Posted on 09/12/2002 5:18:52 AM PDT by George Frm Br00klyn Park
WBAL Radio
1090AM Baltimore
Ron Smith's "Something to Say" Commentary
Weekdays at 6:50AM | rsmith@wbal.com | Ron Smith Show Page
Senseless?
September 11, 2002 Ron Smith's Something to Say
Everywhere one turns this day, organized mourning for those killed by the attack on America a year ago dominates. The TV channels, the radio stations, the newspapers; all filled with pathos, human interest stories about survivors and their grief, and with memories of the 3,000 or so souls who perished that fateful September 11, 2001.
We live in an age of media excess, so who can be surprised that the first anniversary of what Osama bin Laden gloatingly called “the invasion of New York and Washington” is so stunningly immense.
Some of the coverage is appropriate and measured, but some is startling in its’ disconnect from reality. Yesterday’s Baltimore Sun featured a front-page story headlined, “Artists struggle to make sense of senseless act.” It was about dance and music performers and their 9-11-inspired creations, “…the attempt to put into words, images, melodies and motion the events of the day and their evolving meaning. To make sense, in other words, of the senseless.”
Well, folks, what nineteen determined men armed with box cutters did to us on 9-11 can be called many things – horrific, ruthless, murderous, callous, hideous, etc. – but to pretend it was senseless is a delusion.
The motivations have been clearly articulated by bin Laden but rarely reported (or dismissed as fiction) in the American press. President Bush told us we were attacked because the assailants “hated democracy and freedom.” This is believable only to the child-like mind. We were attacked because of our deep involvement in the Middle East, both for our total backing of Israel in its battle with Palestinians and for our virtual military occupation of Saudi Arabia. Oh, not to mention the matter of the Gulf War and subsequent blockade of Iraq.
As Canadian foreign affairs columnist Eric Margolis points out, “Bin Laden arrogated to himself the right to champion revenge against the United States for the bloodbath in Palestine. ‘There will be no peace in America,’ bin Laden warned, ‘until there is peace in Palestine’.”
Senseless? The damage inflicted on America by the attacks a year ago has been immense, almost beyond calculation. One cannot, for example, figure how big a part they played in the deepening bear market in stocks, which has cost trillions. We have seen many of our precious liberties eroded in the name of the “war on terror.” We are told this “war” will likely continue for the better part of forever.
Now we stand on the brink of a “regime change” in Iraq, to be brought about by some kind of military invasion and to be insured by a long occupation of that land by our troops. The Middle East is to be re-colonized by the West, insuring cheap oil to fuel our economies for the next two or three decades.
As I’ve said before, this is a fulfillment of what the bin Laden faction of zealous Islamists wants: another crusade pitting the West (infidels) against the sons of Muhammad. They believe the tides of history will eventually carry them to victory. The outcome, of course, is unpredictable, but the “clash of civilizations” clearly began in earnest exactly a year ago today.
THIS commenttary at WBAL
another crusade pitting the West (infidels) against the sons of Muhammad."
If you really believe that "those who dream that others would not think differently than themselves are DANGEROUS", then you have to conclude that Ron Smith is DANGEROUS, no?
We were attacked because of our deep involvement in the Middle East, ... The motivations have been clearly articulated by bin Laden ... ‘There will be no peace in America,’ bin Laden warned, ‘until there is peace in Palestine’
So should we be more deeply involved in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, or less? Ron never does say what we should do to better secure the U.S. from future terrorist attacks. If there is a way of making "peace in Palestine" I'd like to hear it.
This is why Smith is the only radio host I regularly listen to. Many conservative pundits and figures can be just as childishly simplistic and ignorant as liberals. They too toe the line and follow the crowd unthinkingly, either naturally or just to be rah-rah popular with the conservative ideology. Hannity 's a perfect example of this. I can hardly stand him on Fox and wouldn't dare listen to his radio show. I did once and the whole thing was a giant regurgitation of Clinton corruption, months after he had left office. Smith's conservative, but not ideologically conservative.
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