off topic [RE-wrenches]

graham at solarexpert.com graham at solarexpert.com
Thu Sep 20 20:32:25 PDT 2001


Two more cents.

Our Presidents speech was excellent.

We need not be afraid and we should carry on with our lives, including 
plane trips. Our manufacturing infrastructure is intact, we have allot 
of real estate and our American system will prevail.  These pests will 
not change our course, direction and activity.

 
It’s like a mosquito biting an elephants bottom, its painful, difficult 
to find the mosquito, but the elephant does not forget, and is has large 
feet to stamp on the pest when he finds it.


Graham



Ezra Auerbach, Trace Engineering wrote:
> My belated two cents.  Steve and Windy have it right, the big challenge
> facing us all is moving beyond hatred and fear.  That may be the 
> challenge
> of the upcoming century if we want one to follow...
> 
> My thoughts, best wishes and hopes for peace to all of you.
> 
> Ezra
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Windy Dankoff, Dankoff Solar" <windy at dankoffsolar.com>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 2:10 PM
> Subject: Re: off topic [RE-wrenches]
> 
> 
> My feelings are with Steve Willey on this off-topic. I don't suggest
> we keep it going much longer on the Wrenches, but I was sent this
> essay that sums up my feelings in a balanced manner. Pass it by or
> pass it on, as you please. I'm not soliciting feedback.
> 
> Windy
> 
> ===========================
> 
> Combating Terrorism
> Bill Thomson
> September 12, 2001
> 
> Yesterday's horrible events in New York and Washington, DC require all
> of us to express collective disbelief at the appalling loss of innocent
> human life and to express our heartfelt condolences to the victims, 
> their
> families and their friends.  Such brutal slaughter must be 
> unconditionally
> condemned whenever and wherever it occurs.  No cause, no matter how
> nobly perceived by its followers, can justify such wanton destruction of
> innocent people.
> 
> Today, as we inevitably begin the healing process and the search for
> answers and solutions, there is much speculation about who the 
> perpetrators
> of these acts might be, and what form an appropriate retaliation might
> take.  This morning's New York Times states that  "the best defense 
> against
> terrorism is good, timely intelligence", and other media, government and
> military officials suggest a wide range of retaliatory options, ranging
> from overwhelming military strikes to Draconian suspensions of our most
> cherished freedoms and liberties--freedoms and liberties which define
> the unique American experience.
> 
> In order to understand yesterday's events and to prevent their
> reoccurrence, I believe that we need to consider two ideas.  First, I 
> think
> we must accept the fact that there is not, and can never be, a 100%
> foolproof intelligence or military remedy for terrorist acts.  I would 
> even
> go so far as to say that unless certain basic changes are made in our
> political and economic outlook as Americans, such acts will inevitably
> reoccur, and they will become increasing deadly.  Just as we today look 
> at
> the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center as "mild" in comparison to
> yesterday's events, I believe that with the increased miniaturization of
> nuclear capability and the widespread availability of chemical and
> biological toxins, some day we  will be faced with events of 
> overwhelmingly
> tragic dimensions.  Just as there is no way to stop people from 
> committing
> murder if they are willing to give up their lives, there can also not be
> any way to guarantee our collective safety from individuals or groups
> who are willing to sacrifice their lives in a terrorist attack.
> 
> The second consideration is ask a question which has been completely 
> absent
> in the analysis of yesterday's tragedy--why would a person or group 
> commit
> such a heinous act?  Why would the United States be chosen, and why
> would the particular targets of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 
> be
> picked?  Whoever is found to be the perpetrators of yesterday's 
> terrorism,
> it is certain that they will be demonized and characterized as somehow
> being outside the pale of human understanding.  And if we demonize
> sufficiently, we might be able to justify our need for revenge, but we 
> will
> have missed a crucial opportunity for understanding, and for gaining the
> insight and wisdom that are the only tools with which we might avoid
> future attacks.
> 
> At the risk of sounding like an apologist for a despicable act, I would
> like to provide some possibilities for understanding the roots of this
> tragedy:
> 
> 1.  We Americans, comprising some 4% of the world's population, consume
> approximately 40% of its resources.  We appear to assume that the 
> resources
> found in other parts of the world are somehow our birthright.  Imagine 
> how
> this is experienced in third world countries, many of whom have been the
> recipient of United States military attacks.
> 
> 2.  We maintain this consumption, in large part, because we have the 
> most
> powerful military in the world, and since WW II we have not hesitated to
> use it for political and/or economic gain in places like China 
> (1945-46),
> Korea (1950-53), China (1950-53), Guatemala (1954), Indonesia (1958), 
> Cuba
> (1959-60), Guatemala (1960), Congo (1964), Peru (1965), Laos (1964-73),
> Vietnam (1961-73), Cambodia (1969-70), Guatemala (1967-69), Grenada 
> (1983),
> Libya (1986), El Salvador (1980s), Nicaragua (1980s), Panama (1989), 
> Iraq
> (1991-present), Sudan (1998), Afghanistan (1998) and Yugoslavia (1999).
> We have bombed each of these countries in turn, and in NO case did a
> democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct
> result.  Through our weapons and/or proxies, innocent civilians of
> Indonesia, East Timor, Chile, Nicaragua and Palestine have also been
> victims of the United States.  Is it any wonder that the level of hatred 
> of
> the United States is so high?   Former President Jimmy Carter stated, 
> "We
> have only to go to Lebanon, to Syria, to Jordan, to witness firsthand
> the intense hatred among many people for the United States, because we
> bombed and shelled and unmercifully killed totally innocent villagers, 
> women
> and children and farmers and housewives, in those villages around
> Beirut...as a result, we have become a kind of Satan in the minds of
> those who are
> deeply resentful. That is what precipitated the taking of hostages and 
> that
> is
> what has precipitated some terrorist attacks."  (New York Times3/26/89)
> 
> 3.  Forty-nine percent of our income tax dollar goes for present and 
> past
> military-related activities.  On April 16, 1953, former President Dwight
> 
> Eisenhower noted that "Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
> every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those 
> who
> hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed."  For the 
> cost
> of a Stealth bomber, we could put an additional teacher or social worker
> in every middle and high school in the United States.  The cost of the
> proposed missile defense shield would add several more.  Which of these
> options would add most to our national security?
> 
> In short, I believe that we are paying a terrible price for a very
> shortsided and egocentric American political and economic worldview, and
> unless we change this worldview, I am concerned that yesterday's tragedy
> will be only a down payment on the retribution yet to come.
> 
> ***************
> Bill Thomson is a clinical psychologist in private practice and a 
> faculty
> member at the University of Michigan/Dearborn, where he teaches a course
> in Nonviolence and Violence.  He returned last week from coordinating an
> international team of trauma experts who were teaching modern trauma
> prevention and treatment techniques to Palestinian mental health
> professionals in Ramallah and Gaza City.  He has a son living in New
> York City.
> 
> 
> ___________________________
> 
>    William J. (Bill) Thomson, Ph.D.
>        (wthomson at umich.edu)
> ___________________________
> 
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