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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (7973)	2/13/2003 8:42:21 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

And so what did/does your brother think of the forceful removal of the Taleban? And do you think that complete immersion and fanatical obsession with fundamentalist Islamism , the key and answer to the myriad pan-arab dillemnas of poverty , sustainability , employment etc , which are not , btw , all due to Israeli and American hegemony.

To: Art Bechhoefer who wrote (7973)	2/13/2003 9:50:41 PM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 25898

>>>the general problem is that we do not have enough experts in the field building trust and establishing institutions that work against the sort of fundamentalism that leads to terrorist activities.<<< Art, what you've just descibed, I think, is the missing link of America's response to 9/11. No doubt about it. We got punched deep in the face and this drew a response where everyone wanted to punch back. Defense, for sure, is both necessary and a given, however, the sole conclusion that a blow against blow mentality is the only viable way to resolve a dispute only leaves the strongest one standing last. John Barleycorn must die! But you mentioned diplomacy. Diplomacy is not a matter where the next best gunslinger beats the one who was before, and so on. I've not heard a single word from the Bush Administration on anything related to what breeds the terrorism we know today and that many other nations have known for decades. I haven't heard any mention as to how we came into the condition we know today. A condition such that no matter how much we'd wish it'd go away, it won't. Instead we're greeted daily with current day renditions of Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah. Yes, the monster personality has become a human one. And has any leader of any nation ever considered the possibilities of moral jujitsu as a policy? This is the opposite of what the next best gunslinger does, the condition whereby the aggressor gets counterattacked, both agreeing violence is the only means to settle the dispute. But in the world there are onlookers. And what do people see when they see one party throw a punch and the other party not respond similarly? You see, moral jujitsu is a tactic to gain the support of those who are watching. Because winning is not whose standing last over the vanguished. Winning is rooted in understanding why and in the ability to present an alternative to that which is known as offensive. I'm not saying we should not have removed the Taliban from Afghanastan as part of our response to 9/11. That was a good and necessary move. What I am saying is, in parallel to our military response, there should have been in place a messagel, a forum of some kind, meant for all of those in the world who were watched and learned about 9/11 and why it happened. What was needed was not yet another gunfight. The moral high ground is in knowing how to cure, not in knowing how to spread a disease further. And history, certainly World War I and World War II, have proven to us that war is a disease. Indeed, diplomacy is the very best and the most valuable tool of civilized nations. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has been foreign to it.