Posthuman Blues

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Having a blog, I suppose I'm obligated to say something about the terrorist attack in Britain.

Here's what I wrote about terrorism on April 9, 2003:

"We have disturbed the hive. We have shaken it, beaten it with sticks, poked it until its sides are dripping and buzzing with pure insect menace.

"When the next wave of terrorist strikes hits, there won't be enough paper for the 'God Bless America' bumper stickers we'll be needing."

8 comments:

JohnFen said...: The connection is that our response to 9/11 (namely, to attack a nation that had done nothing -- not even threatened us) creates radical militants. An increase in terrorism would be expected jsut as much if we attacked Iraq without a 9/11 happening first.

Remember, terrorism is nothing more than warfare conducted by a militarily weak group against a militarily strong group -- there's no other way to fight a militarily superior enemy. When we attack Iraq, we created a large number of new active enemies.; 6:20 PM
JohnFen said...: Oh, I should add that it remains to be seen who perpetrated this act. Logically, Islamic militants aren't exactly at the top of the list, as it works against them.; 6:52 PM
Mac said...: What JohnFen said. I'm aware of no causal link between 9/11 and Iraq.; 7:48 PM
JohnFen said...: I didn't say they weren't on the list, just not at the top. The reason I think this is the curious timing with regard to a couple of events. For example, the brits had just announced they're pulling out the rest of their troops, the tide in the US has turned against the war, etc. Any attacks might reverse these things, and one would think that a reversal of these is something that the militants would not want. I'm not saying that it wasn't islamic militants, just that they don't seem to be the top contenders.

I'm curious, though -- how does the SOP for islamic extremists differ from other extremists so much that one can tell them apart based on so little information?; 2:01 AM
Paul Kimball said...: Of course it was Islamic terrorists! And their terror is not confined to the so-called infidels and crusaders in the West - witness the attacks on the Egyptian, Bahraini and Pakistani envoys to Iraq in recent days, and the daily attacks within Iraq, which kill far more Iraqis than Americans or other coalition troops.

Further, make no mistake - they don't differentiate between Iraq and Afghanistan, as their threats and actions have made clear. That's why we Canadians (no troops in Iraq, a sizeable force in Afhganistan) take nothing for granted.

And the fact that some wacko was speculating that this was a CIA plot says more about him than the day's events.

Paul; 2:01 AM
Ken said...: "They have no respect for human life, and less respect for people with different cultures then them."

From their perspective, it is WE who have no regard for human life and less respect for different cultures than our own. That's one reason why bin Laden is so vehemently anti-west.

"Any attacks might reverse these things, and one would think that a reversal of these is something that the militants would not want."

Something makes me think that these militants don't have much organized foresight. Their terrorist attacks seem to be, for the most part, random and impulsive.

"And their terror is not confined to the so-called infidels and crusaders in the West - witness the attacks on the Egyptian, Bahraini and Pakistani envoys to Iraq in recent days, and the daily attacks within Iraq, which kill far more Iraqis than Americans or other coalition troops."

Islamic fundies are dead set against anyone among their fellow Arabs who are secular or pro-west or pro-western ways. What they want is a revived Islamic empire which possesses a distinct identity from the Western world and is in many ways opposed to it.; 9:49 AM
Ken said...: "Know the enemy. Have no illusions that Bin Laden's attacks are somehow defensive measures against the brutality of the West. They are offensive actions."

I find this mentality identical to that which is held by the Islamic militants: "Know the enemy", etc. Terrorists exist for a reason, and it has very much to do with western imperialism. We demonstrate our own lack of respect for human life; let's not pretend to be better than we are.; 11:08 AM
platts42 said...: See what happens when you are obligated to make posts? You needn't say anything if you don't wanna.

Personally I'm wondering why British officials warned Benjamin Netanyahu before the blast that killed a number of their own people.; 1:36 PM