Hello All,
>Because of the thousands
> that have been killed in the middle east. If my brother/father/mother
> were killed I would want revenge too. Like the US blaming the Taliban
> for Osama's actions, the terrorists blamed the US for Israel's actions.
I've heard similar arguments to that as written above a few times now, and
sounds similar to the "blame the victim" mentality that Platt alluded to
earlier. It appears to me that a logical extension of that argument would
be that the now thousands of American children who have lost one or both
parents due to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are
now morally justified to organize terrorist cells in, say, upstate New York,
develop a large-scale plan to hijack multiple airplanes in, say, Riyadh and
Kabul, send members of their organization to live in Afghanistan and Saudi
Arabia who will then fly the hijacked airplanes filled with Afghan and Saudi
citizens into buildings in Riyadh and Kabul, killing thousands of innocent
Afghans and Saudis. I don't believe that these newly orphaned children are
morally justified to act like this, and I don't think the moq would provide
any moral justification, but the explanation of these attacks on "stupid
U.S. foreign policy" seems to inevitably lead to a moral justification of
the above scenario.
The war against terrorism is not a conflict of cultures or America vs Islam
or any of all the other possible cultural confrontations. It's a war of
biology vs society, and therefore would oppose the newly orphaned American
children from conducting terrorist attacks on Arab cities and citizens as
much as it currently does against Osama bin Laden and his organization. In
this conflict of society vs biology, intellectuals need to support society,
regardless of its ethnic connection, and not undermine it.
Regards,
Sriram Subramaniam
----- Original Message -----
From: 8rjd1 <8rjd1@qlink.queensu.ca>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: MD Logical Conclusions Anyone?
> I feel bad for Americans and how biased they are by their own media. As
> a Canadian I have a unique perspective. We get both American and
> Brittish media (and Canadian which is somewhere in the middle).
> Americans have no idea what is causing this terrorism. They literally
> didn't see it coming. US media shows nothing about what the negative
> effets of their foreign policy and how the actions that bred this kind
> of hatred incited this menace. They just don't know why. This is a
> social level conflict, between two social giants, and that's it. Canada
> and Britain beleive in freedom too, why is it that the US was targetted?
> It's as plain to me as the nose on my face. Because of the thousands
> that have been killed in the middle east. If my brother/father/mother
> were killed I would want revenge too. Like the US blaming the Taliban
> for Osama's actions, the terrorists blamed the US for Israel's actions.
> And the connection is not entirely non-existant in either case. The US
> can't afford to support Israel now though, if it means risking it's own
> safety, and in that respect the terrorists will win, even if they are
> all destroyed in the process.
> Rob
>
> > Lawrence, Jon, Platt, All,
> >
> > Sorry to butt into this discussion, but I haven't said anything in a
> > while
> > and I have some time before class starts. So here goes. . . .
> >
> > Platt wrote:
> >
> > We don't hear much from Muslims leaders who admire the West. Who
> > are they? What do they admire about the West? How come Muslim
> > clerics don't speak out against the Taliban?
> >
> > Didn't you see all those imams on TV denouncing the terrorist acts of
> > the
> > Taliban? What about Pakistan pledging support to the US in finding
> > Osama bin
> > Laden?
> >
> > Also:
> >
> > Radical Muslims are against Christianity, the religion of the West. US
> > policies in Arab and Muslim worlds have largely been supported by
> > other Western nations. The last few American interventions abroad--in
> > Kuwait, Somalia and the Balkans--were all conducted in defense of
> > Muslims. If Israel is what you have in mind, let us not forget that
> > the UN
> > created it.
> >
> > Radical Muslims are against foreign policy of the US, such as the
> > sanctions
> > in Iraq, more than they are Christianity. Also, whenever Israel
> > violates the
> > UN security council resolutions, the security council vote to
> > reprimand it is
> > always 14 to 1; the US being the only nation that lets Israel get away
> > with
> > these violations. There have been more than 69, if I am not mistaken.
> > (I'll
> > know for sure when Jonathan starts going off on me.)
> >
> > Platt:
> >
> > Hate is no excuse for terrorism. The only possible conversation
> > between intellect/society and biological acts of terrorism is a
> > soldier
> > with a gun.
> >
> > No matter how many times you keep spouting this phrase, it is still
> > the
> > responsibility of the US to examine its foreign policy. I am not
> > saying that
> > this has anything to do with the attacks on the US; this is a
> > completely
> > different subject. I am not blaming the US for being attacked.
> > However, we
> > should be aware of how powerful hate is and we should take steps to
> > present
> > our country and what it stands for truthfully to the people of other
> > nations
> > in order to quell their hatred. How can you blame them for hating us
> > when
> > their media are constantly bombarding them with images of us being the
> > 'Great
> > Satan?'
> >
> > Platt:
> >
> > Please name the countries in the Muslim world which are liberal
> > democracies
> >
> > Egypt and Pakistan are two, i believe.
> >
> > As a sidenote, let me say that I have heard plenty of offensive jokes
> > that I
> > won't repeat about Afghanistan and the Middle East in general where I
> > am, and
> > it makes me sick. It's this kind of stereotyping by supposedly
> > intelligent
> > people that is the cause for much of the ignorance about the Middle
> > East.
> > There's the attitude of, "They weren't born in the richest country in
> > the
> > world, so I can make fun of their culture and then enjoy watching
> > Britney
> > Spears dancing around like a filthy whore."
> > And I am afraid to say anything against them because I may be
> > perceived as a
> > supporter of terrorism.
> >
> > Platt:
> >
> > Let us agree at the outset that it is "openess and
> > inquiry"--the very things we value so highly--that the Tailban wants
> > to
> > snuff out.
> >
> > Agreed.
> >
> > Rasheed
> >
> >
> > MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
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> >
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>
>
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