philosophicSCARY I visited Singapore in 1988. The newspaper there ran a weekly opinion poll and the week I was there the question was, "Who personifies the typical American?" The overwhelming top two responses were, J.R. Ewing and Rambo. – Dave
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infamy STORY
a modest proposalSeptember 20, 2001 After considerable thought on the matter I've come to the conclusion that the United States, in response to the terrorist attack of 11 September, 2001, should immediately and unmercifully begin carpet bombing the entire nation of Afghanistan. The bombings should commence immediately, go on around the clock and should encompass the entire country. However instead of using conventional bombs or even smart bombs we should bomb them with food and books and images of the world beyond their borders. Give the Afghan people the information the Taliban so desperately tries to keep from them. Bombard them with clothes and medicine... everything they could possibly need to break free of the grip of poverty, the terror of civil war and the veil of ignorance that currently enslaves them. Give them everything but weapons and hate. Besides reducing the loss of life, both theirs and ours, it would be much, much less costly and I suspect the resistance from the Afghan people would be very light. Who then would criticize Pakistan for letting us base our 'attacks' from their soil? The Afghan people expect one thing from the United States. They expect to be attacked and their lives made even more miserable than they already are. They expect confirmation of everything the Taliban has told them. Give them exactly the opposite. Bombard them with it. Make every word the Taliban has said about the United States patently untrue. Make the Taliban in Afghanistan irrelevant. Killing the Taliban will accomplish nothing. In fact, it will only make them stronger. Their strength comes from an idea. A bad one. Expose the idea as the falsehood it is and you destroy it. Change the whole world's opinion about the United States. Demonstrate that despite being the only remaining Superpower we are also the most compassionate people on Earth. People able to withstand incredible suffering and loss without lashing out, thoughtlessly seeking revenge. Instead of destabilizing an entire region, the entire world for that matter, we have the opportunity to do exactly the opposite. This is not to say that the terrorists get off scott free. The perpetrators of terrorism must be punished. And the compassionate bombing of Afghanistan would accomplish that too. Imagine if you will, the coalition we could put together against terrorism if the world view of the United States was not one of arrogant, loudmouthed bully, but rather that of compassionate, steadfast custodian of peace, the nation that sagely avoided starting World War III in the face of severe provocation. Any country that did not then immediately join the fight against terrorism would be exposed for what it is, a supporter of terrorism. We would effectively root out the bad guys and consolidate the good guys in one fell swoop. Will this in any way reduce the suffering of those who died in the terrorist attacks or the ongoing suffering of the friends and loved ones they left behind. No, of course not. But neither will murdering 5 or 6 thousand equally innocent Afghanis who have little or no control over the Taliban. They are just trying to get by day to day just like you and me. To paraphrase a well-worn saying, "The bitter aftertaste of hate lingers long after the sweet taste of revenge has gone. – dave © Copyright iriguchi 2001 |
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