"Blowback"

[David Morris]

>From: "Tiarnan O'Corrain"
>
> > >Compare Albright on the Iraqi children, or the noxious notion of 
>'collateral damage'. Is the US justified in bombing Iraq, with immense cost 
>in human life, to prosecute a war with Saddam Hussein, the dictator of that 
>country?
> >
> > 1.  Are you equating an unprovoked direct massive attack on civilians at 
>the WTC with the loss of human life inevitable in the course of a war?
>
>Well, it is not for you to say whether the attack was provoked.[...] Bin 
>Laden, according to his declaration of war on the US, sees the billetting 
>of US troops in Saudi Arabia as sufficient provocation.

The justification of a sociopath for his murders may be some provocation in 
his own mind, but should not be regarded as just by those of saner ilk.  Now 
I know you want to avoid good guys vs. bad guys, but then why do you later 
insist that our actions in Iraq are "illegal?"  You want to occupy both 
sides of this "legal" issue.

OK, so OBL FEELS justified in his actions (and of course we should try to 
suss out the mind of our enemy).  And, OK, you later admit that the WTC 
attack was "an atrocious, evil act."  So it seems the whole point of your 
argument is that the US is just as, even more evil in it's actions abroad.

We could argue the legality of the Gulf War and subsequent stand-off in Iraq 
for a long time.  But if we get back to the hub of this debate, you are 
equating the loss of civilian life at the WTC with the loss of civilian life 
in a war ("legal" or not).  At one level I would have to agree:  We are in a 
defacto war.  At another level I would object:  Civilians (in exceedingly 
high numbers) were the _intended targets_.  How legal is THAT (this is the 
point you avoided from my last post)?  I think that is by definition a "War 
Crime."

>Of course the attack on the World Trade Centre was an atrocious, evil act. 
>It was not, however, unprecedented, or, indeed, equal to some of the US's 
>atrocities in the Middle East.

Please give me a specific instance of a US surprise attack on a highly 
populated civilian center in the ME, or some other instance which was 
equally as evil as the WTC attack.

>I suggest you moderate your spleen with some information.

I suggest you moderate your argument against the US with more logic and 
fewer inaccurate equivalencies (and fewer insults - to which, you should 
notice, I did not respond).

David Morris

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp