Posted March 1, 2002

Stopping Violence

In Ran HaCohen's latest column, "Terrorism Vs. Occupation", the author concluded his justification for the belief that Israeli occupation is the primary evil: "Palestinian Terrorism is not the Occupation's twin brother, but rather its murderous offspring. Like father, like son. Terrorism is horrible; but occupation too, and the former is the result of the latter. To stop the circle of violence, to stop terrorism, the occupation must stop first. " This can mean either of two things. If it is a matter-of-fact, positive statement -- that no one can reasonably expect that the terrorist problem will cease until the Israelis cease their own depredations -- and thus our concern should be with the occupation, the implication is that we can reasonably expect that the Israeli state will pull out of the Gaza Strip. But why is that any more probable? On the other hand, if it is a normative statement -- that like the murderous son of an abusive father, the misdeeds of Israel excuses those of the Palestinians, then HaCohen must explain why evil means justify evil responses. The analogous son, in my humble opinion, would be in his full rights to escape the aegis of his father, or to attack his father if necessary, but would HaCohen excuse his attacking his mother as a means of undermining support for his father's abusiveness?

But it's not because one form of violence precedes another kind. Either party could stop, take the indisputable moral upper hand even where that means martyrdom, and attempt to avoid self-harm in ways consonant with individualist justice.

~ Harry D.

Ran HaCohen replies:

Well, I probably had both the positive and the normative meaning in mind. As for the normative side, I won't justify attacking the "mother" in your story (though she is morally and legally guilty of supporting the abusive father!), which is why I condemn certain Palestinian attacks as well as the pervasive Israeli collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population. Both end regularly in the death of innocents: even the Israeli army now admits one fifth of Palestinian casualties have nothing to do with terrorism. Your dream of one party stopping violence unilaterally is beautiful; preach it to both sides (and louder to the stronger one, please). As an Israeli, I am in no position to tell Palestinians how to react to Israel's violence.

Prime Suspect

First of all: thanks for keeping me informed! You're (all) doing a great job! To the matter (excuse any grammar errors, English is my second language and I'm only 17):

This concerns . . . [Justin Raimondo's] most recent column about the anthrax mystery. I read it after breakfast and it gave me the thrills. Here comes the reason: Last night I read in William Blum's book Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since WWII about the CIA's experience in germ warfare. He came up with some examples: CIA spread whooping-cough germs in Florida 1955, and did the same in the streets and subway of New York in 1956, apparently just to see the results. (Which was a tenfold increase in deaths and illness). I looked up the footnotes and it said (I "re-translate" the Swedish translation here): "The CIA got the germs from the army's research center at Fort Detrick, Maryland". [The footnote also said "For a detailed investigation of the American biological experiments in the US, see Leonard A. Cole, Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests over Populated Areas (Maryland 1990).]

If this is true I would definitely hold the CIA as prime suspect for the anthrax attack!

~ Nils W., Sweden

Quality Writers

I enjoy listening to other points of view, especially quality writers like Justin.

Thank goodness the internet gives the reader alternate points of view and argument so lacking from the mainstream. The illogical depravity of the writers of propaganda sets new lows for what passes as journalism in these times.

~ KW, Canada

Federal Government

Thank you for bringing to your readership the views of so many articulate antiwar columnists. In recent weeks I have . . . noticed articles from formerly pro-war columnists . . . who now think the War on Terrorism has gone too far. There is one common thread linking all these writers: their belief that the structure of the Federal government as embodied in the Constitution can bring peace and liberty to the people of the United States. They believe a national government, set-up in a remote location, with power to rule over a huge area, with a standing army to enforce its laws and directives, can be a force for liberty and peace, rather than oppression and war. Their belief boils down to a belief in a piece of parchment which has consistently been used for 200+ years to back practically everything the Federal Government has done to destroy liberty and private property and peace and freedom in the name of preserving those same ideals. And when that parchment has not been cited, it has been ignored. Does anyone want to argue with the guns of a standing Federal army to their heads ? This Afghan War and the War on Terrorism will eventually end, just as World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and all the other interventionist American Wars have ended.

For America to find peace it must rediscover the truth that was so evident in 1776 (as written by Samuel Bryan of Philadelphia): there is no liberty that is safe from a national government with a standing army, and there is none that is not safe without them.

~ DW

NYT

[Regarding "A Billionaire Leads the Campaign to Keep Switzerland Apart," by Elizabeth Olson, February 24, New York Times:]

Why are you people letting the New York Times collect email addresses from people viewing news on your website? Are you collecting a fee from the New York times for this?

~ Steve W.

Webmaster Eric Garris replies:

I wish. It is annoying, and you can choose not to go there. Whenever possible we look for a non-registration version of these stories, but sometimes this is the only place to read them.

Great Work

I mentioned . . . [Justin Raimondo's] work in my column today. TooGood Reports gets 3.5 million hits a week. Thanks for the great work.

~ Henry Makow, Canada