Rant: London 7-7
Before I begin, Thanks supreme beings all that none of mine were hurt. And thanks for the voices of support. The world of Blog is new to me and I am overwhelmed by its power and goodness. And, (at present and hopefully)as I said, none of the dead or injured were known to me and so perhaps I don't have the right to speak. Except. If they had been mine I would want heads on sticks. I would demand vengance. And so perhaps I don't have the right to speak, but perhaps my speak is better for that.
In the aftermath the big question is who? maybe the question should be why? Terrorists are not born, they are created. Nobody straps on a bomb and piles into a crowded bus for fun. So what have we done to provoke this hatred? unfortunately the list is extensive. The Arab/Israeli conflict is entirely of our (the wests) making, We took a peoples land and gave it to someone else because we could. As a small percentage of the worlds population we hold an enormous percentage of wealth and protect that position at all costs. Over the last half centuary we have persued forign policies that were unjust, self agrandising and just plain evil. In the playground there are two types of strong kids, the bullies, who take what they want, who prey on the weak and less fortunate, they do because they can. And the good guys, who protect the weak, who help the poor, they do because its right, and they are loved not hated. Boy did we get that one wrong.
And No. That does not justify 9-11 or 7-7. That does not make it right or defensible. But possibly it makes it understandable. A War on terror? well, its been going on a while and the world seems no better, no safer. But the body count grows. So perhaps a war on the causes of terror? G8 is almost forgotten but they agreed (all be it with more strings than pinochio) to write off third world debt. they agreed (all be it without a timetable) to massively increase third world aid. And George B (not often I praise that man) offered to end US agricultural export subsidies if Europe agrees to do the same. Small steps. But on the right road. There will always be evil men. Don't let us compete with them, but rather let us be the good guys. Then the evil mens support will fade and they will wither and die.
And no, If you lost a child yesterday thats no damned use. You need a head on a stick. Unfortunately that head will belong to someones child.
In the aftermath the big question is who? maybe the question should be why? Terrorists are not born, they are created. Nobody straps on a bomb and piles into a crowded bus for fun. So what have we done to provoke this hatred? unfortunately the list is extensive. The Arab/Israeli conflict is entirely of our (the wests) making, We took a peoples land and gave it to someone else because we could. As a small percentage of the worlds population we hold an enormous percentage of wealth and protect that position at all costs. Over the last half centuary we have persued forign policies that were unjust, self agrandising and just plain evil. In the playground there are two types of strong kids, the bullies, who take what they want, who prey on the weak and less fortunate, they do because they can. And the good guys, who protect the weak, who help the poor, they do because its right, and they are loved not hated. Boy did we get that one wrong.
And No. That does not justify 9-11 or 7-7. That does not make it right or defensible. But possibly it makes it understandable. A War on terror? well, its been going on a while and the world seems no better, no safer. But the body count grows. So perhaps a war on the causes of terror? G8 is almost forgotten but they agreed (all be it with more strings than pinochio) to write off third world debt. they agreed (all be it without a timetable) to massively increase third world aid. And George B (not often I praise that man) offered to end US agricultural export subsidies if Europe agrees to do the same. Small steps. But on the right road. There will always be evil men. Don't let us compete with them, but rather let us be the good guys. Then the evil mens support will fade and they will wither and die.
And no, If you lost a child yesterday thats no damned use. You need a head on a stick. Unfortunately that head will belong to someones child.
posted by Old Man Rich at 8:34 PM
5 Comments:
why couldn't they have bombed on the 7th November?
7-11
Have they no sense of humour!
nice one rich
I don't agree with the cats thing, but I'm with you al the way on this.
see you in the morning for the rugby.
Nope - you're mistaken Rich. It's understandable that someone might have a grievance (as wrong headed as that grievance might be) but it is never understandable that someone might wish to express those grievances in such a violent manner and against such targets. To understand is to accept a logical and reasonable causal link between world politics and the use of terror tactics. It is the road to legitamisation and it is a road paved with IED's.
John
John, I agree. But we regularly bomb bus stations and wedding parties in other countries. Violence begats violence. Terrorism begats terrorism. I don't believe you can condem others for behaving as you do. The best way to end terrorism is to put our own house in order.
There are some difference between the two. Intent for one. However, if we accept that both acts can be viewed as terrorism the question still remains. Is it ever understandable to deliberately kill innocent civilians even if your own civilians have been deliberately killed.
The question is complex and you allude to it. For instance, was Dresden understandable and even forgivable? It's not an easy one but we must try to draw a distinction between acts of terrorism and other acts of violence. If we do not then we are in a perpetual state of "oh, well, in some way we deserved it" and that gives too much credibility to the terrorists themselves.
John
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