shadowsource
A Flash In The Pain
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2001
- Posts
- 1,664
This one will have succeeded when we all look back on today's events. There isn't much the US can do about it. Invading Afghanistan never did anyone much good, and it's our help for the anti-Soviet forces that greased the path. Bin Laden will probably survive, too; we've already tried to kill him at least once.
I told someone yesterday that we in NYC should count on a major act wrecking big chunks of the city within years, unless the world manages to get peace established in the Middle East. As long as the Arab world sees Israel getting away with the settlements, hundreds of men a day will volunteer for suicide missions. That's why some Palestinians are said to be celebrating; the ones I know will be as sad as any of us.
How do we stop them? We generally can't - it's that simple. We have encountered the limits of power and wealth. I don't doubt that we'll take some measures against the Afghanis and bin Laden, but we shouldn't imagine it'll do all that much good. Obviously it would be nice to eliminate bin Laden's gang, and I have no sympathy whatever for Taliban. Efforts will be made, but I don't think it's possible for them to succeed.
We will hear lots of talk about how our standards for privacy (telephone taps, encryption, etc.) prevent the feds from dealing with terrorists. So we should be prepared to see lots of legislation that diminishes our rights.
I assume that 20,000 people have died downtown, including many people I know, especially a German woman who spent one night at my house Thursday, then moved to a hotel across from the WTC because she needed more work space. My city is shattered. Some percentage of our emergency workers have been killed performing their duties. Trillions of dollars of damage will be registered by the time a park is built where the WTC used to be. Probably this is the lock for a recession. Good luck, my friends, but don't think revenge will be easy or effective.
I told someone yesterday that we in NYC should count on a major act wrecking big chunks of the city within years, unless the world manages to get peace established in the Middle East. As long as the Arab world sees Israel getting away with the settlements, hundreds of men a day will volunteer for suicide missions. That's why some Palestinians are said to be celebrating; the ones I know will be as sad as any of us.
How do we stop them? We generally can't - it's that simple. We have encountered the limits of power and wealth. I don't doubt that we'll take some measures against the Afghanis and bin Laden, but we shouldn't imagine it'll do all that much good. Obviously it would be nice to eliminate bin Laden's gang, and I have no sympathy whatever for Taliban. Efforts will be made, but I don't think it's possible for them to succeed.
We will hear lots of talk about how our standards for privacy (telephone taps, encryption, etc.) prevent the feds from dealing with terrorists. So we should be prepared to see lots of legislation that diminishes our rights.
I assume that 20,000 people have died downtown, including many people I know, especially a German woman who spent one night at my house Thursday, then moved to a hotel across from the WTC because she needed more work space. My city is shattered. Some percentage of our emergency workers have been killed performing their duties. Trillions of dollars of damage will be registered by the time a park is built where the WTC used to be. Probably this is the lock for a recession. Good luck, my friends, but don't think revenge will be easy or effective.
