Stephen Pair wrote:
> 
> I can't believe what I just read...this is truly despicable.  Cees, it
> saddens me that you feel this way.

Well, I'm pretty much in agreement with Cees. And I am the benificiary
of a history of exploitation and oppression which puts that of the US in
the shade. Now is hardly the best time to discuss it, but there never is
a good time. Of course, Tuesday's events were despicable, but.....

> 
> Let us be thankful that most of us live in a world where power
> structures are not determined through violent means.  

But surely the point is that most of us do not! 

//snipped//

> but I do expect to help lay the foundation
> for such a civilization in the future.
> 
> The events of Tuesday remind us all that there are those on this planet
> that seek to turn back the clock to a time when people were ruled
> through voilence and intimidation...and the only language they know is
> violence.

But perhaps that is the only language we've allowed them to learn? Seems
to me that there are many on this planet who have grown to associate
democracy and capitalism with violence and intimidation. What other
language can someone who lives in subhuman conditions and works 90+
hours a week knocking out fashion footware for western rich kids for
barely a subsistence wage learn? What language would you be speaking if
you lived in a slum on the West Bank and were regularly attacked by
Apaches paid for with US money? To be sure, it's a sad, sorry, mess. But
we've played, and continue to play, our part in its creation. 

> 
> Cees, if you think that I, as an American, am going to stop for even a
> second and ponder why this act was committed, you are sorely mistaken.
> My only concern in this matter is justice.

But justice never comes out of the barrel of a gun -- it comes through
understanding. If I look at our history, if I look at US history, I can
see many acts of "justice" commited in haste which turned out in
hindsight to be anything but. For the cost of the cruise missile attacks
instigated by Bill Clinton on Afghanistan, the US could have developed
that starving country's infrastructure to the point where there would be
place for the enemies of America there. 

Let's not forget that most of those who now attack us once wanted
nothing more than to be our friends and to be granted a future with some
hope.

Cheers

John
-- 
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