Andrew Hagen writes:
I disagree. IMHO, the attack was cowardly. They attacked defenseless
people. Only cowards do such things.
There is an assumption that the tactic of secrecy was necessary. This
softly implies that the attack itself was necessary. Not only would
that statement be wrong, it would be a hideous lie.
=====
With respect, comrade...
Whatever else we might say of the now-dead perpetrators of this act,
they were not cowards. Cowards do not put themselves in a position where
they pay for consequences of their actions. Especially when those
consequences include inevitable death. The question to ask here is what
on earth would cause anyone to undertake such a course of action. Why is
there so little official curiosity about the motivations of Palestinian
suicide bombers, for instance? [That's a rhetorical question, folks, as
Dubya would say, and did, incredibly]. In this respect the hierarchy of
the Echelon/CANZAB ruling class stands accused of monumental cowardice,
given the vast catalogue of devastating acts, political and economic,
perpetrated against the defenseless peoples of Palestine, El Salvador,
Cuba, Vietnam, Mozambique, Guatemala, Cambodia, Anglola, Afghanistan,
Iraq, Chile, Argentina, Turkey, Sudan, Colombia, Nicaragua, Russia,
South Africa, Laos, Okinawa, Libya, Grenada, Dominica, their own
indigenous populations, etc., etc., ad nauseam, and all, until now,
without repercussion. Well, today, that is no longer the case, and one
hopes (however forlornly), in line with all the pointed professions of
*humility* that President George W. Bush made when coming into office,
that this will be one of the overriding lessons of yesterday's events:
the United States and its allies cannot, with impunity, interfere with
and overrule the legitimate aspirations of peoples worldwide in pursuit
of its own geopolitical and economic goals. [Memo to Chris B.: the US
has not been punished for its "arrogant isolationism". Had it been
isolationist to begin with there would not be this mess. It's the
arrogant meddling and imposition of "one capitalism fits all" models
that tend to grate]. Another lesson that should not be lost upon US
citizens is this: the US power elite is guilty of putting the safety of
US citizens at risk. Similar conclusions can be drawn with respect to
the British permanent government and its successive figureheads,
including the noted observer of the "sanctity of human life", one Tony
Blair, enthusiastic co-sponsor of the bombing of civilian targets in
both Yugoslavia and Iraq.
As for your second point, it is hardly a "hideous lie" to point out that
the "success" of an operation such as this would depend upon secrecy. To
point that out hardly qualifies anyone as a supporter of the action. You
should disentangle your moral outrage from a necessarily objective
analysis.
Speaking of cowards, one of the most striking aspects of the media
coverage over the last 24 hours has been the aggressive response of
Bush, Powell, Sherman and Blair (and Putin) to events. Rather than
grieve with the victims and their families, rather than reassure people
that their governments will do everything possible to help, rather than
take time to digest the enormity of what has happened, everyone has been
straining at the leash promising retribution and vengeance. I sense a
wide gulf between those at the top (who bear some measure of
responsibility for this) and the rest whose lives have been affected one
way or another. Media manipulation will aim to close that gap, but the
haste with which punitive action has been promised (against an as yet
unindentified enemy who, once identified, may or may not be actually
behind the attack) reveals how completely out of control our political
leaders have found themselves. There's a lot of conspiratorialism
suggesting that in fact elements of the US power elite were behind this,
etc., but that might have passed muster had there been only one downed
jet on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. The precision targeting suggests a
much more strategically informed hit against the dual pillars of US
political economic hegemony: the Wall Street-Treasury complex and the
military-industrial complex. That certain ruling class interests will be
able to improvise and seize unforeseen opportunities now presenting
themselves should not be taken automatically as evidence of a plot.
Rather, it points to the need for vigilance and care among those who, to
whatever extent, are active on the left.
Meanwhile, it's about time that our moral majoritarians took to heart a
lesson they are so keen to foist upon the victims of their policies:
actions have consequences. It's tragic that ordinary workers --
cleaners, secretaries, administrators, emergency services -- once again
bear the brunt (assuming that their lives are worth more than the value
of stocks, the price of gold, oil futures, the dollar/euro exchange rate
-- oh, how naive of me to think that).
I will be sure to write a letter to David Blunkett asking for
reassurances that Her Majesty's Government will not be opening the door
to any bogus asylum seekers from the United States seeking to take
advantage of the UK's generous benefits system and social safety net,
all under the pretext of escaping "terrorism".
Michael K.
