 |
What's the solution to Terrorism?
"Wars are not acts of God. They are caused by man, by man-made institutions, by the way in which man has organized his society. What man has made, man can change."
--- Frederick Moore Vinson (1890-1953) in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery (Memorial Day, 1945)
Here's one strategy for Peace...
-SEEK WORLD JUSTICE* (political and economical)
-PLAY DOWN RELIGION** AND NATIONALISM (say our leaders abstaining from mixing politics and religion)
-SAVE OIL***
-EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE****
I doubt there would be much terrorism left after these steps are
taken.
*'Social and economic inequality does not necessarily produce religious fundamentalism, but it provides the most fertile breeding ground for it. The failure, yet again, of the G8 – the economic leaders of the rich world – to agree debt relief to poorer countries has a toll that stretches beyond the obvious. It provides further proof of a selfish West with only its own interests at heart. Little wonder Muslim idealists, who want to change the world, see religious radicalism as their only choice.'
See "In the name of God" at...http://www.newint.org/
I agree with this...
'Zinn does not call himself a pacifist: to him the term suggests passive — rather than active — resistance. For example, he offered the following alternative to bombing Kosovo: "I think of South Africa, where a decision to engage in out-and-out armed struggle would have led to a bloody civil war with huge casualties, most of them black. Instead, the African National Congress decided to put up with apartheid longer, but wage a long-term campaign of attrition, with strikes, sabotage, economic sanctions, and international pressure. It worked."'
http://www.answers.com/topic/howard-zinn
**'So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.'
- Mark Twain, a Biography
***'Yes, we need to fight a war, but no, the enemy is not Iraq... The enemy is oil with 65+ percent of the known oil reserves in the politically unstable, "Death to America"-chanting Middel East. Imagine the advances the United States could make to world stability and developing domestic employment opportunities if it spent the $79+ billion Congress recently approved for Bush's Iraq war on alternative energy subsidies and investment. Might this be a better way to fight terrorism, support our troops, and regain world favor?'
-Jay Lustgarten (Source: World Press Review, letters). See this solution... http://www.joinfoil.org/index.html
****"More than a century has passed since science laid down sound propositions as to the origins of the universe, but how many have mastered them or possess the really scientific spirit of criticism? A few thousands at the outside, who are lost in the midst of hundreds of millions still steeped in prejudices and superstitions worthy of savages, who are consequently ever ready to serve as puppets for religious impostors." -Peter Kropotkin (written 100 years ago!)
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/appealtoyoung.html
***
Yet another strategy would be to declare "no lion zones/countries." In other words, these areas wouldn't be ruled by the Law of the Jungle and there would be SOCIAL JUSTICE and DEMOCRACY for all, and you wouldn't know your neighbor's religion, and there would be NEUTRALITY, not even having diplomatic relations with any lion. Such zones would be "safe zones," and should deter any violence on the innocent. Switzerland may not be far from that ideal...
***
An opinion...
"We are going to have to realize that mad, pointless acquisition for acquisition's sake (avarice) has simply got to be tempered. We have to give back. We have to help those nations, and those peoples, whose suffering contributed for centuries to the creation of the Wonderland called America. We have to respect, and help, others around the world and here at home." -Pliny at Pravda
***
Do We Really Need All Those SUVs?
By: Dr Arthur N Lewin
Tell me where I'm going wrong? It seems pretty obvious. So why isn't somebody saying it? Do we really need to be running around with all these SUVs and all these other gas-guzzling contraptions? After all, no matter what theory you use to explain 911, our heavy, and steadfastly increasing, consumption of oil from an unstable region is hardly helping the situation.
So why don't we cut back? No, the media and our leaders are not telling us to do this. But doesn't commonsense tell us that we must?
Think back to that day, the awful day the earth stood still. That was six months ago! Back then six days, let alone six weeks, seemed like an eternity. We've been given a second chance. And what are we doing with it? Trying to make life go back to exactly like it was before? Why?
Because of the events of 911, there are now fewer cars on the streets of New York and fewer planes flying the skies. Isn't that good? We're tearing less of a hole in the ozone layer and slowing the pace of global warming.
Any engineer will tell you that you cannot place two critical, and potentially flammable, systems in one location. But we do. We get much of our fuel from a region that is a tinderbox of ethnic hatreds and economic inequality. And the money our oil dollars pour into the area only fans the flames of discord.
In a sense, on September 11th, the world blew, a fuse so to speak. We overheated, and there was a deadly short circuit. We need to listen to what the earth is telling us. To slow down and rethink the way we are carrying on. We need to adopt a different world order.
We are going to have to realize that mad, pointless acquisition for acquisition's sake (avarice) has simply got to be tempered. We have to give back. We have to help those nations, and those peoples, whose suffering contributed for centuries to the creation of the Wonderland called America. We have to respect, and help, others around the world and here at home.
