Re: [atlarge-discuss] the root and the terror

[espresso@e-scape.net]

At 14:23 +0100 2003/01/23, Holger Steiner wrote:
>"J-F C. (Jefsey) Morfin" schrieb:
>[snip]
>> root causes of terrorism like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.
>
>Actually, those are NOT the sole root causes of terrorism.

Not the SOLE root causes, perhaps, but some of the most significant
... along with the desire for "regime change" or revenge for
injustices, real or imagined.

>The "Rote Armee Fraktion" of Germany where not poor, illiterate or
>unemployed.
>They just killed people to topple the existing state and erect their
>own
>fascist dreamland.

The human population always includes a small percentage of people
who enjoy violence and seek out opportunities to commit it,
whether in the name of religion or politics or profit or even
just for the hell of it. The vast majority of humanity will
never murder anyone for any reason -- which is why people
set on waging a war must go to such lengths to demonize their
"enemies" and train soldiers to kill on command without asking
why.

In many parts of the world, being poor and illiterate and scraping
a living any way you can are just the "way of the world" so people
somehow manage to live peacefully with their neighbours rather
than commit atrocities.

In others, being poor and illiterate and scraping a living any way
you can are the results of devastation deliberately inflicted by
others. In such circumstances, however deplorable terrorism may
be, people who are powerless to improve their circumstances by
any means available to them are quite likely to sympathize with
the few who attack their attackers.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" is a poor definition of
friendship but a very good description of how politics
work in practice. And "war is the continuation of business
(or diplomacy) by other means".

"Terrorism" -- the commission of violent acts designed to terrify
people -- is the same regardless of who is choosing to use it.
We're living in an era where the word is used for one's "enemies"
and we call it something else when it's used by our "friends" --
"land reform", "pacification", "a just war", etc. -- but that just
obscures the reality: some violent acts are committed to kill
large numbers of people and/or destroy much property, while
others are of smaller scope but intended to create panic over
a larger area. The first type are usually committed by those
who have money and heavy equipment and the power to call what
they are doing a "legal" war. The second are usually committed
by people who don't own a government or lots of resources and
use carefully targetted violence to scare many more people
than they can actually hurt.

Labelling somebody a "terrorist" and attacking those who may
(or may not) have some sympathy with him is not the best way to
stop violence. Labelling somebody "fascist" or "communist"
brings us no closer to understand who is doing what and for
what purpose.

Those who commit violence against others are criminals unless
they do so in direct self-defense, regardless of whether the
laws they contravene are the ordinary criminal codes or
international agreements on the rules of war. Their
offense isn't that they may desire a different form of
government but that they have chosen evil means for effecting
the change.

Unfortunately, such evils are committed by governments, political
groups, and even individuals for reasons which do not justify the
means. One lone sniper with enough ammunition and a grudge can
be a terrorist; so can a powerful country which provides
military support to a coup d'état to get rid of an elected
government or which announces it will bomb any country which
is *suspected* of having terrorists within its borders and
does not join a "war on terrorism" as unlikely to succeed as
the 70-year-old "war on drugs".

I am convinced that to counter evil we must take the words of
Pastor Niemöller to heart and speak out on behalf of those who
are treated unjustly to further somebody else's political or
economic agenda.

"Peace on earth" is just a dream now but eventually we will
either learn how to achieve it or destroy so much of our
planet that it will no longer support human life.

Hoping and working for the former,

Judyth


##########################################################
Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
##########################################################
"A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
"Un mot suffit aux sages; pour les autres, il en faut plus."
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