Terror

[poliphilo]

We've been sold a lie.

There is no Al Quaida.

I mean, if there was a big, scary, SPECTRE-like, terrorist organisation lurking in the shadows waiting to get us, it would have managed another hit against the US mainland in the years since 9/11.

There are terrorists, sure- but they're not centrally organised or well-armed or particularly smart. They're capable of one-off attacks on soft targets- as in Madrid and London.

Consider that last- aborted- attack on the London underground. One of the guys- the one the Italians are holding- has said the bombs were never meant to go off. I don't know whether he's lying or telling the truth, but either way his gang were a Mickey Mouse outfit.

I don't want to down-play the danger. There have been bombs and there will be more bombs, but this isn't World War III. We're not up against a Big Enemy, we're up against a scattered bunch of stupid, idealistic young men, all fired up by the same stupid, fascistic ideology.

It's one for the police, not the military.

But the lie about Al Quaida, complicated by further lies about WMDs and the politics of the Middle East, has landed us in an illegal and unwinnable war that is simply stengthening the stupid, fascistic ideology that inspires the stupid, idealistic young men.

Comments

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind words. I get my morning news from the Wall Street Journal (dismissed as right wing propaganda by some, but it's no coincidence that Danny Pearl was the first reporter whose throat was cut). I also get it from the Philadelphia Inquirer, which this morning used the tragedy of Katrina as the launch pad for a rant about the "silent flood" of uninsured who are being tortured by the Republicans' dont-care attitude. Living as I do in a neighborhood where 95% of residents don't share my views, I'm used to listening and trying to be reasonable in response.

Lstening to the way my neighbors vituperate George Bush et al., I've learned to temper my pronouncements on the policies of folk such as Ted Kennedy. Belittling these folks may make me feel better but it won't encourage folks to listen to what I have to say.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's it.

There's too much shouting and name-calling in politics these days and it's one of the things that alienates people. Democracy is a precious thing and in order to sustain it we have to have public debate which is about more than scoring points off the opposition. Otherwise reasonable people turn away in disgust and leave the arena to the moonbats.

(I love that word "moonbats"- thank you for teaching it me.)

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

(It's "barking moonbats" -- you need the "barking" to get the full flavor.)