Jim,
Don't knowingly and intentionally twist what I am saying.
No killing of civilians is ok (what will soon transpire in Afghanistan in this regard could be seen as necessary IMO).
There will no doubt be an increase of surveillance of immigrants from the middle east. I just hope that the ugliness of the situation is not compounded by a backlash against Arab or Muslim Americans. It serves no purpose.
Who could be pleased with reports of celebrations over these attacks. I hope our response to this atrocity is swift and commensurate. In fact, if there's some added extra oomph, that's fine with me.
But, clearly, there should be a distinction between terrorists, and the 99+% of Arabs that are not terrorists, even if there are a large number of Arabs who sympathize with these murderers.
Similarly there is a distinction between Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Eric Rudolph, et al and the 99+% of registered republicans that never bombed an Abortion clinic, a Federal building, or the Olympics. Don't forget the intense, vitriolic and inflammatory anti-gov't sentiment and rhetoric that ran high amongst the likes of G. Gordon Liddy, Jesse "he better have some extra bodyguards!" Helms, Rush Limbaugh, Helen Chenowith and Newt Gingrich prior to April 18 1995. |
