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Could you please remove me from your list ----- Original Message ----- From: "Katy Connell" <kcnl@globalnet.co.uk> To: "Eric Herring" <Eric.Herring@bristol.ac.uk>; "CASI list" <> Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 4:33 AM Subject: Re: Comments on terrorist attack on US by a former member of US armed forces > Eric - > > I agree that the crucial word when responding to your friend is > "understanding". It clearly does not mean the same as "excuse", although it > is often confused. I can only speak for myself, but I suspect most people on > this list share the view that when we say we want to "understand" these > events or place them in context this means we want to "work out why it > happened" so that maybe we can prevent it happening again. > > The alternative to working out why it happened is to decide NOT to work out > why it happened. I wonder if your friend really wants this. Does he really > want us never to work out what caused the hatred that led to these deaths? > > It is not only the fate of those who died that we have to think about. It is > also the fate of those who will die in future attacks. Such attacks will > inevitably come should the US decide that it too wants to kill innocent > people, firefighters and ambulance crews to even up the score. > > So there are at least 2 options: > > 1) US bombs Islamic countries causing inevitable civilian deaths, leading to > increased hatred of the US and further attacks both ways. > > 2) The US comes to terms with the hatred that millions in the Middle East > and elswhere have towards its policies, works out what is wrong, and starts > to change those policies to reduce hatred and attacks. > > > >"Understanding" the alleged provocation to attack thousands > >and thousands of innocents can never be accepted. Why? > >Because when these requests for understanding are taken in > >context they are nothing more than an endorsement of the > >attacks. > > I can understand why the US imposes sanctions on Iraq, but I don't endorse > them. I can understand the hatred that led to the September 11th attacks, > but I don't endorse that either. > > >Understanding gives weight and legitimacy to the > >attack because to "understand" is to accept they might have > >had what they considered a "reason" for the attack. > > Does your friend think that the perpetrators considered that they had no > reason for the attack? I can only think they thought they did indeed have a > reason. The only alternative is that they just did it out of boredom. I > don't think that likely. > > >After all, according to > >CASI posters, no amount of reasoning is sufficient to cause > >the innocent to suffer. > > I don't know which posters he is talking about. Certainly not me. I'm sure > we can imagine situations where there is no choice but for some people to > suffer in order that others are saved. Just so happens that the case of Iraq > sanctions is not one of them, in my opinion, and I suspect most people on > the list. > > >But somehow we must understand the reason cowards murdered > >of thousands in the United States? > > Given the alternative. And if you want to stop it happening again, yes. > > >In the case of the > >terrorist attack on the 11th of September we are to > >overlook the evil act and accept the provocation? > > > No. That would be lunacy. > > >This is lunacy. > > No one has said the act should be overlooked. Quite the opposite -- we > should learn valuable lessons from it. But the lesson should not be that the > US must kill innocent people to try to teach others that killing innocent > people is wrong. > > Glenn Bassett. > > -- > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq > For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk > CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings. > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk CASI's website - www.casi.org.uk - includes an archive of all postings.