Fw:WRL on Attacks

[kembro]

I've been a lurker on this board for a while and I have admired all of your
intellects.  I would, however, like to speak up against a few opinions here,
particularly this one.

This is an atypical incident, not at all reductive to a Pearl Harbor, Viet
Nam, the Gulf War, etc. Sure, there are similarities, but there are a few
extenuating factors that preclude the anti-US rhetoric of, say, a Noam
Chomsky during the Gulf War.  It is admirable to model our arguments along
his; it is irresponsible to assume them without forethought.

Regardless of what GWB is rhetoricizing about, there will not be a typically
"let's bomb what offends" end to this. Many nations have been affected by
this (China & Taiwan had offices in the WTC...Nato and Russia are
involved...I am willing to gamble that Arafat is sincere in his apology),
and the response is likely to be global. If there is anything left to bomb
in Afghanistan, and the US does attack, there will be considerable more
shuffling in world politics than the US attempting to assert its power. I
realize literary and historical criticism is always predicate to the past,
but let's take a stretch, shall we?

There is an obvious scapegoat, and a legitimate one, unless somone has
fooled us all. I have spent the past 48 hours avidly reading/watching the
news, and have followed the Qaeda in particular for some time.  All in all,
I think it is highly reasonable to assume that a terrorist who threatened 3
weeks ago to make a large-scale attack, is party to a sadistic fringe of
Muslim extremism and is possibly close to his own death, is more than
adequately suspect. It does not take significant research to uncover someone
with the capabilty or panache to pull this attack off. Dan's sidestepping on
this is a bit naive.

I believe due process - like any form - follows the jerk of content.  If so,
perhaps we can rationally address the physical culprit and the moral
consequences of the next few weeks without reciting the same tired speech
that may have borne some fruit a few years ago.  Let's not be politicians,
but activists.  Our energies are better spent this way.