That’s my message to people in Spain, in all of Europe, in North America, or anywhere. The terrorists don’t care what we do. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we make nice, and talk about “understanding” the motives of the terrorists. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we look for “root causes” or try to blame terrorist attacks on the actions and international policies of our governments. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we stand in the streets marching and chanting with the radical groups, holding signs equating Bush to Hitler or denouncing the United States. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we all flood classes about Islam to learn about the “religion of peace” and have long theological discussions about its true meanings. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we turn out in droves to throw out centrist governments at the polls and vote in socialists who are more inclined to appeasement in reaction to terror attacks. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we abstain from United Nations resolutions that would attempt to defend what’s right, or if we bury our heads in the sand on an international scale and refuse to take any action, or even if we turn on our allies. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter if we denounce Israel or give millions in aid to the Palestinians. They’ll kill us anyway.
It doesn’t matter what we do. To the terrorists, all that matters is who we are: Western, democratic and free. They don’t hate us for what we do, or don’t do. That’s just an excuse. They attacked Spain and people said it was because the Spanish were allied with the US and Britain in Iraq. So now the Spanish throw out their government, and we in Canada breathe a sigh of relief because we didn’t participate in the war in Iraq so we won’t be targets. But they attacked Morocco and Kenya and Bali and Turkey… how many of those places participated in the war in Iraq? If we Canadians think they won’t kill us anyway, we’re kidding ourselves. Given the opportunity, they would be just as happy to kill as many of us as they can.
They’re fighting a war. Oppression against freedom. Backwardness against civilization. They’ve gotten tired of oppressing the people in the middle east only, and they have decided to go global… and they won’t stop until we’re all dead. That’s how much they hate us. No amount of caving to their blackmail or changing our actions or ways of thinking will appease them either. Do you really think Osama Bin Laden cares how many people who died in 9/11 were registered Republicans and how many were registered Democrats? Do you really think he gives a rat’s ass whether any of the people who died when the World Trade Center collapsed had been out marching in an ANSWER rally a week before? Or had been out protesting Bush a month before?
No, they don’t hate us for what we do. They hate us for who we are. And they’ll kill us anyway. So there’s nothing left for us to do but to kill them first.
Sari — who are you planning to kill? Hanthal? The concordia student executive?
This entry is better as a parody, a wer-nerd column, than anything serious.
Did you ever hear me call Hanthala or the Concordia student executive terrorists? I may disagree with the politics of certain politicians but they’re a far cry from the Al Qua’eda terrorists who bombed the Madrid commuter trains, don’t you think?
I hate to agree with Bush, but it is true. The only reasonable response to terrorism is to make sure that it never succeeds… anywhere.
The Spanish election is a disaster. The withdrawal from Lebanon was a previous nightmare.
Spain’s response to the bombing should have been to send 500 extra troops to Iraq, and pledge another 500 for every future bombing.
Thanks, this is op-ed quality opinion. Being politically correct should come after hte importance of life, not before. Pointing the finger at the general idea of terrorism is quite pointless. The terrorists, their backers, and their causes should be singled out and chastised. The ends do not justify the means, and that should be clear.
We are dealing with a different value/moral system. It is ludicrous to project our values on to them and instead we should deal with those terrorists, their backers and causes, with the same tools they use against their victims. I don’t mean to blow up buses in their neighbourhood, but rather to fight violence with violence.
The message is quite clear; Only military solutions can fight terrorism.
Yes, a lot of assertions about their motives without a lick of proof. Have you
divined these motives of OBL from the stars, or is there actual evidence you know of indicating their
motives?
Yes, a lot of assertions about their motives without a lick of proof.
So the document claiming responsibility is a figment of the Spanish government’s imagination?
The document claiming responsibility is almost certainly authentic, but how does it bolster the assertions you have made?
You said there’s no proof about the motives of the terrorists. What about their own words in that document?
There is indeed proof of their motives out there, easily found. What I suggested was that the motives you have attributed to them are not in fact accurate. “They’ll kill us anyway” and your “reasons they hate us” have not been substantiated. What is your evidence that they hate us for who we are and they would kill us anyway? People like OBL have apparently made their gripes quite clear and specific. I have not heard any evidence to suggest any more than that.
Are you suggesting, Daniel, that there *is* something we can ‘do’ to get the terrorists off our backs? Namely, to comply with their demands? What demands do you suggest we comply with? Mass conversion to the most radical interpretation of Islam? Nuking Israel out of existence? Should we all chain up women and prevent them from going out of their houses? Raze all McDonald’s to the ground? Get rid of all democracies everywhere and allow clerics to rule us? Do you think that we should capitualate to the terrorists’ visions of the world and give in to their “demands”, in effect erradicating our entire way of life? Do you think that’s a good solution of how to deal with terrorism?
First off, I requested evidence for the demands or motives they have. They may have goals with which it would be impossible to comply, however, that does not mean they are hellbent on everything you have attributed to them. What evidence have you presented that they do want mass conversion etc? Only when one is honest about their demands can one determine how much merit they have, but we have not yet reached that point.