Posted on 09/15/2001 3:41:34 PM PDT by BurkeanCyclist
What’s needed is a unified, unifying, Pearl Harbor sort of purple American fury — a ruthless indignation that doesn’t leak away in a week or two
For once, let’s have no “grief counselors” standing by with banal consolations, as if the purpose, in the midst of all this, were merely to make everyone feel better as quickly as possible. We shouldn’t feel better.
For once, let’s have no fatuous rhetoric about “healing.” Healing is inappropriate now, and dangerous. There will be time later for the tears of misfortune note.
A day cannot live in infamy without the nourishment of rage. Let’s have rage. What’s needed is a unified, unifying, Pearl Harbor sort of purple American fury—a ruthless indignation that doesn’t leak away in a week or two, wandering off into Prozac-induced forgetfulness or into the next media sensation (O.J. … Elián … Chandra …) or into a corruptly thoughtful relativism (as has happened in the recent past, when, for example, you might hear someone say, “Terrible what he did, of course, but, you know, the Unabomber does have a point, doesn’t he, about modern technology?”).
Let America explore the rich reciprocal possibilities of the fatwa. A policy of focused brutality does not come easily to a self-conscious, self-indulgent, contradictory, diverse, humane nation with a short attention span. America needs to relearn a lost discipline, self-confident relentlessness—and to relearn why human nature has equipped us all with a weapon (abhorred in decent peacetime societies) called hatred.
As the bodies are counted, into the thousands and thousands, hatred will not, I think, be a difficult emotion to summon. Is the medicine too strong? Call it, rather, a wholesome and intelligent enmity—the sort that impels even such a prosperous, messily tolerant organism as America to act. Anyone who does not loathe the people who did these things, and the people who cheer them on, is too philosophical for decent company.
It’s a practical matter, anyway. In war, enemies are enemies. You find them and put them out of business, on the sound principle that that’s what they are trying to do to you. If what happened on Tuesday does not give Americans the political will needed to exterminate men like Osama bin Laden and those who conspire with them in evil mischief, then nothing ever will and we are in for a procession of black Tuesdays.
This was terrorism brought to near perfection as a dramatic form. Never has the evil business had such production values. Normally, the audience sees only the smoking aftermath—the blown-up embassy, the ruined barracks, the ship with a blackened hole at the waterline. This time the first plane striking the first tower acted as a shill. It alerted the media, brought cameras to the scene so that they might be set up to record the vivid surreal bloom of the second strike (“Am I seeing this?”), and then—could they be such engineering geniuses, so deft at demolition?—the catastrophic collapse of the two towers, one after the other, and a sequence of panic in the streets that might have been shot for a remake of The War of the Worlds or for Independence Day. Evil possesses an instinct for theater, which is why, in an era of gaudy and gifted media, evil may vastly magnify its damage by the power of horrific images.
It is important not to be transfixed. The police screamed to the people running from the towers, “Don’t look back!”—a biblical warning against the power of the image. Terrorism is sometimes described (in a frustrated, oh-the-burdens-of-great-power tone of voice) as “asymmetrical warfare.” So what? Most of history is a pageant of asymmetries. It is mostly the asymmetries that cause history to happen—an obscure Schickelgruber nearly destroys Europe; a mere atom, artfully diddled, incinerates a city. Elegant perplexity puts too much emphasis on the “asymmetrical” side of the phrase and not enough on the fact that it is, indeed, real warfare. Asymmetry is a concept. War is, as we see, blood and death.
It is not a bad idea to repeat a line from the 19th century French anarchist thinker Pierre-Joseph Prou-dhon: “The fecundity of the unexpected far exceeds the prudence of statesmen.” America, in the spasms of a few hours, became a changed country. It turned the corner, at last, out of the 1990s. The menu of American priorities was rearranged. The presidency of George W. Bush begins now. What seemed important a few days ago (in the media, at least) became instantly trivial. If Gary Condit is mentioned once in the next six months on cable television, I will be astonished.
During World War II, John Kennedy wrote home to his parents from the Pacific. He remarked that Americans are at their best during very good times or very bad times; the in-between periods, he thought, cause them trouble. I’m not sure that is true. Good times sometimes have a tendency to make Americans squalid. The worst times, as we see, separate the civilized of the world from the uncivilized. This is the moment of clarity. Let the civilized toughen up, and let the uncivilized take their chances in the game they started.
You are so right on. Likewise, I react very negatively to references to these terrorists as "cowards". I cannot and will not call them brave but they are not cowards. What they are, is emotionally lobotomized monsters who cannot empathize with any other human outside their "tribe", and all "outsiders" are potential targets.
I just want to tell all the non liberals on this thread how much I enjoy seeing your comments here. I was disgusted yesterday that here on FR threads were being posted that said we are a bunch of racists etc. An attack by the liberal/communists here on a site that is supposedly conservative. They have infiltrated our media, the democratic party and our government and education system. I guess I'm not suprised they are here too. I was and am however disappointed they aren't banned. Hit the abuse button on them when you find them, but don't let them try to drag you down with their usual attacks on our right to be proud of, and to defend our country against our enemies.
No, I do not. Here's a link for your reading pleasure that shows revenge to be perfectly attuned with scripture.
Click HERE
During that song, it was the first time in 21 years of marriage that I saw my husband cry.
You had it easy. I was in line at a store, and two young punks next to me in line (about late teens or early twenties) quipped casually, one to the other:
"Can you believe that almost 90 percent of the country is behind Bush in this thing?"
"Yeah.. Unbelieveable.. that guy [Bush] probably caused this whole thing."
Words cannot express then anger, rage and disappointment I felt. These ignorant children were nearly delivered my wrath - but as the nervous, incredulous clerk noticed me about to go nuclear, opened his eyes wide, and without a word, pleaded for me to leave. And I did, only because I decided that further unrest was not needed now.
Was my hesitation a failing? Perhaps.
But I will never forget those faces, and eventually, they will be educated. Let's just hope it is me, with my words, that teaches the lesson.
Ed
Time to rock 'n roll. I'm almost 40 -- if the military would take me I'd be there tomorrow.
Well said.
And my LEAST favorite word - "closure"
I wish they would ban that word from the English Language and shoot on sight any "grief counselor" that utters it.
Here's the Jihadists declaration:
This is Osama Bin Laden's Fatwa to Kill American Civilians.
On that basis, and in compliance with God's order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, "and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God."
This is in addition to the words of Almighty God "And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill- treated (and oppressed) -- women and children, whose cry is 'Our Lord, rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will help!'"
We -- with God's help -- call on every Muslim who believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on Muslim ulema, leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's U.S. troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson.
America's, more honest, justified, and MUCH more likely to bear fruit.
This is America's Fatwa to defend American Civilians.
On that basis, and in compliance with God's order, we issue the following fatwa to the world:
The ruling to destroy the Jihadists and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every soldier who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the citizens of the world from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of the world, defeated and unable to threaten any human being, ever again. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, "and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together," and "fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God."
This is in addition to the words of Almighty God "And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill- treated (and oppressed) -- women and children, whose cry is 'Our Lord, rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will help!'"
We -- with God's help -- call on every human who believes in God and wishes to be safe to comply with God's order to kill the Jihadists and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it. We also call on gun-owners, leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan's Jihadist troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson that the world will never forget: if you attack the innocent, you will die bathed in your brothers' blood.
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