state terrorism
Can we win the war on terror? At what cost? Can we do it without resorting to state terrorism?
- Military tribunals in Guantanamo are ruled unconsitutional.
- I learned this morning that threatening the 7-year-old and 9-year-old children of a confirmed terrorist doesn't work.
Not to belittle the question, I really don't know how the United States can "win" the war on terror without compromising human rights. The basis of terrorism is exaggerating the differences in power to force the state to take drastic actions (e.g. assassinations, torture, stomping on individual privacy, etc.), thus creating a climate of fear and forcing support for the terrorist's claims.
I'm following the escalation of violence again in Gaza. It will take some very talented diplomats to resolve this quickly and peacefully.
An aside: Reuters news has a pull-down menu entitled "Choose a crisis." There are approximately forty topics listed.
posted by Jessica @ 8:52 AM
6 Comments:
I am not sure the "state" can win a war on terror. I think the 84 of 93 did the only thing that can be done, Choose not to be victims.
I do not think the world is a very safe place and until we deal with it that way, every day as individuals then the terrorists win. I refuse to let that happen and I refuse to let them change who I am.
Oddly, I am glad the Bush administration is being pulled up short on some of their antiterrorist activities. To follow their lead would make us reflections of the terrorists.
Off my soap box. Do enjoy your brief time off
Thanks Mal. It's not so brief--hopefully I'll be off until Thanksgiving.
If the US (or indeed the UK) have to betray their core values to win the war on terror then they will have lost the war on terror. Guantanamo bay is not just unconstitutional, its evil & wrong and a betrayal of everything we have worth fighting for.
I hadn't seen that pull-down menu. How depressing.
It amazes me how this administration pulls the religion card and condemns stem cell research and all abortions (I'm not "for" abortion, I just think there are situations where it may be necessary). At the same time they are pro death penalty and supportive of Israel's actions. I guess God told Bush that killing for political gain is acceptable.
I don't think you can win a war against a concept. We've been fighting the war on drugs for quite some time now, and no one seems to be winning except the government.
I'm worried about the possibility of our civil rights slipping away, especially with phones being tapped, cell phone calls being banked, and financial records being traced. This is only the beginning. I hate the "you don't have anything to worry about if you haven't done anything wrong" argument. So I should just sit back and allow the government to whittle away my privacy and compromise my civil liberties?
The escalation of violence at Gaza is a scary thing. I have my own opinions on this, which are quite unpopular, but the loss of any human life is a tragedy. I don't think this will ever be resolved because neither side is willing to compromise, and I believe Israel should be doing ALL of the compromising.
On a different topic, slightly, I am terrified of raising a child in this environment. I know that's something parents have always dealt with, but I have no idea how to handle this. I don't want my son to grow up with negative feelings about his country, but I don't want him to be patriotic about a nation that is doing little more than harm to its people. How on earth do we reconcile this?
You can't win the war on terror as its fictional.
Gitmo is an embarrassment.
As is the treatment of the Palestinian people.
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