HSTuners - View Single Post

10-08-2002, 11:44 PM

Not the best written, certainly not essay quality, not even all that coherent at times, and certainly not a half page. There is certainly much left out of it.....but I post it anyways. Before reading it, though, I must set a few things straight. I am not a terrorist, I do not support terrorism in any way, I am against terrorism in all its forms. I have nothing but sympathy to the victims of 9/11/1. Thoughtful comments/arguments only, if any.

Here goes:

Blowback: The Unwanted Consequences of Actions

The actions and inactions of the people in power past and present have landed us where we are today. Three thousand less, for what and by whom? For the actions of our past and by a former “ally-turned-enemy.” Choosing friends is as important as choosing enemies and battles. Moral implications of assisting a shady character merely to the temporary detriment of a known enemy aside, one must be careful in assisting shady characters in the first place. There is no point in playing only to be played. Considering only the immediate situation at hand with no real thought into the consequences of action or inaction is a byproduct of the politics in our society. Carpe diem. Live for today with no consideration of the future. Spend $1 today because it’s cheaper only to spend $1000 tomorrow, whereas spending $300 today may have solved the problem forever.

It is no surprise that the twins have fallen, the only miracle is that it didn’t happen earlier. We are embroiled in this mess only because of our past actions and inactions. Sometimes it is best to accept your losses and clear up debts with creditors rather than placing more bets. With each bet the risk of accruing higher debt increases. As each day passes, more innocent lives are lost. With each innocent life lost, another enemy is gained. With the passage of enemies more enemies are gained. The proposed solution? Kill the enemy. But I ask how can one kill the enemy when, as each is killed, another is created?

It is not a matter of good versus evil, it is a matter of one opinion versus another. People claim they will never see our side of the story, they will never understand that we’re good and they’re evil. What is conveniently neglected is that we do not see their side of the story, nor will we ever. We don’t understand that they’re good and we’re evil. Truth is dependent upon the world in which one lives. While we all live on the same planet, we do not all live in the same world. Reality varies region-to-region, country-to-country, place-to-place, and person-to-person. I cannot let one letter of the alphabet rule my life, to tell me what is right and wrong. Looking beyond the smoke we see a tree of evil growing in our lawn of goodness. He proposes killing the tree by plucking off its leaves. Who in his right mind would pluck the leaves off a tree to kill it? Ahh the roots of the tree must be a better target. Of course those roots are named, we see them in the news all the time, they are the evil aggressors who have trampled upon our gracious righteousness and must be destroyed, deposed, replaced. But are the roots really the right place to attack?

To successfully kill the tree one must understand what has allowed the tree to grow. Surely its roots are of importance to the tree, but without the proper environment this tree wouldn’t be able to grow. This evil tree is growing in the lawn of goodness and is thus nurtured by the lawn of goodness. The weed killer doesn’t kill the tree, because it’s a tree, not a weed. The lawn is watered, thus providing water to the tree. Through fertilizing the lawn of goodness we have also supported the growth of the tree of evil. Although we didn’t plant the seed of the tree of evil, we must certainly realize that we have nurtured it throughout its life only to find it is sapping all the life out of our lawn of goodness. Killing the tree of evil will not prevent future problems of the same nature in our lawn of goodness….perhaps the lawn of goodness isn’t the best choice afterall. If he focused more attention on the mansion we have built rather than spending all his time gardening in the lawn of goodness we wouldn’t have a tree of evil to worry about, nor would our mansion be falling apart due to the neglect it has received. Noriega, Hussein, Bin Laden to name a few roots of evil who we have nurtured. And now who? Musharraf? Kurds in the north? Shiites in the south? What is to prevent them from rising up against our cause in the future?

What is our cause anyways? To fight for the underdog? If that were the case then Sam would have fought many more battles than he already has. Instead he has only fought certain battles. Sam has let many innocent people die while turning a blind eye, yet he has invaded countries under the cover of helping innocent people. Of course in the infinite quest for answers, some genius has proposed that we have innocently suffered merely because of the hate others feel toward us. But who has tried to really analyze and understand their hate for us? It seems to simple on the surface, oh they’re jealous of our wealth, they’re jealous of our power, blah blah blah yackety schmackety. They fear our influence and our power. There would be nothing to fear if Sam didn’t insist upon sticking his nose into everything and wielding the mighty axe to get his way. We’re never going to realize peace until Sam is willing to allow others to live by their own laws and make their own choices. You can’t turn every country into a democracy.

Who is the terrorist, though? Imagine living your life hearing everyday on the news the leader of the most powerful military in the world saying he is trying to get his Congress to support attacking your country. Imagine hearing that he will bypass the UN if he must and act unilaterally. Imagine how you would feel having foreign warplanes flying over your house, not knowing if a bomb were to fall astray on your house, or whether your own military will use you as a human shield. I can only speak for myself, but I would feel fear…..terror….and who is terrorizing me? Certainly not bin Laden. Imagine living in another country and having your leaders or former leaders taken away to a tribunal for war crimes by the very country who abstains from the tribunal and seeks prosecutorial protection from other countries. Imagine having a country tell you that you must not use your natural resources to save the environment, the very resources that you use daily to support your family, while this country is the world’s largest polluter and has only grown to its power through the exploitation of its own resources.

Regardless of our efforts, there will be others. We are extremely vulnerable and with each attack more innocent people will die. The impact will compound on the psyche of the public yet in their search for answers they will continue not to see the underpinnings of the situation, the events that have led to today. Nothing happens without cause. Enemies don’t magically appear out of thin air. Maybe it would be best to clear out with the house and pay our debts. Or maybe, through some stoke of luck or a miracle, we will eventually win the game at a profit.

