FLIGHT 587---Shame, Shame

USRead ^ | 10/17/02 | Victor Trombettas

[swarthyguy]

I was very disappointed in the squandering of the unity we had till this past winter.

Renaming INFINITE JUSTICE to enduring freedom still sticks in my craw for 2 reasons - who the hell are we to listen to the mullahs, that's the reason cited for changing the name - only a***h an provide infinite justice ..

And the Second, makes Freedom sound like something to be enduredm not celebrated and enjoyed.

[GregoryFul]

What bugs me about all of this is that some government pogue (sic) is making decisions about "What the public can handle without panic."

That bugs me too! But when I view it in perspective, I realize that I would be just like a spectator keeping score for many of these tragic events, except for the effect on my passions; i.e., I couldn't do anything useful with the information. On the other hand, if it was official that we've been subject to terror attacks throughout the 90's, brought to our lands by Muslim extremists, perhaps the cumulative effect would have gotten out of hand...

Better to tell the truth, declare war and get on with the killing! There are more than a few folks in this world who need killing, you know.

To maintain a civil society, one needs to be pretty sure of the "folks" guilt or threat before sanctioning them in this way. I think we can agree that it is truly an awful thing to destroy people wantonly, or even justifiably. War means you are willing to destroy many innocents on "the other side" to get at those who are troublesome; and usually be willing to accept many casualties on your own side. It is a fine calculus to decide when to unleash the "dogs of war" I bet. The world has been often at it, probably because the facts were managed to provoke rather than to suppress the tendency to final combat.

Since we have weapons that make final combat into assured mutual suicide -- I think that it is a good thing to suppress. What do you think?

[GregoryFul]

Remember this: He who is most flexible, survives.