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2002-09-13

From: "David L. Frison" <dfrison@columbus.rr.com>
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Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 19:25:48 -0400

Leon wrote:

>"What's important here is that President Bush exerts
>restraint. A military response only serves to escalate
>the situation. These problems can only be solved
>through negotiation, not force...Its important
>that, at first opportunity, Mr. Bush and Mr. Bin-Laden
>meet, to discuss a possible peace agreement.

My response:

I can't believe I read that statement and how much it pissed me off...

When someone has initiated force, especially in such a manner as
this, there really isn't much choice left but to respond with force.
Do you actually want to give the terrorists responsible what they
want? That's what a "peace agreement" implies, that there is some
sort of middle ground to reach, concessions to grant. Anything that
we are doing wrong in the world we should change because it is wrong,
not because someone forces our hand. You DO NOT reinforce terrorist
actions by changing your own to suit them. You DO NOT give any
credibility to a group that would use loaded passenger planes as
missiles against highly populated targets. Anyone that would resort
to that type of action does not deserve the respect of dialogue, of
sitting at a peace table with our President (regardless of what I
think of him otherwise).

I can't remember being more horrified about a news story before. I
was shocked when I heard that planes had collided with the Trade
Center Towers. When I heard that the planes were hijacked commercial
airliners, I cried. I can't say that I've felt a great deal of anger
about this whole situation though, mainly sorrow, shock, and horror.
There isn't a part of me that wishes to strike out against the guilty
parties for revenge. Instead, I want to see them annihilated and/or
apprehended because they are a clear and present danger, and they
will always be a danger if allowed to remain at large. I feel
sadness about the whole situation because I know there will never be
a resolution that will bring comfort. If a surgical strike
annihilates (if it's him) Bin Laden and his camps, then it will feel
anti-climactic, compared to the devastation that has occurred. But
we'll know that they won't be responsible for any more tragedies. If
we are forced to take military actions against Afghanistan, if it
turns out that they are harboring the terrorists, I will surely
regret the loss of life, but I would not shed a tear for the
destruction of the Taliban as an organization (once again, if that's
where all this leads). You can't avoid a dreadful action if doing so
means that an even greater threat to human life and safety remains.
(Perhaps we should have negotiated with Hitler...)

I don't think that there is going to be much international rebuke for
the action that America decides to take. None of the other Middle
Eastern nations care for the Taliban (even Iran hates them), and none
supported Tuesday's attacks. Most of the world's nations were thrown
into high alert fearing that something was going to happen on their
soil, even Russia. And this has majorly screwed with the global
economy in a way that we can't even begin to see yet, what with
domestic markets still closed and aircraft grounded. Who is going to
criticize the US for going after those responsible for their own
nation's market plunging? I think that the US is going to have a
fairly free hand in this.

Capture, dead or alive. That's what terrorists deserve. If alive,
then trial. I don't favor the death penalty; once someone who has
committed a terrible crime has been subdued, they are no longer a
threat (as long as they aren't given free reign to manipulate events
from the inside). As should be done with Milosevic, and what should
have been done with Timothy McVeigh, throw them into a deep dark hole
and leave them there, kept alive, but removed from any sort of
presence, any sort of active life, any sort of public statements or
preaching. No martyrs. Just rotting away, humbled, and forgotten.
But if they happen to get killed in the course of apprehension, so be
it. They all seem more than willing to die for their cause; they
should be glad when they are given the opportunity. If I were in the
position of a senior statesman or diplomat, I'd be damned if I would
ever consider sitting down for peace talks with any of them.

Wed, 12 Sep 2001 19:25:48

Re: ...