why sudden silence?

Thu, 15 Nov 2001 14:35:03 -0600 (CST)

De gummermint has spent some $3 billion over the past few weeks on this "war=
=2E"

And I might add, Jon, we are no closer to nabbing the elusive Osama.

Harry

>
>
>Well, Bob--let's just say I'm "waiting and seeing." Trying to be hopeful.
>The US has a good opportunity in Afghanistan, as does the UN and the
>surrounding Arab states.We could see some improved international
>cooperation coming out of this.  But has Muslim fundamentalism "gone away"
>beause we drove out the Taliban like an elephant stomping a flea? No. Has
>terrorism? Nope. Have we dealt with the way our corporations exploit
>people around the world in the name of  free trade?  Not a clue. So what
>have we accomplished? We've given up some of our civil lierties at home--
>will we get them back? Don't count on it.Our economy is in the toilet, and
>we've fired up a really big budget deficit, with no end in sight to the
>spending on war and corporate bail-outs. Not altogether a great time to be
>an American, but we sure showed those no good Talibaners a thingt or
>three, ha ha ha!
>
>
>
>Jon
>
>
>  >From: "telebob x"  >To: austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net  >Subject: why
>sudden silence?  >Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 16:14:05 +0000  >  >Gee, what has
>happened to the usual drumbeat of defeat from Roger,  >Jon, et  >al ?
>Shocking! The USA did something right again. And not for the  >wrong
>>reasons either.  >  >tele  >  >Ha ha ha  >by  >Christopher Hitchens
>>Wednesday November 14, 2001  >The Guardian  >  >There was a time in my
>life when I did a fair bit of  >work for the tempestuous Lucretia Stewart,
>then editor  >of the American Express travel magazine, Departures.
>>Together, we evolved a harmless satire of the slightly  >drivelling style
>employed by the journalists of  >tourism. "Land of Contrasts" was our
>shorthand for it.  >("Jerusalem: an enthralling blend of old and new."
>>"South Africa: a harmony in black and white."  >"Belfast, where ancient
>meets modern.") It was as you  >can see, no difficult task. I began to
>notice a few  >weeks ago that my enemies in the "peace" movement had
>>decided to borrow from this tattered style book. The  >mantra, especially
>in the letters to this newspaper,  >was: "Afghanistan, where the world's
>richest country  >rains bombs on the world's poorest country."  >  >Poor
>fools. They should never have tried to beat me at  >this game. What about,
>"Afghanistan, where the world's  >most open society confronts the world's
>most closed  >one"? "Where American women pilots kill the men who
>>enslave women." "Where the world's most indiscriminate  >bombers are
>bombed by the world's most accurate ones."  >"Where the largest number of
>poor people applaud the  >bombing of their own regime." I could go on. (I
>think  >number four may need a little work.) But there are  >some
>suggested contrasts for the "doves" to paste into  >their scrapbook.
>Incidentally, when they look at their  >scrapbooks they will be able to
>re-read themselves  >saying things like, "The bombing of Kosovo is driving
>>the Serbs into the arms of Milosevic."  >  >If the silly policy of a
>Ramadan pause had been  >adopted, the citizens of Kabul would have still
>been  >under a regime of medieval cruelty, and their  >oppresssors would
>have been busily regrouping, not  >praying. Anyhow, what a damn-fool
>proposal to start  >with. I don't stop insulting the Christian coalition
>>at Eastertime. Come Yom Kippur I tend to step up my  >scornful remarks
>about Zionism. Whatever happened to  >the robust secularism that used to
>help characterise  >the left? And why is it suddenly only the injured
>>feelings of Muslims that count? A couple of years ago,  >the same people
>were striking pompous attitudes about  >the need to avoid offending
>Serbian and therefore  >Russian Orthodox sensitivities. Except that those
>>sensitive people, or their leaders, were engaged in  >putting the Muslims
>of Europe to the sword...  >  >There's no pleasing some people, but as a
>charter  >supporter of CND I can remember a time when the peace  >movement
>was not an auxiliary to dictators and  >aggressors in trouble. Looking at
>some of the  >mind-rotting tripe that comes my way from much of  >today's
>left, I get the impression that they go to bed  >saying: what have I done
>for Saddam Hussein or good  >old Slobodan or the Taliban today?  >  >Well,
>ha ha ha, and yah, boo. It was obvious from the  >very start that the
>United States had no alternative  >but to do what it has done. It was also
>obvious that  >defeat was impossible. The Taliban will soon be  >history.
>Al-Qaida will take longer. There will be  >other mutants to fight. But if,
>as the peaceniks like  >to moan, more Bin Ladens will spring up to take
>his  >place, I can offer this assurance: should that be the  >case, there
>are many many more who will also spring up  >to kill him all over again.
>And there are more of us  >and we are both smarter and nicer, as well as
>>surprisingly insistent that our culture demands  >respect, too.  >  >=85
>Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair.  >  >  >  >  >  >  >
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