Still, I would like (expect, even...) America to set an example in this matter, as the most advanced democracy on this planet and arguably the one place where law and justice is held above all other considerations - especially the primitive ones like "revenge".
Gee... I'm more interested in making sure that the US continues to exists...
It's pretty easy to deter rogue states that might be aiming nuclear weapons at us.. They blow us up, we blow them up..
But how do you deter a group of non-state actors, who recognize no international treaties, humanitarian accords, or human rights conventions, who are intent upon smuggling in a nuclear/biological/chemical device into the US??
The only way you do it is by acting like a rampaging elephant which could quite likely stomp on anything it perceives as a threat...
Ever notice how people never screw with someone who they perceive might be susceptible to "going postal"??
Well, that's what the Bush administration (very cleverly) is presenting itself as... And to this point it has worked quite effectively as other states have spent considerable effort trying to "calm us down".. (which has gotten inspectors back into Iraq by a 15-0 margin in the UNSC) and forced the UN to do its job...
I know you are right. Hence my sadness in the understanding that in fighting the irrational crazies, we will become like them, rather than upholding our principles.
We ARE like them Zonder... Even you.. (were you placed in such a life and death situation). We're all capable of such behavior (look at what happened to SI's own Tim Luke).. But most of us, as a society, CHOOSE NOT TO.. and while we get really angry that our lives have been disrupted, you generally are quick to demobilize and return our troops to their civilian lives. (I strongly recommend reading "Citizen Soldiers" by Stephen Ambrose)
And there is nothing that makes me more angry than someone who insists on provoking me to the point of anger.. (ask my former wife who, btw, I have never physically abused).. Because I like to be happy.. And I don't like to be angry or carry a grudge... And when I get livid mad, I hold more of a grudge over the fact that I had to get to that point..
And there's no doubt that, like in "Seven", I would have likely blown the guy's head off as well. Because my sentiment is that we spend far too much time worrying about the rights of a perpetrator than we do about the rights of the victim..
And any court in the land that would have prosecuted that cop would have to live with itself in shame...
Hawk |
