X-Message-Number: 17563
From: 
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 10:34:27 EDT
Subject: Proper response to terrorism

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  The first thing we need to do is get rid of all US-generated terrorism 
against innocent civilians. Our blockade against the poor of Iraq (We don't 
blockade Saddam, he can still sell enough oil to keep himself in houris) is a 
case in point, which we are now duplicating by trying to force Pakistan to 
cut off food and fuel for the poor of Afghanistan. Blockades selectively kill 
children and the powerless, including opposition ethnic groups who don't have 
access to oil money. These pseudo-blockades also keep dictators in power by 
giving them a monopoly on trade. (Of course most dictators around the world 
get US aid both directly and through bank "loans" which are paid off by the 
Fed when the dictator defaults.)
  On the other side, we need to actually fight terrorism, not just try to 
make it look like the government is doing something by putting on ludicrous 
"security" measures like banning silverware in airports. I think one idea 
that might actually help is arming the flight crews and attendants. The 
Israelis haven't had a hijacking for a long time. Even gun-control advocates 
can support this, I think. Of course the truth is that airline terrorism is 
trivial compared to blowing up dams, releasing viruses, nerve gas, secondhand 
Kazakh nukes, etc., and many other means of attack that don't even require 
suicidal fanaticism. But the emotional response now is going to focus on 
airliners as though they were our only problem, and arming the flight crews 
will make people feel better without wiping out civil liberties (which won't 
do a thing against terrorism; in fact a major reason the recent terrorism 
succeeded is the FAA rules disarming flight crews.) -Bill

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