- Tomorrow will be about speeches and posturing… but hopefully we’ll hear more. Where do we go from here… what will we be doing September 12th?
Part of the challenge we face is the natural reserve we have in the west to facing a proven enemy. Many of our past presidents from Wilson, Roosevelt, Truman and Clinton were not immune to the revulsion of the use of force, except in some cases on Americans. Here’s a quote that sums up our internal challenge in dealing effectively with terrorism:
- President John F. Kennedy is quoted as saying: “Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.” This is a nice sentiment…. except for the forgiveness part.
As Tucumseh Sherman once said, “war is hell.” We can’t expect to fight terrorism without getting our hands dirty. Our success in beating back the threat is recognizing from where it evolves and taking effective action. We do speak of this in our culture…. in surprising ways.
- There’s a line in ‘Pirates of the Carribbean’ that goes to the heart of decisive action and it’s goes something like this…” Jack, this is how you lost the ‘Pearl’ in the first place. People are easier to search when they are dead.” I would add: Dead Terrorists tell no tales.
Something occurred to me the other day…that sounded very ‘unWestern’ of me… but we are in a new era and a new kind of war. I’ve noticed that none of the families of the terrorists have ever paid a price. No fear, shame or embarrassment… they even get a payoff! When a bomb goes off by a suicide bomber… the families of the terrorists always get a handsome ‘payout’ from their terrorist masters… somehow, this ‘incentive’ needs to be taken away. It is clear that families of terrorists need to live under the same fear as their family member’s victims. This will take some changes in thinking…. or we could face the problems of ‘Eurabia’ or ‘Canadistan’.
One can go after the source of money… but something more immediate and direct needs to happen. Any ideas?
Roger Freberg
I have included some blogs that I have found interesting… not all I agree with … but I presented them for your amusement. To me, the important message of nine eleven is that we still have the freedom to speak and to be heard… but if we don’t meet the challanges ahead… we will lose even that.
other Blogs:
Five Years Ago the World Stopped
MySpace Providing an outlet for Terrorism
Good Coming from war on Terrorism
compassionate words from a liberal
Abu Ghraib … not a nice place anymore
the Reality Show
Nutty Blogs:
The Tao Of Politics
Drinkin’ too much Brandy
Disappointment
Nutty Theologians
what do you think our response to 9/11 should be?