An essay for fundamentalist terrorists
and would-be terrorists
04/13/03
I had a really hard time naming this. I didn't want to say Arab or Muslim
for fear of offending someone who is Arab or Muslim. I have friends that are
Arabs; Muslim, and non-Muslim. But my target audience also includes mosts
Muslims and/or Arabs who want to blame Americans for what's wrong in the world.
So with that out of the way, let me begin.
I have a hard time understanding terrorists and their actions. September 11th
is still fresh in everyone's mind, so let's begin there. What was the point?
Besides killing a bunch of innocent civilians? Was it to make us aware of your
cause? What is bin Laden's cause? I don't know. Whatever his message was got
lost in the fury. Has he helped his cause? I don't know. I doubt it. He got
a lot of people in his organization killed. Was that his cause?
If his cause was anything other than that, he failed to deliver the message.
I believe that all most Americans will ever remember about September 11th is an
anger and a wish to see justice for all the innocent men, women and children
who were killed.
I've heard a lot of terrorists talk about how our government is involved
in the killing of innocent men, women, and children, in various countries
around the world, in the past. This may or may not be the case. I'm inclined
to believe that it is the case. But is the best course of action to piss off
an entire nation, and frankly, militarily speaking, the strongest nation
in the world?
But let's stick to the point: You think our government is involved in killing
innocent men, women and children (again, I'm assuming this is bin Laden's
message, because honestly, I don't recall what he ever said in his tapes
that were released.) Let me ask this: Are the Iraqi people responsible for
the danger Saddam Hussein posed? Are the people of Russia responsible for the
crimes perpetrated by Stalin? Are the German people responsible for the acts
of Hitler?
I think you can see where I'm going with this. I'll be the first to argue
that most Americans are entirely ignorant of a lot of things our government does
in its foreign policy. Most Americans don't really have a good understanding of
the Israeli/Palestinian issue. They don't know the history, they don't know
much more about it than the Israelis have some land the Palestinians want. I'd
be surprised if more than 50% of the population even knows that much.
Now, one might argue that the American public should know about these issues.
I would ask: Why? Should every American person know the historical and political
issues behind everything our government is involved in? Because if you think
that's the case, then you live in a dream world. There's not a human being
on the face of the planet capable of knowing that much information. Any attempt
to accomplish this would involve a country so deeply engrossed in reading and
studying that there wouldn't be time to go to work, pick up the garbage,
tend the crops, or anything else. So, I ask again, is every individual American
responsible for the acts of its government? Should they be?
Osama bin Laden tried to deliver a message, but somewhere in the murder of
3000 people, his message got lost. That didn't stop a return message from being
sent. I think that message was abundantly clear. bin Laden may still be alive.
It doesn't really matter. He's not safe anywhere. He'll eventually get caught.
Of that, have no doubt. Few people have stayed on the FBI's most wanted list
and lived long and free. The odds are against bin Laden being one of them.
Okay, so let's continue. Are the American people responsible for the war
in Iraq? No, not really. I mean, yes, we did elect a president who chose that
course of action, but even his "election" has been in question since before
he took office. I certainly didn't want to attack Iraq, at least not without
the backing of the U.N. I think a good portion of the U.S. population was
against the war at the time. A good number still are. So are we responsible
all the same? Am I responsible for the actions of a president I didn't elect?
I hope you see where I'm going with this. You can argue all day that none
of us are innocent, but I can just as easily argue that we're not to blame for
every action of our government.
I have a great sympathy for the Palestinians and what is happening to them.
But by the argument that all Americans are responsible for the acts of their
government, I could argue that all of the Palestinian people are guilty of
the attacks on Israel.
I don't believe that is the case, though. I think what has been happening
in Gaza and the West Bank is horrendous. I think the Palestinians are entitled
to a land to call their own, as was granted to them in 1946. But at the same
time, I can sympathize with the Israeli position as well. They are surrounded
on all sides by people that would see every last one of them killed. They have
been under attack since about the day Israel came into being.
Have suicide bombers improved the situation for the Palestinians? Has it
resulted in even more brutal treatment at the hands of the Israelis? If you
look through history, particularly recent history, you won't find many cases
where terorrism has resulted in a successful outcome for the terrorists. Yes,
they may get the short-term goal of killing people, but has their cause ever
been served? Do the Palestinians have a homeland? Does Osama bin Laden have
whatever it is that he wants?
I don't mean to belittle the plight of anyone who is suffering. I know there
are a lot of people out there whose lives are horribly difficult. But taking
your anger out on the innocent civilians of other countries is not going to
achieve your goal. It simply makes people hate you, and when people hate you,
they're going to do precisely what you don't want them to do, and they're going
to do more of it.
I look forward to the day that Osama bin Laden is captured or killed. I
know that day will come, and many Americans will feel a sense of relief when
that happens. Will it make his cause stronger? I doubt it. I hear people
use the word 'martyr' when describing how he'll be perceived if he is killed.
That may be, but the more martyrs, the fewer there are to carry on your
cause. The way I see it, one more martyr, one fewer terrorists.