10-08-2002, 11:44 PM	#15
spoogenet Posts: n/a	Not the best written, certainly not essay quality, not even all that coherent at times, and certainly not a half page. There is certainly much left out of it.....but I post it anyways. Before reading it, though, I must set a few things straight. I am not a terrorist, I do not support terrorism in any way, I am against terrorism in all its forms. I have nothing but sympathy to the victims of 9/11/1. Thoughtful comments/arguments only, if any. Here goes: Blowback: The Unwanted Consequences of Actions The actions and inactions of the people in power past and present have landed us where we are today. Three thousand less, for what and by whom? For the actions of our past and by a former “ally-turned-enemy.” Choosing friends is as important as choosing enemies and battles. Moral implications of assisting a shady character merely to the temporary detriment of a known enemy aside, one must be careful in assisting shady characters in the first place. There is no point in playing only to be played. Considering only the immediate situation at hand with no real thought into the consequences of action or inaction is a byproduct of the politics in our society. Carpe diem. Live for today with no consideration of the future. Spend $1 today because it’s cheaper only to spend $1000 tomorrow, whereas spending $300 today may have solved the problem forever. It is no surprise that the twins have fallen, the only miracle is that it didn’t happen earlier. We are embroiled in this mess only because of our past actions and inactions. Sometimes it is best to accept your losses and clear up debts with creditors rather than placing more bets. With each bet the risk of accruing higher debt increases. As each day passes, more innocent lives are lost. With each innocent life lost, another enemy is gained. With the passage of enemies more enemies are gained. The proposed solution? Kill the enemy. But I ask how can one kill the enemy when, as each is killed, another is created? It is not a matter of good versus evil, it is a matter of one opinion versus another. People claim they will never see our side of the story, they will never understand that we’re good and they’re evil. What is conveniently neglected is that we do not see their side of the story, nor will we ever. We don’t understand that they’re good and we’re evil. Truth is dependent upon the world in which one lives. While we all live on the same planet, we do not all live in the same world. Reality varies region-to-region, country-to-country, place-to-place, and person-to-person. I cannot let one letter of the alphabet rule my life, to tell me what is right and wrong. Looking beyond the smoke we see a tree of evil growing in our lawn of goodness. He proposes killing the tree by plucking off its leaves. Who in his right mind would pluck the leaves off a tree to kill it? Ahh the roots of the tree must be a better target. Of course those roots are named, we see them in the news all the time, they are the evil aggressors who have trampled upon our gracious righteousness and must be destroyed, deposed, replaced. But are the roots really the right place to attack? To successfully kill the tree one must understand what has allowed the tree to grow. Surely its roots are of importance to the tree, but without the proper environment this tree wouldn’t be able to grow. This evil tree is growing in the lawn of goodness and is thus nurtured by the lawn of goodness. The weed killer doesn’t kill the tree, because it’s a tree, not a weed. The lawn is watered, thus providing water to the tree. Through fertilizing the lawn of goodness we have also supported the growth of the tree of evil. Although we didn’t plant the seed of the tree of evil, we must certainly realize that we have nurtured it throughout its life only to find it is sapping all the life out of our lawn of goodness. Killing the tree of evil will not prevent future problems of the same nature in our lawn of goodness….perhaps the lawn of goodness isn’t the best choice afterall. If he focused more attention on the mansion we have built rather than spending all his time gardening in the lawn of goodness we wouldn’t have a tree of evil to worry about, nor would our mansion be falling apart due to the neglect it has received. Noriega, Hussein, Bin Laden to name a few roots of evil who we have nurtured. And now who? Musharraf? Kurds in the north? Shiites in the south? What is to prevent them from rising up against our cause in the future? What is our cause anyways? To fight for the underdog? If that were the case then Sam would have fought many more battles than he already has. Instead he has only fought certain battles. Sam has let many innocent people die while turning a blind eye, yet he has invaded countries under the cover of helping innocent people. Of course in the infinite quest for answers, some genius has proposed that we have innocently suffered merely because of the hate others feel toward us. But who has tried to really analyze and understand their hate for us? It seems to simple on the surface, oh they’re jealous of our wealth, they’re jealous of our power, blah blah blah yackety schmackety. They fear our influence and our power. There would be nothing to fear if Sam didn’t insist upon sticking his nose into everything and wielding the mighty axe to get his way. We’re never going to realize peace until Sam is willing to allow others to live by their own laws and make their own choices. You can’t turn every country into a democracy. Who is the terrorist, though? Imagine living your life hearing everyday on the news the leader of the most powerful military in the world saying he is trying to get his Congress to support attacking your country. Imagine hearing that he will bypass the UN if he must and act unilaterally. Imagine how you would feel having foreign warplanes flying over your house, not knowing if a bomb were to fall astray on your house, or whether your own military will use you as a human shield. I can only speak for myself, but I would feel fear…..terror….and who is terrorizing me? Certainly not bin Laden. Imagine living in another country and having your leaders or former leaders taken away to a tribunal for war crimes by the very country who abstains from the tribunal and seeks prosecutorial protection from other countries. Imagine having a country tell you that you must not use your natural resources to save the environment, the very resources that you use daily to support your family, while this country is the world’s largest polluter and has only grown to its power through the exploitation of its own resources. Regardless of our efforts, there will be others. We are extremely vulnerable and with each attack more innocent people will die. The impact will compound on the psyche of the public yet in their search for answers they will continue not to see the underpinnings of the situation, the events that have led to today. Nothing happens without cause. Enemies don’t magically appear out of thin air. Maybe it would be best to clear out with the house and pay our debts. Or maybe, through some stoke of luck or a miracle, we will eventually win the game at a profit.