And in so dong we will have less. Yes, that is true. But we will have gained something money cannot buy. Peace of mind. No, our leaders are not telling us this. They are almost all tied, inextricably, inexplicably, to the old, outmoded order. But we know instinctively what we have to do. We must make what a few have long been doing, full-time, the work of us all. We must regain the love of the earth, our Mother and our home, and the regard of its peoples, our brothers and our sisters under the sun... Ramsees7@yahoo.com
***
"What, then, can the United States do to end terrorism
directed against it? The answer lies in removing the anti-American
motivations of the terrorists. To achieve this, American foreign
policy will have to undergo a metamorphosis.
If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the
United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize to
all the widows and orphans, the tortured and impoverished, and all the
many millions of other victims of American imperialism. Then I would
announce, in all sincerity, to every corner of the world, that
America's global interventions have come to an end, and inform Israel
that it is no longer the 51st state of the USA but now -- oddly enough
-- a foreign country. I would then reduce the military budget by at
least 90% and use the savings to pay reparations to the victims. There
would be more than enough money. One year's military budget of 330
billion dollars is equal to more than $18,000 an hour for every hour
since Jesus Christ was born. That's what I'd do on my first three days
in the White House. On the fourth day, I'd be assassinated."
William Blum is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA
Interventions Since World War II, and Rogue State: A Guide to the
World's Only Superpower
Another opinion...
Another thing would be to repair the socioeconomic conditions that foster the public support of "terrorists". I imagine that terrorists would need public support in order to conduct their activities. Without public support and a cause that is applicable to a group, the terrorist is nothing more than a criminal to his own people.
If we give people living conditions that are acceptable to them, there is no force of motivation to drive the violence -- people who lead a good life with basic necessities met will not support acts of violence. But, take away water, food, and medicine, and we've backed an entire population into a corner with nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to -- they have nothing to lose if they commit acts of violence.
-Liquimetalcyborg
***
I guess our leaders are going to have to review Epicurus...
Epicurus of Samos, the Greek "philosopher of the garden" who lived
341-270 BC, was an ancient sage who left us an enduring message of
optimism.
Epicurus recognizes the virtue of justice. Like the other virtues,
justice is not considered by Epicureans to be an "absolute good," but
rather an obligatory means for securing happiness. The nature of this
obligation is contractual; justice is grounded upon a promise not to
initiate harm against one's peers, nor to permit such wrongdoing to go
unpunished. Throughout history, it has proved mutually advantageous
for individuals to band together into societies implicitly or
explicitly embracing this kind of pact, because, according to
Epicurus, "the greatest fruit of justice is peace of mind." When we
live under conditions of assured protection, we can derive solace from
the expectation that we will not fall prey to criminal acts, or in the
unlikely event that we do, that there will at least be avenues of
recourse available to us. On the other hand, *those who try to cheat
the social covenant by committing crimes are subject to perpetual
anxieties that accompany the prospects of looming retaliation*.
***
"It did not take but one man of peace named Daniel, to stand with a lion. It did not take but Christ to win the love of God for all who come unto him."
Sure enough, but we need to tell the sheep of their power, and shake off all the indifference that has made the Law of the Jungle possible...
(Source: Talking Point, BBC)
The tragedy leaves more questions. There will hardly be one right answer. But I think one answer I have - we all, every one of us is a contributor to what is happening in the world. Do we know the world we live in? Do we care about the Kurds fleeing their homes, the Sudanese escaping genocide, the Ethiopians dying from hunger, the Iraqi and Afghans running away from air raids, the Palestinian children fighting tanks? Have we ever thought of all the victims of the terrorist acts in Moscow, New York, Jerusalem, Bali, Madrid or Belfast? Did we all care about the Chechen war before this tragedy?
It is the 10th year of the war! We all use lie, we all feel envy, hatred and anger, we all live with prejudice and stereotypes, we all are ignorant of our environment, we all want more and we'd never stop to achieve our goals. I cannot see when we all are going to change ourselves. Do we need more lives to change the world for the better?
Petr Vinokurov, Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia
***
This document compiles references made to the definitions and root causes of terrorism by Member States in the debate of the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism".
Root Causes of Terrorism
While discussing the elimination of terrorism, clear calls were made by some governments to examine the root causes of terrorist acts. A number of governments indicated that terrorism does not happen in a vacuum, but rather occurs for reasons of economic degradation, as well as social and political alienation. Freedom fighters and those struggling for independence were an area of great contention, both in defining the term terrorism, and identifying its root causes.
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/political/1com/terror.html
Open Letter to Osama
What's the definition of Terrorism?
Stop Feeding Your Lion!
Should we live by the Law of the Jungle?
We don't need no education?
A Well Armed Militia...
Send E-Mail to: nolionnoproblem@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2005 . All Rights Reserved