[KLUG Members] The purpose of terrorism

[Patrick Stockton]

As I sit here at work this morning I am frightened by what I am hearing my
co-workers say.  Many of them are calling for total nuclear annihilation of
the middle east.  They want the body count to be even on both sides.

The funny thing is we are still unsure who caused this.  Sure the pundits
are quick to blame Osama bin Laden, he's quick, easy, and CIA trained.  But
keep in mind who caused Oklahoma City.   The purpose of terrorism is to
cause your enemy to panic, make quick decisions without thinking them out,
and above all make mistakes.  A car bomb there pulls security forces away
from here so you can set another bomb off here.

In the days, weeks, and months that are to follow questions such as "Why?"
will stick out in our mind.  We may never know the answers to these
questions.

We have the technology to make the entire Middle East one large hole, but
what will that solve?  Would our military give warning to the countries we
bomb, let them move their families to safety before our bombs hit, thus
proving we are better than terrorists?  Or will our bombs fall in the middle
of the night while they are asleep?

I am not saying we as a country need to be complacent and allow this to
happen without incident but skill, grace, and style is needed now not
midnight paramilitary raids.

Remember Ghandi who said "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world
blind."

Enough of my soapbox.
_________________________________
"The problem is that it was devised by a bunch of hippie anarchists who
didn't have a strong profit motive."
--Thomas Nolle, a New Jersey telecommunications consultant speaking on why
nobody has been able to make a profit off the Internet.