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.
Let's recognize another Nation shall we?.... KUWAIT!
And as Pres. And this. Bush would say "STRATEGERY"!
Because it wasn't their turn yet. Besides, they're so small that they're just mop up territory.
Innocent? No one's innocent and big fish eat little fish. Harry Browne's naivete, just revealed, disqualifies him from being President.
If you look at the history of American foreign policy with respect to Japan, its a wonder they didn't attack us long before 1941.
Do you think the current temporary occupant of the White House is warming up the hot seats for this generation's designated 'scapegoats'?
Interesting perspective. And if the American public was guided to vengeance upon the Arabic and Islamic peoples, just who would benefit from this? Why ... GW's ol' oil buddies. The same folks who benefitted from the gas gouging earlier.
Hmmmm ... an interesting pattern forms.
You think this is a big f***ing joke DAnconia55! Thousands are dead and you laugh over what you precieve as a lesson not learned. I know somebody who lost his sister in the WTC. My brother scrambled for his life to get out of the WTC and you laugh and think it is a big joke.
Bzzzzt. Wrong answer. Diplomatic "Recognition" of a country is simply a declaration that they exist. It no more commits us to that nation's defense than would our "recognition" of communist China commits us to China's defense if Russia were to (for example) invade that country.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, there was no compelling national interest in preferring the government of one undemocratic dictatorship (the Kuwaiti monarchy) to that of another undemocratic dictatorship (Hussein's Ba'ath Party). Either dictatorship would have sold us Oil (Hussein's whole motivation was a cash-grab); and even if either dictatorship had decided to refuse us Oil... we have oil. Here. In the US.
There was no compelling justification for US empire-building in the Gulf.
And the events of the last few days are largely "blowback" from that Interventionist policy.
So likewise a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. -- President George Washington's Farewell Address
No doubt Harry Clowne and his quislings will be happy to direct your friend to a civil court for the loss of property, lost wages, and pain and suffering. It's all nobody's bidness, you see.
These quislings like to try to claim we deserved the attack because we don't follow their failed party's platform on foreign policy. More than likely, it was the L.P. moral-liberal's lauding of drugs, abortion, obscenity, blasphemy, pornography, prostitution, perversion, promiscuity, sodomy, and homosexuality which made these Islamists feel justified in their murder.
It's good to see that people like you and Browne will not let anyopportunity go by to try and bloister your pathetic political views. Even standing upon the bodies of thousands of our citizens to cry your hatred is not beneath you.
America is quickly learning who it's friends and enemies are...including those within our borders.
I can't believe we actually agree on something! Click here.
This is not a time for factionalism. Fighting among us is exactly what terrorists, like Bin Laden, want. They know that our freedoms are important to us, and so will attempt to use that fact to our advantage.
Cultural Jihad: Get off your high horse. Treat others with respect. I have extended more than one olive branch to you this week. Here I hand another.
DAnconia55: Do not make light of this tragedy, even if you expected it.
Conservative Till I Die: I will not FOAD, because I am your countryman. We must learn to live with each other.
That Poppins Woman: Of course, our foreign policy does not exist in a vacuum. The precipitous cause is the action of the hijackers, not our actions in Kosovo however flawed. This is revenge, it is not self defense.
All:
Please take some care. I do not like to see us fight. Let us not forget who the real enemy is here. He is not Patrick Buchanan, nor is he Harry Browne.
Do not allow your outrage at this attack, turn into animousity of your countrymen. This is exactly the goal of such an attack, to sow the seads of dissent.
This is close to being funny.
These terrorists did not murder thousands because of our wicked rock bands and girlie magazines. They are enacting what they see as revenge.
Can you not talk in a low, conversational tone?
Tell us, CWOJackson ... were you one of the merchants who patriotically raised the gas prices to $5/gal yesterday?
Me thinks you protest too much!
You apparently did not go to the link.
That's SOP with the ideologues. Sheesh. How many times do we hear the ideologues spouting off their nonsense about how everyone is conspiring to rob them of their rights, and how evil the U.S. government is, how they're all evil jack booted thugs, yada, yada, yada. We expect any minute to hear one of them claim the planes were sent in by the owners of the towers for the insurance money, or by the CIA in order to cause riot and confusion in order to invoke martial law. Let the ideologues renounce their moral-liberalism, and then the goals of the terrorists will have been thwarted.
Thanks Harry for using this opporunity to get face time. Now, shut up!
ROTFLMAO!
Oh yeh ... Osama is sitting in his little dirt bunker right now ... plotting new attacks on America because of the nasty libertarians!!!!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
Thanks Harry for using this opporunity to get face time. Now, shut up!
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