Oh dang... one accidental click of the wrong mouse button and 20 mins of typing go right down the crapper. (Dunno what I'm more pissed at - the erase of it or myself for the fact that I spent 20 minutes typing a reply)
Anyway - what I said, basically, was:
Thrawn, I think easymo was talking about you and Hotseat.
Also, I agree (to a point) that "skeptism of a goverment's actions, and questioning them, is part of a healthy democracy at anytime." It's only the "anytime" part I take a bit of issue with. Despite an interesting new wave of political correctness being embraced by many who would seem to be opposed to that sort of thing - now really *isn't* the time to lobby criticism at foreign policy or any such thing. It's akin to getting sucker punched in a bar and having yer pal ask only "are you absolutely *sure* you weren't checking out his girlfriend?" There will indeed be time for a deeper discussion on the issues surrounding this tradgedy - but in case anyone's thermometer is completely hosed, it aint the climate for it. Nor should it be. As a discussion it may be interesting, but anyone can be an armchair quaterback with 20/20 vision... and it doesn't change what occured one bit.
Indeed, what occured on Sept. 11th changes everything *else*... and what really matters is this point forward. Sure it's imperative to examine what lead up to it... but only to a certain extent I think. I mean, how deep do you want intellectualize the barbaric acts of *terrorists*? How deep *can* one one explore this? How much weight do you want to give these guys? In that light, (and not speaking about you Thrawn) the leveling of blame at the US for a terrorist attack is nonsensical to the extreme.
As far as what lies ahead (for those in favour of a peaceful process)...
This isn't a territory dispute. bin Laden doesn't want your CD collection or your Land Rover. He doesn't think his people are getting ripped off over unfair tarrifs on nuts and prunes. He has no desire to be a contender in the arms race. He simply wants to erradicate western culture. Is that too much to ask? Now how does one go about entering a dialogue with someone who's "win condition" is, well, your death? Nothing more, nothing less. What exactly is there to negotiate? Nothing. You cannot do it, yet to ignore it would be insanity, and incredibly irresponsible.
Ispar - I'm genuinely curious... What would be the Quaker view of this? Is assimilation into or anhilition by these people really prefferable to defence? If not, how does one go about a defence without mounting an offence in this case? If so, wow...
