Date:         Sat, 15 Sep 2001 11:40:33 -0500
Reply-To:     Larry Alofs <lalofs@ENTERACT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Larry Alofs <lalofs@ENTERACT.COM>
Subject:      Re: From Seattle..(No Van Cont)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Michael aka ECHO wrote:

> Don't forget:
> Falwell, Robertson Blame U.S. Religious Values for Terrorist
> Attacks
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/Religion_News/
>
> Michael
> --- Don Hundt <dhundt@PCEZ.COM> wrote:
> > Gee, thanks Malcolm,
> > Now that you have pointed out to me that I am an ignorant,
>
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Malcolm Stebbins <MSTEBBIN@MSVU1.MSVU.CA>
> > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 4:55 AM
> > Subject: Re: From Seattle..(No Van Cont)
> >
> >
> > > america is the KNOWN author of suffering, america is
> > > the "monster the beast, the unspeakable bastard" to many
> > > people in the world. If america read the international press
> > > and paid attention to the world events and news and
> > > opinions then this act would NOT be shocking.
> > > america's isolation makes news from outside - shocking.
>
> > > Malcolm Stebbins (who has lived overseas for many
> > > years) vanagon owner
> > >

Malcolm's post deserves serious thoughtful consideration, not just angry sarcasm.
  At this time an emotional, vengeful response is natural and perhaps unavoidable, but I hope that as time
passes, we and our leaders will think more carefully.
  Most of the world agrees that terrorist acts like these are wrong no matter what grievances might exist
against a country or its people.

However,
  We must ask "Why did this happen?"
   We must try to find the most basic and fundamental causes and address them.  The answers will not be simple
and the solutions will be very difficult.

Patriotic unification and forceful response is natural and to some extent comforting.
In the long run, it may not help solve the problem.  If we take Israel as an example, we see people with a
strong sense of nationalism, military preparedness, and vigilance.  Yet their problem with terrorism continues
with no lasting sign of abatement.  As long as injustice, real or perceived, continues, some extremists will
feel driven to acts of terrorism.

I am not optimistic about the success of these declarations of "war" no matter how much money is appropriated.

Whenever I happen to see the BBC world news I am struck by the number of horrible events that happen around
the world which are never mentioned on our network "world news".
  When we see the bumper sticker:
     "If you want peace, work for justice."  perhaps we should think about how we can take some positive
action and encourage our political leaders to do so.

Some of Malcolm's points are good ones, some are not, but it is important to hear a variety of viewpoints and
think about them.

Be safe,
Larry A.