This is part of a discussion, but I think it's enough for you to get the
gist of his position. What do people on this list think?
Dan
Read "Knowledge is Power" at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/IP1_Know.html
From: Greg Johnson gregoryrjohnson@mindspring.com
To: objectivism@wetheliving.com
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 2:31 PM
Subject: OWL: Never Again
Jason Walker is mistaken. I do not think that the United States should give
one inch to terrorism WHEN OUR INTERESTS AND PRINCIPLES ARE AT STAKE. But
America has no interest in being allied with Israel. Nor do we have a
significant commonality of values. Israel is more like the hated Muslim
countries than like the United States. Morally speaking, the Jews in Israel
are no better than their neighbors. Do the Arabs torture and assassinate
their enemies? So do the Israelis. Are the Arab states run by terrorists and
mass murderers? So is Israel. (Shamir was a terrorist,
Begin a terrorist, Barak a trained assassin, and Sharon is a butcher.) Do
Arab states sponsor terrorism? So does Israel. Are Arab countries
anti-capitalist? So is Israel. Are Arabs tribal and collectivist? So are
Jews. Do Muslim states base their laws on revealed religion? Some of them
do. But so does Israel. Do most Jews and Arabs actively take part in these
policies? No. Do most of them give their tacit consent? Absolutely.
There is NO REASON to take sides in this conflict. And if the WTC bombing
wakes America up to this fact, then so be it. I'd prefer that we wake up now
than after a nuclear or biological or biochemical attack. As strange as this
may seem, the WTC attack was designed to get attention, not to inflict
maximum casualties. Much of the population of NYC could have been killed
with anthrax. But that would not be as telegenic as the WTC collapse.
It is not an act of cowardice to admit that one has been wrong. Indeed, it
takes far more courage to admit one's error than it does to persist in it
and compound it with calls for the nuclear annihilation of the Muslim world.
How do we make sure that it NEVER AGAIN occurs? Here's one answer:
"So we tell the Americans as people, and we tell the mothers of soldiers and
American mothers in general that if they value their lives and the lives of
their children, to find a nationalistic government that will look after
their interests and not the interests of the Jews.
"The continuation of tyranny will bring the fight to America, as Ramzi
Yousef
and others did. This is my message to the American people: to look for a
serious government that looks out for their interests and does not attack
others, their lands, or their honor. And my word to American
journalists is not to ask why we did that but ask what their government has
done that forced us to defend ourselves."--- Osama bin Laden, May 1998
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