Posted on 09/12/2001 12:31:51 AM PDT by ouroboros
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
By Harry Browne
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
The terrorist attacks against America comprise a horrible tragedy. But they shouldn't be a surprise.
It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth – that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda. But sanity was a prior casualty: it was the loss of sanity that led to war in the first place.
Our foreign policy has been insane for decades. It was only a matter of time until Americans would have to suffer personally for it. It is a terrible tragedy of life that the innocent so often have to suffer for the sins of the guilty.
When will we learn that we can't allow our politicians to bully the world without someone bullying back eventually?
President Bush has authorized continued bombing of innocent people in Iraq. President Clinton bombed innocent people in the Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Serbia. President Bush, senior, invaded Iraq and Panama. President Reagan bombed innocent people in Libya and invaded Grenada. And on and on it goes.
Did we think the people who lost their families and friends and property in all that destruction would love America for what happened?
When will we learn that violence always begets violence?
Teaching lessons
Supposedly, Reagan bombed Libya to teach Muammar al-Qaddafi a lesson about terrorism. But shortly thereafter a TWA plane was destroyed over Scotland, and our government is convinced it was Libyans who did it.
When will we learn that "teaching someone a lesson" never teaches anything but resentment – that it only inspires the recipient to greater acts of defiance.
How many times on Tuesday did we hear someone describe the terrorist attacks as "cowardly acts"? But as misguided and despicable as they were, they were anything but cowardly. The people who committed them knowingly gave their lives for whatever stupid beliefs they held.
But what about the American presidents who order bombings of innocent people – while the presidents remain completely insulated from any danger? What would you call their acts?
When will we learn that forsaking truth and reason in the heat of battle almost always assures that we will lose the battle?
Losing our last freedoms
And now, as sure as night follows day, we will be told we must give up more of our freedoms to avenge what never should have happened in the first place.
When will we learn that it makes no sense to give up our freedoms in the name of freedom?
What to do?
What should be done?
First of all, stop the hysteria. Stand back and ask how this could have happened. Ask how a prosperous country isolated by two oceans could have so embroiled itself in other people's business that someone would want to do us harm. Even sitting in the middle of Europe, Switzerland isn't beset by terrorist attacks, because the Swiss mind their own business.
Second, resolve that we won't let our leaders use this occasion to commit their own terrorist acts upon more innocent people, foreign and domestic, that will inspire more terrorist attacks in the future.
Third, find a way, with enforceable constitutional limits, to prevent our leaders from ever again provoking this kind of anger against America.
Patriotism?
There are those who will say this article is unpatriotic and un-American – that this is not a time to question our country or our leaders.
When will we learn that without freedom and sanity, there is no reason to be patriotic?
Harry Browne was the 2000 Libertarian presidential candidate. More of his articles can be read at HarryBrowne.org, and his books are available at HBBooks.com.
You mean like anyone with a brain? Go to HELL Harry.
OOOOOOOHH Switzerland, now there's a fine roll model. You make me SICK HARRY!!!
You know what Harry? The neighbor that turns the other way when he sees a husband beat his wife, never has to deal with conflict either. YOU ARE A COWARD HARRY, LEAVE THIS COUNTRY AND GO TO SWITZERLAND YOU YUTZ!!
Harry Browne can forget my vote forever.
What is stinging is that these words, penned before the onslaught of terror, are correct. Cowardice will punch back harder. Real men will not yield pleasure to the bully, by giving him a fight.
Now here is the genius of Dubyah. We will retailate "honorably" to avenge our anger. We will not strike civilians this time because our "war" is not with them. We will continue the CIA process of "nation building" that serves the fascists and oligarchs so well. We will send our sons and daughters to hell and define the last one standing a "patriot" and the ones in the soil "martyrs". Osama once a CIA blue chip, will be disgarded since he was foolish enough to think he had a contract that would be honored.
