sdd@pyuxh.UUCP (S Daniels) (07/23/85)
Roughly paraphrasing from several discussions: >>> How many Shiites were killed in US naval bombardment of Beirut? >> Not enough. >This is terrorism, too. Haven't we learned anything? ----- After WW II, we should have learned that letting despots and terrorists have their way without penalty is not the road to peace. Some folks on this net suffer from latent Neville Chamberlainism: they'd rather give away the Louisiana purchase than see one innocent person killed. Some things are more important than our well-intentioned senses of fairness and "proof before punishment," particularly when dealing with powers that lack those same sensibilities. I didn't notice the hijackers and those who harbored them later respecting the principal of non-collective guilt. I don't have much sympathy for the Shiite section of Beirut, either. Military camps run by militias are fair game. There really is such a thing as the prudent exercise of military power. If we have to chose between being humanitarians and protecting our best interests, we protect our best interests. We do the best we can walking the tightrope, and, if someone bloodies our nose, we bust their backside. If we finally make someone pay dearly enough for taking a punch at us, this nonsense will stop. -- Steve Daniels (!pyuxh!sdd) "I'm counting the smiles on the road to Utopia."
tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL) (07/25/85)
> [Steve Daniels] > Roughly paraphrasing from several discussions: > > >>> How many Shiites were killed in US naval bombardment of Beirut? > >> Not enough. > >This is terrorism, too. Haven't we learned anything? > ----- > After WW II, we should have learned that letting despots and terrorists > have their way without penalty is not the road to peace. Some folks on > this net suffer from latent Neville Chamberlainism: they'd rather give > away the Louisiana purchase than see one innocent person killed. > [Several lines omitted for brevity] > If we have to chose between being humanitarians and protecting our best > interests, we protect our best interests. We do the best we can walking > the tightrope, and, if someone bloodies our nose, we bust their backside. > If we finally make someone pay dearly enough for taking a punch at us, > this nonsense will stop. ------------------------------------- Mr. Daniels misunderstands the meaning of my posting. I was not speaking against retaliation against terrorists. Sometimes it is the best thing to do (even if some innocent people are killed), sometimes not, depending on circumstances. It is not as simple as Daniels thinks, however, as Reagan has found out (at least, before he saw Rambo -) ). I was speaking out against the lumping of all Shiites into an undifferentiated mass, all of whom are fair game. This is odious in the extreme. I have noticed a tendency to do this, not only on the net, but in the rhetoric of some politicians. Maybe the poster of the "not enough" comment did not mean to do this, but others have. -- Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL ihnp4!ihlpg!tan
al@ames.UUCP (Al Globus) (10/04/85)
> Roughly paraphrasing from several discussions: > > >>> How many Shiites were killed in US naval bombardment of Beirut? > >> Not enough. > >This is terrorism, too. Haven't we learned anything? > ----- > > After WW II, we should have learned that letting despots and terrorists > have their way without penalty is not the road to peace. After WWI we learned that arms races lead to war. Apparently we've forgotten that lesson. > > I don't have much sympathy for the Shiite section > of Beirut, either. Military camps run by militias are fair game. > They didn't come to the US and attack us. We went to their land and bombarded them. Makes a difference. > There really is such a thing as the prudent exercise of military power. Yes. The constitution makes a provision for this, by giving Congress the power to declare war. The founding fathers didn't give this power to the executive for the obvious reason that they suspected abuse. I don't think US military force should be used without a declaration of war, that's what I think the constitution says. Every US citizen is required to support the constitution.
nyssa@abnji.UUCP (nyssa of traken) (10/07/85)
>> >>> How many Shiites were killed in US naval bombardment of Beirut? >> >> Not enough. >> >This is terrorism, too. Haven't we learned anything? >> ----- >> >> After WW II, we should have learned that letting despots and terrorists >> have their way without penalty is not the road to peace. > >After WWI we learned that arms races lead to war. Apparently we've forgotten >that lesson. > After the Civil War we should have learned about the destructive power of an industrial society at war. (Remember Gen. Sherman?) -- James C. Armstrong, Jnr. {ihnp4,cbosgd,akgua}!abnji!nyssa I'll keep an eye on the old man, he seems to have a knack for getting himself into trouble! -who said it, what story?