[MRMEAN]

From the New York Times "Letters to the Editor" section, October 2, 2001:

October 2, 2001

The Fight Ahead: Can We Learn From the Past?

o the Editor:

Re "Bush Approves Covert Aid for Taliban Foes" (front page, Oct. 1):

Have we learned nothing from our history? The United States has consistently fought its wars abroad by supporting local rebel forces. Many Taliban leaders and members of Osama bin Laden's network were the "freedom fighters" we armed and trained to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. They were our friends then; they are our enemies now.

What makes us think that the anti- Taliban rebels we support today won't be our enemies tomorrow, heavily armed and highly trained by American taxpayer money? Why are we perpetuating the cycle of violence? Could we not find a long-term, political solution?

LAURA RÓTOLO
Medford, Mass., Oct. 1, 2001

•

To the Editor:

Two Oct. 1 front-page articles should provide a cautionary, and sobering, tale for those planning or endorsing our nation's "war on terrorism."

"Bush Approves Covert Aid for Taliban Foes" describes how millions of dollars are flooding into Afghanistan to help opposition groups overthrow the current Taliban government.

The obituary of Nguyen Van Thieu, a former president of South Vietnam, notes that he was the recipient of similar largess when our country got involved in comparable efforts to overthrow and then influence the selection of new governments in his country.

MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN
Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 2001
The writer is a professor of political science at Drexel University.

•

Patriotism and Dissent

To the Editor:

I am grateful for Maureen Dowd's re-evaluation of the now rather carelessly bandied-about term "patriotism" (column, Sept. 30). If we are really proud to be Americans, we should be especially proud of our freedom to dissent.

If President Bush can rally the public around the claim that the terrorists made a symbolic attack on our freedoms, it would be ironic if the administration then boldly proceeded to continue that attack on more concrete terms. Our intolerance for censorship, one-sided propaganda and violation of civil rights is exactly what distinguishes us from the Taliban regime.

A crowd rooting for the home football team is one thing, but nobody appreciates a discussion section for a class that is dominated by only the professor's point of view. The two are very different, and Americans will not tolerate the latter.

JANET KIM
New Haven, Sept. 30, 2001

[jdm]

"said Scott Morschhauser, 37, who came from Bettendorf, Iowa with a large American flag, its field of stars replaced with a peace symbol."

What a dork.

[anniegetyourgun]

What is it with libs and puppets?

[FairOpinion]

Excellent find.

Thanks for posting.

And this is three weeks after 3000 innocent Americans were murdered by the terrorists!

[FlingWingFlyer]

Sex! Drugs! and Rock 'n' Roll!!! These "anti-war rallies" are where losers go to score drugs and pick up women.

[FairOpinion]

Note the full title of the article:

Thousands Attend Anti-War Rally, March to Oppose Military Retaliation for Attacks

[OldFriend]

The cut and run brigade. Imitating the french.

[cripplecreek]

The interesting thing is the fact that these idiots can only tolerate their own point of view. Contrast this statement...

"A crowd rooting for the home football team is one thing, but nobody appreciates a discussion section for a class that is dominated by only the professor's point of view. The two are very different, and Americans will not tolerate the latter."

With this one from an earlier thread. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1431101/posts

"Four protestors were arrested, including two who were among a group that sneaked into the meeting and disrupted it with loud chants of "fascists go home.""

[FairOpinion]

I just found more:

Encyclopedia: Post-September 11 anti-war movement

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Post_September-11-anti_war-movement

"On the left, condemnation of the attacks was equally general, although often including (even in the days immediately after the attack) condemnation of ostensibly related aspects of U.S. policies. Noam Chomsky's statement in the immediate wake of the attacks begins by condemning this "major atrocit[y]" and "horrendous crime", but also by contextualizing it in terms of the Clinton-era U.S. attack on the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory and prefiguring what would be a widespread concern for the left worldwide: "...the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains." [9] (http://www.zmag.org/chomnote.htm) Similarly, from Vijay Prashad, "The attacks must be condemned without reservation. But we must be certain to recognize that these are probably the work of frustrated and alienated human beings hemmed in by forces that are anonymous and that could only be embodied by these structures." [10] (http://www.zmag.org/prashadcalam.htm) Martin Woollacott, writing in The Guardian, called the attacks, "above all a stupendous crime," but also wrote, "America's best defence against terrorism originating from abroad remains the existence of governments and societies more or less satisfied with American even-handedness on issues which are important to them. Plainly, this is furthest from the case in the Muslim world." [11] (http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,550464,00.html) Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, a classification of formal languages. ... Order: 42nd President Vice President: Al Gore Term of office: January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 Preceded by: George H. W. Bush Succeeded by: George W. Bush Date of birth: August 19, 1946 Place of birth: Hope, Arkansas First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton Political party: Democratic William Jefferson Clinton (born... On August 20, 1998, the al-Shifa (Health) pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan, was destroyed in cruise missile strikes launched by the United States in retaliation for the August 7 truck bomb attacks on its embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in which 225 people were killed... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... "


Perfect illustration that Rove's comments were right on the mark!

[muawiyah]

These people probably don't realize that I and tens of millions of other Americans continue to hold this particular group of demonstrators wholly responsible for the murder of over one-half million Vietnamese men, women and children in the South China sea after the North Vietnamese government overran the area.

The only reasons these jerks get to beat their drums is because the law has not yet matured enough to allow us to take revenge.

[tillacum]

Shades of the 60s malcontent hippies....hmmmm...same ole, same ole, not even original songs. Same ole, same ole.

[Doe Eyes]

a large American flag, its field of stars replaced with a peace symbol.

I'm assuming that this is not an American Flag.

What is the defintion in our proposed Constitutional Amendment?

[tobyhill]

Now that the MSM has gotten their Vietnam style protest, will they please stop their damn crap?

[Soul Seeker]

This would be a good thread to post every transcripts, photo, article, letters and so far to document how Liberals REALLY responded to 9-11.

[popdonnelly]

The point of this and other posts is that there was opposition to going to war - even against the despicable Taliban and its guest, Osama bin Laden. These people won't fight, even when we are attacked. This indicates to me that they are against defending the U.S. and its people. They are much more in love with their own pacifism, if you can call it that, than they are with their country.

[sirthomasthemore]

Actually, politically speaking, the GOP should love the Dems current anti-war rhetoric.

With Vietnam, no North Vietnamese soldier got in a jet and piloted it through a building on our home soil. My point is it was possible to GET OUT of that war.

This is where the DEMS are STUPID. Americans can't GET OUT of terrorism. Terrorism, in the near future, will be an impending danger no matter what we do! So if the DEMS want to go soft on it, let them cut their throats politically. Paint them in that corner.

If as a result of their appeasement and "softness", this country is again victimized by terror, they'll pay the price of their current treasonous strategy of trying to undermine our country's resolve for votes.

[JimSEA]

The peace rally and march had a festive atmosphere, with families spreading out picnic blankets in a park and performers leading the crowd in songs with lyrics such as "No more killing, no more war, no more violence anymore."

Well, if the Islamists win and have their way, these folks will be among the first to go.

[jec41]

The peace rally and march had a festive atmosphere, with families spreading out picnic blankets in a park and performers leading the crowd in songs with lyrics such as "No more killing, no more war, no more violence anymore."

Wait until oil hits a $100 a barrel.