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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MulhollandDrive who wrote (38575)	11/24/2001 1:26:13 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

I didn't say it was intentional. We're cool. I didn't think you did. However I do insist that including a descriptive term like "coward" within a grouping of nonsensical descriptions trivializes. I understand how my attributing the coward POV to black-and-white thinking can seem to trivialize that POV. I have not yet understood your point about nonsensical descriptions. If I posted any nonsense, it was quite accidental. <g> So a coward may be one with his tail hidden between his legs or one who turns tail and runs like a rabbit, with his tail showing. In my research on the meaning of cowardice, I came upon that definition, as well. That has long been the mental picture I've had when thinking of cowardice. That is, in part, why I objected to the characterization of the WTC bombing as cowardly, which is what Yogi said that I originally responded to. The questions of whether that act was cowardly vs. whether Osama is coward have been intertwined throughout this discussion and, I think, are somewhat different although related. Would you consider Osama hiding in a cave (hole) a cowardly act? No, no more so than in a castle with a moat or a Norad bunker. Dirty, but not cowardly. Combatants and their leadership take cover based on their environment and their means. A cave would be declasse compared to a castle, but I don't think cowardly. Would it be a cowardly act if he threw on a burqa and tried to escape? No. Again, if one is in retreat, it is common to do so under cover. I don't see the cover of a burqa any more cowardly than under cover of darkness. Or under vegetables in a produce truck. A burqa would be ironic, but not particularly cowardly. do you consider his current behavior subjecting more innocent people to harm or death while protecting himself cowardly?? This point goes to you. I don't have a problem with him hiding. Or retreating, assuming that Afghanistan is the battle rather than the war. If it's the war, then there's cowardice involved. I can also find cowardice in his putting Afghan civilians at risk to the extent that they would have been safe had he just turned himself in. Yes, indeed. [You realize, of course, that arguing on SI that Osama isn't a coward takes courage. <g>] Karen