09-18-2001, 06:48 PM
I have been thinking long and hard about the attack and wish to share my view .
It seems to me that the cause of the attack can be divided principally into two aspects:
1. EXTREME RELIGIOUS DOGMA
2. US INTERVENTION and FOREIGN POLICY
Cause 1:EXTREME RELIGIOUS DOGMA:
It is evident that religious fanatics justify killing of “Western infidels” as a higher good and even necessary act, as dogma within their religious belief system. This sanctions their members to sacrifice their own lives in this effort. This extreme religious belief even concludes that those who do so will be rewarded in the hereafter!
I don’t think there is much we can do in the way of national security to stop this aspect of cause. For example, we beef up airline security, they blow up a school. We protect every school, they blow up a football game. They are only going to do that which CAN succeed. We cannot defend out country against all forms of terrorism with a “fortress” based national security philosophy.
Cause 2: US INTERVENTION and FOREIGN POLICY
Our country supported Ferdinand Marcos, the Shaw of Iran, Noriega and other corrupt governments. Why? Because our foreign policy is too often driven by business interests! Even when it is couched as economics (dependence on oil) it still comes back to business interests. We sell weapons. They are used against us. We export technology. It is used by our enemies to invade, attack, and weaken us. Is there a common thread here? Business interests have far too much influence over foreign policy.
(I hope this does not sound anti-American or unpatriotic. I am very proud to be an American and willingly I served my county in the U.S. Army)
There is a connection between these two CAUSE factors.
If my neighbor is 100% opposed to my belief system AND I do nothing about my barking dog or park my car in his driveway, he is more likely to take action against me. In fact, my intervention in his life is the trigger for his action. His belief system helps him justify SEVERE action but the trigger is my intervention in his daily life.
On the other hand, my neighbor may be fundamentally different or even extreme in his beliefs, but if I don’t interject myself in his daily life it is far more likely that we can co-exist in peace.
I believe that we have to change our foreign policy. Why do we spend billions of dollars on the mid-east? Many people died in Bosnia or are dying today in Africa! We are hypocritical too often about freedom and human rights because we selectively provide or withhold our support or involvement, primarily for economic (business) reasons.
It should be fundamental to our foreign policy that our actions are morally right and supportive of freedom AND that these values and decisions transcend economics. I do not think today, that that is the case.
I would pay $8 a gallon for gas in order to reduce or eliminate terrorism for our nation. Lets face it, in some future time and after whatever short term action of “punishment or justice” occurs (at cost to all of us and not just dollars but the lives of our soldiers too), our “preventative security” in the future will cost us big time dollars. So we will pay one way or the other.
I believe that we don’t have good mass transit in our county because of the power of the auto lobby. We need to make fundamental governance decisions about how we advance as a society, on a clear and moral basis. Dependence on oil is ONLY an economic matter. It can be dealt with and solutions may involve sacrifice and change.
Whenever we choose to involve ourselves in the lives of people in other countries, it should be on a basis that is CONSISTENTLY applied AND is NOT primarily based on economics.
I am not an isolationist. We can coexist with other nations AND be a leader of the free world AND we can have intense commerce and business. But, I want America to be even handed with ALL countries and for our foreign policy to be always consistent with the morality of our free society. BUSINESS and ECONOMIC interests must be made much lower in the pecking order of policy making.
Our nation needs to think long and hard about how we involve ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Dealing with extreme religion fanaticism in the defense of our nation is a huge problem. I do NOT know what may ever be the solution to that problem.
However, I do believe that we can and must change our foreign policy. It is fundamental that we do so. That effort will be far more likely to succeed in securing our own peace.
We have to deal with the fact that we have enemies. I suggest that dealing with one of the main causes for the behavior of our enemies is drastically needed.
WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR FOREIGN POLICY.
IMO
It seems to me that the cause of the attack can be divided principally into two aspects:
1. EXTREME RELIGIOUS DOGMA
2. US INTERVENTION and FOREIGN POLICY
Cause 1:EXTREME RELIGIOUS DOGMA:
It is evident that religious fanatics justify killing of “Western infidels” as a higher good and even necessary act, as dogma within their religious belief system. This sanctions their members to sacrifice their own lives in this effort. This extreme religious belief even concludes that those who do so will be rewarded in the hereafter!
I don’t think there is much we can do in the way of national security to stop this aspect of cause. For example, we beef up airline security, they blow up a school. We protect every school, they blow up a football game. They are only going to do that which CAN succeed. We cannot defend out country against all forms of terrorism with a “fortress” based national security philosophy.
Cause 2: US INTERVENTION and FOREIGN POLICY
Our country supported Ferdinand Marcos, the Shaw of Iran, Noriega and other corrupt governments. Why? Because our foreign policy is too often driven by business interests! Even when it is couched as economics (dependence on oil) it still comes back to business interests. We sell weapons. They are used against us. We export technology. It is used by our enemies to invade, attack, and weaken us. Is there a common thread here? Business interests have far too much influence over foreign policy.
(I hope this does not sound anti-American or unpatriotic. I am very proud to be an American and willingly I served my county in the U.S. Army)
There is a connection between these two CAUSE factors.
If my neighbor is 100% opposed to my belief system AND I do nothing about my barking dog or park my car in his driveway, he is more likely to take action against me. In fact, my intervention in his life is the trigger for his action. His belief system helps him justify SEVERE action but the trigger is my intervention in his daily life.
On the other hand, my neighbor may be fundamentally different or even extreme in his beliefs, but if I don’t interject myself in his daily life it is far more likely that we can co-exist in peace.
I believe that we have to change our foreign policy. Why do we spend billions of dollars on the mid-east? Many people died in Bosnia or are dying today in Africa! We are hypocritical too often about freedom and human rights because we selectively provide or withhold our support or involvement, primarily for economic (business) reasons.
It should be fundamental to our foreign policy that our actions are morally right and supportive of freedom AND that these values and decisions transcend economics. I do not think today, that that is the case.
I would pay $8 a gallon for gas in order to reduce or eliminate terrorism for our nation. Lets face it, in some future time and after whatever short term action of “punishment or justice” occurs (at cost to all of us and not just dollars but the lives of our soldiers too), our “preventative security” in the future will cost us big time dollars. So we will pay one way or the other.
I believe that we don’t have good mass transit in our county because of the power of the auto lobby. We need to make fundamental governance decisions about how we advance as a society, on a clear and moral basis. Dependence on oil is ONLY an economic matter. It can be dealt with and solutions may involve sacrifice and change.
Whenever we choose to involve ourselves in the lives of people in other countries, it should be on a basis that is CONSISTENTLY applied AND is NOT primarily based on economics.
I am not an isolationist. We can coexist with other nations AND be a leader of the free world AND we can have intense commerce and business. But, I want America to be even handed with ALL countries and for our foreign policy to be always consistent with the morality of our free society. BUSINESS and ECONOMIC interests must be made much lower in the pecking order of policy making.
Our nation needs to think long and hard about how we involve ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Dealing with extreme religion fanaticism in the defense of our nation is a huge problem. I do NOT know what may ever be the solution to that problem.
However, I do believe that we can and must change our foreign policy. It is fundamental that we do so. That effort will be far more likely to succeed in securing our own peace.
We have to deal with the fact that we have enemies. I suggest that dealing with one of the main causes for the behavior of our enemies is drastically needed.
WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR FOREIGN POLICY.
IMO