Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘mark steyn’

As usual, Mark Steyn hits the nail right on the head when he discusses the cultural roots of Palestinian terror:

The Palestinian death cult negates all the assumptions of western sentimental pacifism: If only the vengeful old generals got out of the way, there’d be no war. But such common humanity as one can find on the West Bank resides, if only in their cynicism, in the leadership: old Arafat may shower glory and honor on his youthful martyrs but he’s human enough to keep his own kid in Paris, well away from the suicide-bomber belts. It’s hard to picture Saeb Erekat or Hanan Ashrawi or any of the other aging terror apologists who hog the airwaves at CNN and the BBC celebrating the death of their own loved ones the way Miss Jaradat’s brother did. “We are receiving congratulations from people,” said Thaher Jaradat. “Why should we cry? It is like her wedding day, the happiest day for her.”

[ . . . ]

On the West Bank, almost all the humdrum transactions of daily life take place in a culture that glorifies depravity: you walk down a street named after a suicide bomber to drop your child in a school that celebrates suicide-bombing and then pick up some groceries in a corner store whose walls are plastered with portraits of suicide bombers.

Steyn goes on to claim that by giving Arafat’s leadership legitimacy, the world has ensured that a future Palestinian state would be nothing but a terorrist entity. And this sort of terrorist leadership should not be rewarded.

Mark Steyn on the UN bombing in Baghdad:

At the moment, there’s only one hyperpower (the United States), one great power (the United Kingdom) and one regional power (Australia) that are serious about the threat of Islamist terrorism. There’s also Israel, of course, but Israel’s disinclination to have its bus passengers blown to smithereens is seen as evidence of its ”obstinacy” and unwillingness to get the ”peace process” back ”on track.” What a difference it would make if one or two other G-7 nations were to get serious about the battle and be a reliable vote in international councils. But who? France? It’s all business to them, unless al-Qaida are careless enough to blow up the Eiffel Tower. Canada? Canadians get blown up in Bali, murdered in Iran, tortured in Saudi Arabia, die in the rubble of the UN building in Baghdad–and their government shrugs. Belgium? They’d rather issue a warrant for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld than Chemical Ali.

Yeah, read the whole thing.

Mark Steyn writes that he expects that Americans will get through today’s tragedy, because they are tough (via LGF):

Nonetheless, this will not be as traumatisingly mesmeric as the Challenger disaster. The yellow-ribbon era died with September 11: even if their television networks haven’t quite adjusted, Americans are tougher about these things; this is a country at war and one that understands how to absorb losses and setbacks.

[ . . . ]

No doubt in the big-time mosques the A-list imams really will regard what happened as the judgment of Allah on the American-Zionist plan to seize the heavens. The rest of us will mourn the dead and urge Nasa to get on with the next flight. That’s the American way.

In a way, Steyn is right. This isn’t the end of the world, and people will mourn and move on. Israel’s space program will forge ahead. As it should, as Gerald M. Steinberg writes in the Jerusalem Post:

The exploration of space, despite the risks and tragedies, embodies the positive spirit of discovery that is essential to the human species. And when these flights resume, other Israelis will be on board, carrying on the work that Ilan Ramon began. May his memory be blessed.

As for the Americans, these thoughts were resolutely stated by President Bush in his address to the nation today:

“Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery. . . . Our journey into space will go on.”

I’m reminded of a line from one of my favourite TV shows, The West Wing, by character Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe. In the episode “Galileo”, he is asked by Mallory why it’s so important to try to go to Mars. He answers:

Cause it’s next. ‘Cause we came out of the cave. And we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration, and this is what’s next.

Damn straight.

A surge in violent crime in England has been raising eyebrows. Mark Steyn, in an attempt to dismiss gun control as ineffective that, incidentally, I disagree with, claims that within 2 years, the murder rate in London will exceed that in New York (via Damian Penny). And Tom’s comment was “Britain is falling apart. You might like to mention it in your blog.”

Well, Tom’s right, it does bear mentioning. In this past week alone there’s been a siege where police squared off with a hostage taker for over 11 days, negotiating and feeding the gunman Kentucky Fried Chicken. The hostage has been freed but the gunman is still refusing to surrender. Two women have been murdered, and their body parts found in plastic bags. Two men were stabbed to death in Bristol. A cab driver was murdered in Manchester. And the shooting deaths of two girls and injury of two others on New Year’s Eve who walked out of a club and into bullets apparently intended for gang rivals is leading to renewed calls for gun law reform.

Is there a full moon over there or something?