Since I have supported a more even-handed look at the Palestinian/Israeli situation along the lines of mrfish, I suppose I should chime in as well even though this is a sensitive issue right with a lot of potential misunderstanding and anger.
First off all, like everyone else here I believe bin Laden and his ilk need to be hunted down and eliminated. I would have no problem beating to death with a baseball bat anyone who had even the remotest conscious participation in this. I miss being in uniform at a time like this. Terrorism is an idiotic way to get serious goals achieved and just leads to more hate and less chance of any peaceful solution to a problem.
However, and not necessarily directly related, the Palestinians have some legitimate issues and we have been squarely involved with the unilateral support of Israel. Their hatred really isn’t a surprise, though I imagine the more sober Palestinians realized how much this attack sets back any hope of achieving their goals. You can argue the tenants of Zionism, the fact there was no Palestinian state (though control under the British mandate didn’t really leave much room for this) when Israel was founded; conventional terrorism from the Stern Gang to the PLO; provocations from bulldozing a residential neighborhood to a suicide bombing at a bus stop; our strongest ally in the region or our only ally because of the special relationship. Who’s right, who’s wrong? It doesn’t really matter. The Palestinians are not going to disappear any time soon, nor are the Israelis (as a nuclear power, I’m not all that afraid of its survival as a nation). Short of exterminating one side or the other, down to the last child, peace will have to come through realistic compromise. I don’t believe our largely one-sided view on who is right and who is wrong for the last 50 years (a view not fully shared throughout the West btw), brings the region any closer to peace. In many ways, our policies have supported the status quo in my opinion. When we have dealt with bin Laden and related players, which is not just good for us but for any moderate influence in the world, I hope we look for a real solution for an equitable peace in the Middle East.
It doesn’t pay to link this attack too tightly to Israel/Palestine, though this is a cornerstone of bin Laden’s hatred of the West. He is just as upset by America’s involvement in the moderate Arab states and sees the spread of Western culture as an evil in its own right. If he had his way, all of the region would be a large Afghanistan and we know what a dark age that reality would be. I imagine we’ll get a lot of support from moderate Arabs throughout the region as we hunt him down because, at the end of the day, he represents more of a threat to them than he does to us. It also seems likely as well (at least for now) that Iraq has played some role in the attack and that is more of a personal hatred from Hussein. I believe, in the same way, that the attack on the Stark wasn’t an accident but rather a response by him to Iran/Contra. Perhaps we have no choice but to finish what we started in Desert Storm.
Anyway, take care of the task at hand then try to set a framework for real peace in the region as we move forward.
Charon
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[ 09-13-2001: Message edited by: Charon ]
