. What a waste! -- but thank you and the rest of the American's who support us with such nice facilities; h owever, it is a far cry from our bases in Germany. Would you like to see a picture of the wheat field before we got there? The real waste is the time we spent listening to and helping the KLA.
Responsibility
There seems to be common perception that ... [people] should not take responsibility for their actions. I'm from the Camille Paglia school of thought: if one is careless and gets injured in the process, although not deserved, then [one is] at least responsible for not heeding caution. I'm sure Princess Di did not deserve to die but to get into a vehicle with a drugged, drunk and depressed chauffeur was not the smartest thing to do. Leave your jag keys on your hood in Harlem and I would not be surprised to see it gone the next day. No one deserves to get their car stolen -- get the point. If America is not humble enough to consider the reasons behind September 11th, however true or false, then I only see impending doom, anarchy, and chaos in years to come.
On a last note; sometimes empires disappear with hardly a blip. People get fed up and start the dismantling process ... the Soviet Union, and the Roman and British empires, for example. America is not immune to this.
~ R.B., Canada