Posted on 12/03/2002 4:57:42 AM PST by SJackson
Since when does a government have to wait until a massacre happens to do something to change reality. Why do people have to die for something to be done to prevent further death from happening?
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I was riding a Jerusalem bus Thursday when news of the intended missile attack against the Arkia flight from Kenya came across the airwaves. For a moment the passengers were in shock. Then we all breathed a sigh of relief.
That was our mistake.
Minutes later, news of the attack on the Paradise Hotel came across the radio waves. There were casualties. There was no sigh of relief.
When we here look at a miraculous escape from a deadly attack and breathe a sigh of relief, we lose the war on terrorism.
Our attitude should be: The terrorists intended to down a plane with 261 innocent commercial air travelers aboard. They did not succeed, thank G-d. However, their intentions were clear. We must consider their intentions and take action with a state of mind, as if they had succeeded.
When the missiles were launched, the Israeli government was shown what the enemy intends to do. The Israelis should react with overwhelming firepower, as if 261 innocents had actually died. It is short sighted to move on in life as if nothing happened. By backing off because no one died, we allow the terrorists to keep on attacking.
And, rest assured, they will until they are stopped.
Since when does a government have to wait until a massacre happens to do something to change reality. Why do people have to die for something to be done to prevent further death from happening?
When the terror attack Pi Glilot Refinery was miraculously averted, Shimon Peres, then foreign minister was quoted as saying that had the attack been successful and killed tens of thousands of Israelis, it would have been considered an act of war against Israel.
In other words, since the attack did not kill ten thousand Israelis, Israel would not take action. In simpler terms, it seems that until people die, no one wants to do anything to prevent deaths. Unfortunately, when I look around me at the senseless and avoidable carnage taking place in Israel and other places frequented by Jews and Israelis, it becomes clear that Peres was not speaking out of turn. Seems pretty clear to me that he was expressing government policy.
Sounds crazy? Not really. This type of thinking happens all the time. I know of a local street corner that is considered a dangerous threat to the preservation of human life. The local city council refused to put in a speed bump because only two accidents had happened there. Finally, after ten accidents, three of them fatal, they put in a speed bump. They had to justify the expenditure to protect human life through collected data about actual loss of human life.
Thursday terrorists attacked the Arkia flight with the expressed intent of murdering 261 travelers in mid air. The terrorists did not succeed to kill their intended targets. We all appreciate the miracle. Thank G-d, 261 people did not die. Yet, our leaders MUST react as if the terrorists did succeed. The fact that the terrorists even dared to try to carry out such an action is reason and justification enough to root them out and exterminate each and every one of their members.
When they fired to kill, they made their intentions clear. They will try again. We need not and should not wait for 261 people to actually be killed.
Retaliate now.
We have been warned.
The next time, they might hit the target. They next time, we might not be so lucky.
— Chezi Goldberg
Too true. I think this is also true in the U.S. - I think we're just waiting for the "next big one." Then we'll act. Maybe.
The only thing I can say in defense of the US is that, thanks to so many years of bad and corrupted intelligence, thanks to the treacherous Bill Clinton, it took us awhile to determine the targets. But I hope we do something before the "next big one" occurs.
As for the Israelis, the only reason I can see for caution is that they fear that, unless there is a massive attack, the results of giving people like Saddam and crew an excuse to "retaliate" might be more than their society is willing to bear. After all, despite its superior fire power, Israel is a small country surrounded by people who would stop at nothing to destroy it.
Yes. Or better, adopt the Bush doctrine of pre-emption.....
This is why we need to take Saddam out of power. Just because he hasn't yet detonated a nuclear bomb in New York doesn't mean he isn't desperately trying to do so. The linguistic games played by the left are immensely irritating, and do nothing but give Saddam more time to carry out his plans. If a bear is wandering around my property, showing no signs of leaving, should I wait until he has begun mauling me to deal with him? Isn't that just like wearing a big 'kick me' sign?
Unfortunately, we will probably have to be attacked like 9/11, or even more likely, much worse than 9/11, before we can truly marginalize the knee-jerk anti-war people.
This commercial played on WTAM, Cleveland, same station which carries Limbaugh.
BINGO! You win the prize!!
Link? This is news to me! (I don't doubt you, I want to read more.)
December 2, 2002 - NEW YORK - In his biweekly radio commentary, American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris asks people of conscience to cry out against religious hatred, violence, and holy war.
The radio commentary is airing in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Palm Beach. The full text of the commentary follows:
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Last week, in separate articles, the author Salman Rushdie and the journalist Tom Friedman called on Muslim moderates to confront those who pervert Islam through fanaticism and terror.
They cited, among other recent outrages, the horrific Bali bombing, the high death toll when Muslims rioted against Christians in Nigeria, and the rampant anti-Semitism in Egypt.
And where are our voices?
Why our silence while Iranian students courageously challenge the repressive mullahs?
Why our silence while two million Sudanese, mostly Christian and black, have been killed in a civil war?
Why our silence while women are subject to third-class treatment, unable even to drive in Saudi Arabia, and that’s far from the worst of it?
It’s time for people of conscience, of every religion, to speak out.
It’s time to declare that no one has a monopoly on religious belief.
It’s time to stand together against those who preach blind hatred and holy war.
This is David Harris of the American Jewish Committee.
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