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anotheranonAmerica's Terrorist Roots
At a time like this, where discussion is turning towards just how to retaliate and who to retailate against, I thought it would be useful to remember that the U.S.A. is not as squeaky clean, "God, Country, and Apple Pie" as we like to think it is.
It seems that Osama bin Laden is the prime suspect, and that the Taliban are knowningly harboring him. IF this is the case, then retailiation should absolutely happen. I just worry that Bush & Co. are going to overreact, running in there like John Wayne and bombing everything in sight - a hasty, sloppy policy that might be one reason this happened. Besides, not EVERYONE in Afghanistan is an enemy - we've got allies in the country so I think its important that whoever is organizing the U.S. response keep that in mind.
Its something that I don't think that the military have ever had to deal with before - its not a simple "Us vs. Them", its more like "Us vs. Some of Them (if we can find Them, if they are in fact the Them we're after)" - and the question becomes how to get Some of Them without affecting the rest of Them. Declare war? On what? And take action how? Its unlikely (IMHO) that these were the actions of an identifiable country. And it would be so easy and satisfying for both the U.S. government and the public to name suspects prematurely and "go get 'em".
I'm not a military or strategy expert, so I'm just rambling and speculating.
There's also legitimate concern that anti-Islam or anti-Arab discrimination and violence will be rampant. I'm already hearing rumors about it, though nothing substantial. And I just know that there are going to be racist yahoos out there that will beat them up or do something and make all of this ten times worse. The last thing needed right now is for people to overreact, and overreact stupidly.
At work, little is getting done. We're all watching the news websites and talking among ourselves about what might happen next. It seems like a lot of people may be out. Yesterday there were many kids playing on the grounds out back - normally I think that the workplace is a terrible place for small children but in the case of national emergency, maybe parents are genuinely terrifed to leave them at home, even assuming they could find a sitter at such short notice.
Personally, I find myself reluctant to plan more than a few hours in advance, because I don't know what's coming next. For the time being, I am supposed to start fall fencing class tonight, but I am not absolutely sure that it will be held. I'm supposed to be here for the full work day, but I'm not sure that will happen either.
At a time like this, where discussion is turning towards just how to retaliate and who to retailate against, I thought it would be useful to remember that the U.S.A. is not as squeaky clean, "God, Country, and Apple Pie" as we like to think it is.
It seems that Osama bin Laden is the prime suspect, and that the Taliban are knowningly harboring him. IF this is the case, then retailiation should absolutely happen. I just worry that Bush & Co. are going to overreact, running in there like John Wayne and bombing everything in sight - a hasty, sloppy policy that might be one reason this happened. Besides, not EVERYONE in Afghanistan is an enemy - we've got allies in the country so I think its important that whoever is organizing the U.S. response keep that in mind.
Its something that I don't think that the military have ever had to deal with before - its not a simple "Us vs. Them", its more like "Us vs. Some of Them (if we can find Them, if they are in fact the Them we're after)" - and the question becomes how to get Some of Them without affecting the rest of Them. Declare war? On what? And take action how? Its unlikely (IMHO) that these were the actions of an identifiable country. And it would be so easy and satisfying for both the U.S. government and the public to name suspects prematurely and "go get 'em".
I'm not a military or strategy expert, so I'm just rambling and speculating.
There's also legitimate concern that anti-Islam or anti-Arab discrimination and violence will be rampant. I'm already hearing rumors about it, though nothing substantial. And I just know that there are going to be racist yahoos out there that will beat them up or do something and make all of this ten times worse. The last thing needed right now is for people to overreact, and overreact stupidly.
At work, little is getting done. We're all watching the news websites and talking among ourselves about what might happen next. It seems like a lot of people may be out. Yesterday there were many kids playing on the grounds out back - normally I think that the workplace is a terrible place for small children but in the case of national emergency, maybe parents are genuinely terrifed to leave them at home, even assuming they could find a sitter at such short notice.
Personally, I find myself reluctant to plan more than a few hours in advance, because I don't know what's coming next. For the time being, I am supposed to start fall fencing class tonight, but I am not absolutely sure that it will be held. I'm supposed to be here for the full work day, but I'm not sure that will happen either.
