A response to "Bomb Them with Butter" chain letter.
To start, I truly feel that the attack on the US by the terrorist groups of Jihad (which includes
the Taliban of Afghanistan and many others) is the worst human catastrophe that I have ever
witnessed, and perhaps one of the worst in history. The single-instance loss of life and
emotional scarring inflicted on the American people by this attack is something that our
generation will have to live with for the rest of our lives. We will be effected emotionally for
some time to come, and our God-given liberties will be forever hindered, as will our children's'
children. I am sure I am not alone in these beliefs. In fact I would not be surprised if I am
with the majority of the American people. My initial reactions to the atrocities imposed to the
American people on 9/11/2001 were shock, sorrow, more shock, and eventually
sorrow/anger. The images of carnage and human stories of loss inflicted by the attack are
just now starting to fade (after two weeks) from my minute-to-minute thoughts and dreams.
Now I find myself thinking, "What needs to be done to make sure this does not happen
again". My motivating drivers for my current thoughts are that I don't want my children to ever
to have their wellbeing threatened or human rights impeded due to the fears of terrorism or
have to bear witness to the tools used by terrorist groups. These tools of course include
deadly attacks on the innocent and the fear of future attacks. They also include deep-rooted
racism, oppression of woman, and freedom of religion.
What should be done? I think there is no 100% right way to address this. There never is
when a population as a group is attacked, where each individual has their own ideas as to the
proper way to respond (and if to respond at all). But 1st and foremost in whatever is to be
done, it MUST be acceptable to the majority of our citizens, being that the events of 9/11
were a direct attack on the American people and their way of life. This is the American
people's right. I also am putting my faith (more so than usual) in our government's ability in
finding an acceptable response that will bring justice to those who are directly responsible
and by also squashing those governments who actively support terrorism. When a country is
attacked by a terrorist group, it is not just the individual group who does the deed who is
responsible, but the officers and government who give the order. The terrorists ARE the
government, and therefore a target of some sort of retaliation.
In order to respond, the US must define the enemies (there is more than one IMO).
The majority-in-control government of Afghanistan (Taliban) is no doubt a huge player in the
latest attack. The Taliban means "student" according to my research. Their primary goal was
to enforce the "Teachings of Islam". I'm sure at one time they had good intentions, but they
currently are a self-appointed mob-order group justifying their existence by a twisted version
of the "Teachings of Islam". I could give many many examples on how the Taliban is 180
degrees out of phase with the true "Teachings of Islam", and I will if you want. Over 80% of
Afghanistan is considered under Taliban rule. The symbolic patriarchal leadership of
Afghanistan currently does resist the Taliban through much smaller groups of organized
rebels (funded recently by the Russians.....it is interesting that the Soviets funded the
Taliban), but progress is limited. Other governments such as the Iraqis, Syrians, and Libyans
can be considered "state-sponsored" supporters of Terrorism, but I will focus on the
Afghanistanis in this letter.
One response option that I believe is being strongly considered by the US is a war, if you will,
on Terrorism. The immediate response will probably involve large-scale (relative to the gulf
war....the only war I have witnessed 1st hand) air and land operations that are focussed
directly on the Taliban military operations and camps. Long term will be an intense and up-
close intelligence effort at the human level like none we have ever seen. Covert operations
will be done and done well.....covertly. They must not make the press, and the US must play
by the terrorist's own dirty rules (black operations?). I would not be surprised if this is a
military-organized effort due to the current state of the CIA. Not only should the roots of
terrorism be killed, but also the future seeds of terrorist influence must be killed as they
germinate.
In addition to military efforts, a large-scale humanitarian effort will be "fought" on behalf of the
entire Afghanistani population. I think this will happen shortly after, if not in parallel with, the
counter-attacks on the Taliban commence. The oppressed people of Afghanistan have been
in need of humanitarian aid for some time now. Aid has been sent. But for reasons that I
don't know about the Taliban is blocking the aid to the Afghanistani people. It is simply
stowed away in storage houses. This is yet another reason that the Taliban government
needs to be spanked.
I mentioned before that the decisions that this government makes in regards to a retaliation to
the terrorist governments must be unified by the American people as a majority. It is very
unhealthy to have pockets of individuals who disagree with a possible war effort due to
reasoning that can not stand up in the real world. "Hope" does not win battles and does not
eliminate the oppression of the innocent. The swaying of public opinion against the
oppressors means nothing.....they were already viewed in a very negative light due to their
past dastardly deeds. And an all-out effort of humanitarian aid historically has never
overturned the governing bodies who are the source of oppression. One example of a huge
humanitarian effort where the majority of the population of the country who were targets of
aid were in the end put in a worse situation (and STILL ARE) are the people of Ethiopia. Do
you remember "Live-Aid"? Yes, the people received much aid, and some of it even got to the
people. But that did not fix the root of the problem and as time went on the people ended up
starving to death in greater numbers every day to this very day. To put doubt into the minds
of those American people who are ignorant about possible solutions for eradicating the
terrorists by simply feeding the oppressed and "hoping" that public opinion will turn the tables
against the oppressors, and perhaps even change the government to align the principles in
which they represent to those that are compatible to the rest of the world is pure lunacy. It is
divisive, irresponsible, unpatriotic, and most importantly, an ineffective and high-risk effort
that has little (no?) chance of working, as history has already told us so.
PRB |
