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Posted September 14, 2001
Puppet
[Regarding Alan Bock's column of September 12, "The Price of Empire":]
I am afraid that you missed the point: the cause of the attack was not against some vague "American Empire," but rather was against the Unites States for its blind support of Israel. We can't really consider Israel to be part of an American Empire, when in fact through smart lobbying it is they (Israel) who formulate U.S. policy in the Middle East, not the U.S. In a sense, America is Israel's puppet, and we are now paying the price.
Alan Bock replies:
Well, it's an interesting and hardly uncommon point of view, but I don't happen to agree.
The relationship between the United States and Israel is much too complex for either to be viewed as the other's "puppet." Check out the persistent complaining from neocons like Charles Krauthammer and the neo-whatever New Republic crowd about how the United States is supposedly constantly subverting and undermining Israeli interests to get an idea of just how dissatisfied most of those who consider themselves Israel's best friends can be about US policy.
This is not to say that the US is not perceived as an Israeli puppet in most of the Arab world, or that it doesn't line up with Israel most of the time when the chips are down or that US taxpayers aren't forced to send obscene amounts of money to Israel (as to Egypt and, if a "peace" agreement ever came to be, to whatever the Palestinian entity would be called).
But I still think the manic US involvement in the Middle East – especially since, with the collapse of the Soviet Union of old, it is much less arguably strategic than it might have been before – is a subset of America's curious, almost unconscious adolescent imperialism rather than the other way around. I went into my own rather more complicated and somewhat heterodox attitudes toward Israel – at least as of three years or more ago, so I might revise it a bit now – in a 1998 article ["Israel at 50"] in Liberty magazine.
Our 'Fast Friends'
If Bin Laden is too poor and small, Iraq too burnt-out, and the Palestinians too disorganised, who is left to consider as a possible organiser (if not actual perpetrator) of the recent catastrophe in New York City? Has anyone considered looking into the possibility of our "fast friends" in the Mossad, as well as a very equivocal interpretation of ethics and morality? They have the bucks (largely American), great organisational ability, and an armload of credentials in several sub-genres of basic and advanced terrorism. And, I must assume, they have fairly ready access to any number of thoroughly deranged individuals with martyr complexes who could be easily duped into believing they were "destroying Satan America" while they were actually merely furthering the demonisation of Palestine in particular and the Muslim world in general. In short, who would profit most from the recent events? And who least?
Organize Locally
We are two students from the University of Pittsburgh. We have read Simon Jenkins' article ["Don't Fight Fire with Fire," Times of London, September 12, 2001] and were actually discussing many of the same points last night amongst ourselves. We are extremely upset about the possibility of a full scale attack on another country, leading to a full fledged armed conflict.
We
would like information on any kind of peace marches or
demonstrations taking place this week or this weekend.
The aim of them, we hope, would be to persuade the government
to act carefully and with full conscious effort to promote
peace in our time, not retaliation for retaliation's sake.
If you know of any such movements going to take place
locally or nationally we would like any information.
We would be willing to travel to D.C. or anywhere. If
not, we would like to organize something locally.
Justin Raimondo replies:
I don't know of any nationally-organized event, but your own suggestion that you initiate a local action is, I believe, the best path.
Keep
logging on to Antiwar.com for the latest news: and we'll
do everything we can to publicize your local event if
you give us the info.
Take It Down Now!
[Regarding Harry Browne's guest column of September 12, "When Will They Ever Learn":]
I'd like to show you where I found you and I'd like for you to see how you look. Go back to that website [Aliraqi.com] and –read how we "got what we deserved."
This site is now using you as a stick with which to beat your nation. You should have thought longer and harder about what you wrote, as I no doubt will do after sending this email. You didn't write a letter or something that's drifting along in the mail. You wrote a document that is spreading like wildfire to the other side of the world and if I were you ... I would take it down now!
This is as disgraceful as those evil people partying in the street and celebrating the deaths of thousands of Americans. Quickly take this thing down and edit it. It wouldn't hurt for you to contact the other site and request they remove the link... but then, it's a free Internet.
So are you an Iraqi? You are the number one link under "Iraqi Headlines"... I'd be very worried! You ran for president! Don't they keep an eye on you or anything?
Harry
Browne replies:
Of course, many Iraqis are upset with American foreign policy. Men, women, and children are dying of starvation and disease in Iraq because of the American embargo. Those people aren't the government, anymore than you or I are the government here. And we should be encouraging them to work to become free, not inciting them to terrorist attacks.
The
terrorist attacks on Americans were wrong, stupid, unproductive,
sadistic, and tragic. But that doesn't mean we should
refrain from criticizing our politicians for doing the
same things to foreigners.
Hurray for Harry Browne!
[Regarding Harry Browne's guest column of September 12, "When Will They Ever Learn":]
Hurray for Harry Browne! I wish the so-called "major news media" would pick up on this angle. But it's propaganda time, and it's naive to expect any common sense. So we escalate, escalate, escalate.
'Coward'
[Regarding Harry Browne's guest column of September 12, "When Will They Ever Learn":]
I'm
pretty much in agreement with the thrust of your article.
However, there is one point where I offer another view
–concerning the use of the word "coward."
This
appellation is applied in the context of an attack on
civilians. That is, the attack on the Marine encampment
in Lebanon was not cowardly because it targeted people
who (supposedly) knew they were in harm's way.
It
is the attack on people who have not done you harm, who
basically cannot do you harm, which is considered in our
Western set of values to be cowardly. Maybe it's just
my southwest Texas, cow-country oriented attitude: Anybody
who attacks women and children is by definition a coward;
I don't care if the s.o.b. has multiple Medals of Honor.
Harry Browne replies:
I
understand your point. I referred to the word in its common
usage – of someone who is afraid to face the consequences
of his own acts.
'Cowardly'
[Regarding Harry Browne's guest column of September 12, "When Will They Ever Learn":]
I would just like to say thank you for your article ... which I found to be a well thought out and resonable response to the current hysteria in the media.
Although I live in Australia, I used similar arguments against my father when I was complaining about the misuse of the word "cowardly" in regard to these attacks on the US.
If you want to add more amunition to your arguments why don't you mention U.S. actions like the atomic bombing of innocent civilians in Japan etc? Personally, I totally condemn the terrorist acts, but they were definitely not cowardly and merely the acts of groups who feel oppressed by a major power that is willing to use unreasonably force any time its interests are threatened.
Terrorism
[Regarding Harry Browne's guest column of September 12, "When Will They Ever Learn":]
Wow. Someone who thinks terrorism works. We need more people like this in positions of power in the U.S. Not!
Harry Browne replies:
I didn't say terrorism works. Precisely the opposite. Violence begets violence. The terrorism practiced by American politicians against innocent foreigners has produced terrible retaliation against innocent Americans. The terrorism against those Americans will in turn produce terrible retaliation against innocent foreigners who weren't responsible for it. I wrote the article hoping, in some small way, to help stop this cycle of terrorism.