Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id GAA08035 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 28 Feb 2002 06:52:49 GMT X-Authentication-Warning: cheetah.nor.com.au: Host 227.digital.ppp.telstra.dataheart.net [202.147.129.227] claimed to be green-machine Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20020228173255.00751464@pophost.nor.com.au> X-Sender: jeremyb@pophost.nor.com.au X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 17:32:55 +1100 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: Jeremy Bradley <jeremyb@nor.com.au> Subject: Re: Rumsfeld Says He May Drop New Office of Influence In-Reply-To: <F287CT4aJ6pkNzPZrIk00001a88@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
At 10:46 PM 26/02/02 -0500, you wrote:
>
Snip......
>Afghanistan has been a smashing success so far, al-Quaeda and Taliban sent
>scurrying into the darkness realizing they bit off way more than they could
>chew. We've also gotten some decent intelligence on their networks from
>surveying the abandoned complexes and from the detainees at Camp X-ray.
>
This post must be the product of the old Office of Influence. Are you sure
that 'smashing' is a sensitive word here when one thinks of the collateral
damage.
>What remains is whether a decent gov't can be established in Afghanistan and
>whether they can get over their ethnic discord and become a nation. We don't
>have any control over their feelings for eachother.
Who is to say what a 'decent government' is, a member of a nation whose
Presidency was purchased by an energy company? And who created the nation
of Afghanistan out of an area habitated by tribes with differing
ideologies, was it the British Colonials?
>
>It was realized that Afghanistan would not be the end-all of the war on
>terrorism, so more action remains to be taken, wherever that may wind up
>being.
The meme of vengeance will self-perpetuate this war. Will we learn nothing
from the Palestinian conflict? Let me put it this way - I am a peaceful
man, but if my family is bombed to death while innocent of wrongdoing I
would take up arms. A war of terror on terror will never end.
> but at least Bush ain't one to play
>ostrich when it comes to getting serious in the trenches and crushing the
>terrorists.
No, but he certainly knows how to keep youall distracted while he makes a
pile for the big end of town
>
>Now how are we supposed to defuse the terrorist motivation? A peacefest with
>bands and flowers? I'm not a fan of Sharon and would like to see
>Palestinians get some degree of self-governance, statehood and respect, but
>it seems that nothing short of eliminating the state of Israel would satisfy
>the terrorists. I can't go for that.
Why that's mighty noble of you. What degree of self-governance, statehood
and respect would you deme appropriate in the land which their forebears
occupied for millennia. The modern state of Israel was born in terror and
supported, then recognised, by the US (the IRA also raised funds in the
US). In the case of Israel, the US was the sponsor of the Stern and Irgun
terrorists. It has trained and funded 'terrorists' in the US and elsewhare
for 'covert opperations' in Africa, South America and Asia.
Given that this is a matter of historical record - why not bomb yourselves.
To answer your questions, a good place to start defusing the terrorist
time-bomb would be to stop interfering in the affairs of other nations.
Then give some real aid - with no strings attached (25% of what USAnia has
allocated to its 'war on terror' should do it).
>I don't have any flags to wave.
>
Well gollee, it must just be your meme-team conditioning that's red white
and blue.
I know that this post is a little aggressive, but have a good think about
the matters that I have raised. Try walking in non-USAnian shoes for a
while, your perceptions may change.
Yours
Jeremy
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Feb 28 2002 - 07:34:07 GMT