Comments | kinako_ishiyama: A sad day, indeed....

kinako_ishiyama

A sad day, indeed....

Jul 21, 2005 10:02

What in the world is going on?! I wake up this morning to find out there were three more explosions in London! I mean, it's only been two weeks! Are these people that desperate to throw their lives away ( Read more... )

Comments 8

aseartia July 21 2005, 16:12:55 UTC

You've actually hit on the whole problem with the current approach that many world leaders are taking to this problem when you say "But, I understand how it's hard to spot someone that looks suspicious." Only instead of hard, you should perhaps say "near impossible ( ... )

kinako_ishiyama July 21 2005, 19:40:21 UTC

Yes, sadly, that does seem to be the case. I know at first, President Bush said everything was extremely black and white, but, while that might have been true right after 9/11, it is no longer the case. As you said, the terrorists are learning how to avoid detection, including using people that were once just ordinary citizens, people we see everyday.

On the bright side, this time, there were no deaths and only one injury. So the people of London were extremely lucky, this time.

aseartia July 21 2005, 23:33:59 UTC

That was *never* true. The black-and-white rhetoric was a political tool that he needed to use so that he could characterize people who disagreed with him as unpatriotic. Recall the words of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft before a Congressional commitee: "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies." By criticizing the President, you side with terrorists...THAT is black-and-white rhetoric, and hardly the only case ( ... )

kinako_ishiyama July 22 2005, 02:14:23 UTC

Ok, sorry. My choice of words were probably wrong. But they're still people that live normal lives but were somehow convinced to commit these acts. And yes, it would make sense for us to ask why they choose to do this. Cause while many of the terrorists have been captured, there's still many out there, too. It'll take many more years to find them all, probably.

aseartia July 22 2005, 05:11:14 UTC

There are many more out there, exactly. And as you noted, there's no way to foresee who they are. Thus lies the problem with the "War on Terror," that you can't fight a belief with a gun. You can look for them all you want, but if that's all you do, then Sissyphus will get his rock to the top of the hill before you're done.

I hope you don't think I'm trying to attack your thoughts or in any way challenge you personally. I rather enjoy this interplay of ideas and analysis...it's so rare that I get the opportunity.

kinako_ishiyama July 22 2005, 05:19:26 UTC

No, I didn't think that, at all. You had some very valid points and I enjoy reading them.

Another issue I would like to understand is how these terrorists, or "Radical Islamists", as they're sometimes called, were able to interpret the Koran into a book that promotes violence when, in actuality, it promotes nothing of the sort.

hmmmm..... anonymous August 5 2005, 14:07:35 UTC

the same way our bible becomes misinterpreted... politics
People who believe in the Koran are not too different from you or I.
The most quoted prophet in the Koran is Jesus. How can people interpret violence from a man known to promote love and forgiveness? By altering translations, or twisting a meaning to suit one's own political agenda. Show me a political figurehead who doesn't somehow twist logic, and I'll show you someone who isn't a political figurehead.

Re: hmmmm..... kinako_ishiyama August 5 2005, 17:46:53 UTC

Good point. But it's sad that both our bible and the Koran can easily have the meanings of its teachings twisted around. But then, nothing in the world is perfect.