The leadership of Dubyah will permit us to create more markets for General Electric, British Petroleum, Archer Daniels Midland, Phillip Morris, Busch, Pepsi, McDonalds, and Microsoft. All we have to do is send our pound of flesh to the government that provides for them, and the blood of our children in the name of honor, patriotism, and duty. Our politicians will call it "peace". Our enemies will call it "piece". Both will be correct and the fascists would have it no other way.
OK, just identify any one of the thousands killed yesterday whose personal actions contributed to any degree of responsibility for anything that justified their death. Only a coward strikes at defenseless civilians. Anyone who attempts to justify such strikes is reprehensible and deserving of condemnation.
"A more forthright and respectable conservative position would be "Yeah, we're an empire. If you towelheads don't like it, too bad. Looks like we have to show you who's boss."
A true human response is this: "kill the innocent and be prepared to die."
"Don't get me wrong. The perps of yesterday's events should be punished to the nth degree. But libertarians and America Firsters like Pat Buchanan have been warning you for years that terrorism on American soil would be the result of departing from the foreign policy of the founders."
Those "perps" are evil. Anyone, including Libertarians, American Firsters, Buchananites, or any other group who denies that evil, who would deny the duty and responsibility to oppose such evil, are themselves evil.
We have too many in this forum who would trade the responbility to oppose evil for personal comfort. And, I meant for personal comfort. No matter how much they try to disguise this as ideology, a desire for lower taxes, cheaper oil, or to avoid terrorist attacks - their motivation is their own personal comfort. This is reprehensible, evil, and worthy of condemnation.
Exactly!
Browne served in the Army. What unit did you serve in?
Sure it is. But what about cause and effect? Communism, Socialism, and Fascism all require an enemy to function efficiently. When we surrender liberty for comfort to those systems that are evil, we will be required by such systems to fight to perpetuate their evil.
Bring them to justice? There is no justice that will bring a single person back. There is no evil that is ever good. Punish the perpetraitors, fortify, rebuild, and above all do not persist in creating reasons or opportunities for more bullies to return.
They are dead, Sir.
You're admitting that Harry's right and can't even bring yourself to acknowledge it.
We trained the very terrorists who have killed 10,000+ American citizens in this country.
We did so because we thought we were serving our "interests."
So far, nobody has factually rebutted a single thing that Harry has posited.
Your opinion that money is part of the reason that Switzerland hasn't been attacked in over 8 centuries has merit. However, Switzerland's policy of nutrality and their insistence on handing out a machine gun to every adult male in their country puts off anyone who has the slightest inclination to invade them.
America has many if not more foreign investors than does Switzerland. If money was the sole issue, Switzerland would have been invaded by the Nazi's. They decided it was suicide.
Our policies have caused the extreme animosity toward America by many countries subjected to our morons in foreign policy who have dispensed "justice."
Here's a prediction: This is the tip of the iceburg unless we make some major changes in foreign policy.
The fact that our government has consistently denied the individual American the liberty to defend his self and Nation with whatever weapon he choses, coupled with the fact that this act was so successful will encourage other groups that we have attacked without good reason to attack us.
These terrorists met with virtually no resistence from the Citizens of this country who were hogtied by federal legislation.
Keep pretending that America is blameless and anyone who points it out is unpatriotic.
You mean other than the 200+ nations in which we have troops?
How about : Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Haiti, Central America, South America, the middle east, Africa....
How about those areas for starters.
There is no Constitutional Mandate for a Department of Offense... or a Department of Meddling in other nations affairs.
And we will never have peace until you learn it.
Who Is saying we shouldn't bomb these people back into the Stone Age?
You liars and hypocrites are interesting... nothing's wrong and no attack takes place, and you dismiss our righteous claim to a return to Constitutionalism as pointless or as a isolationists..
Then the fruits of your philosophy are borne out, and you still blame us..
Amusing. But it won't save one life.
BUT.... bringing our troops home will.
I wonder how will you comment this article by Joe Sobran (who is not a leftist or a limp rag):
It was predicable
And what about this Atlantic Monthly analysis:
The Counterterrorist Myth
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