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Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gauguin who wrote (17199)	1/31/1999 5:01:00 PM
From: James F. Hopkins	Respond to of 71178

Gauguin; The Documentary was heart wrenching, from my point of view so much is not caused just via Jews vs Arabs, it goes way beyond that. Of course my being a seaman causes me to see angles that go beyond nationalism. I don't have any doubt that what aid we gave Israel was mostly tied to getting them to make compromises and at least intended to aid in creating a path to peace. If any thing; those who use terrorism as a MO can't be allowed to win, what kind of world or leaders would we have if that wins ? so as horrid as the conflict is, the most of the fault for it falls on the terrorist, and the ones who support it in any fashion, for any reason. There is no way for me to make a simple statement on it, the issue is too complex. The show exposed the extremes of human nature, both good and bad, that it happened there and to them in a way we could see and focus on it can tell us more about what's wrong with the world than just Taht part of the world. The struggles played out for power ( & the demagoguery used by the leaders) is more universal than meets the eye. While I'm one to often say "justice is for sale to the highest bidder" I don't mean to imply that it just happens here, as it's also universal in human nature. -------------- I do think that Russia exploited , or tried to exploit the situation much more than we did, and their deliberate miss-information was an atrocity as horrific as any I know of. But here one can not blame the Russian people, but has to look at who the leaders were at the time, ( thank god they are not in power now.) ---------------- A nuclear hell may yet come if terrorist insist their MO offers a solution, as I would rather see no world at all, than one that is controlled by terrorist. As I do not think they will just be a terrorist long enough to get control and then suddenly become boy scouts. --------------- Perhaps it's a bit of a sensitive subject to me, and I may over state things, but at one point I became a pawn in the game, as some Muslims tried to kidnap me, just as they did many American citizens , ( I was in Africa at the time) well they failed in my case, as they did not understand my insane fear of them or being tortured, it's the one incident in my life that still invokes a burning rage in me when I think back on it. A rage that goes beyond the ones trying to do the kidnapping as they were just following some orders. I am able to understand the pitiful conditions that rendered them as pawns, and can forgive them, but the ACT and what brought it on or the ones who ordered it I can't forgive; and what's frustrating is I don't even know for sure who they were. Maybe it's just as good that I don't know. The bottom line is my insane fear at the time, did not come out as fear, it came out as anger, more than I can ever remember having, I guess they figured out I would not make a good prisoner as I left them no alternative but to kill me. I didn't think it out at the time, it was just fear, so much fear that I was not going to be taken alive, and when that became clear, they backed off. They wanted a pawn but not a dead American. Well one other thing may have turned it too. I got the drop on one, ( of the three) and he would have died with me. As it turned out he took me back and dropped me at the American embassy, and our consul general told me to not make any waves. In fact he acted like he didn't even want to hear about it. ----------------- Any how in my own small way I was personally involved in that conflict & beyond any willingness on my part, so I now know with out any doubt I could never side with a terrorist, no matter what his cause may be, it can't be justified, in the long run the back lash to it will produce something even more ugly than what he is fighting against. It always begets more, & there isn't any way out of it. --------------- I was so pissed at the time that had I had the power, I would have turn one particular Arab state into a parking lot that glows in the dark. Jim