Re: virus: "We will fight to defend the honor of our rocks!"
Eric Boyd (6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca)
Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:06:42 -0500
Hi,
Sodom <sodom@ma.ultranet.com> writes:
<<
We know and knew Iraqs goals at the time. Their goals included gassing
and killing civilians. How could we have been more open? What could we
have done to help them while keeping them from killing the innocent?
>>
There *goals* do not include gassing civilians -- those are their
methods. What do they hope to accomplish by doing that? How can we
help them achieve that goal in a way which does not offend us (or the
people in Iraq)?
<<
Standing idly by while others are systematically slaughtered is the
same as committing the crime ourselves. In Rawanda we watched, In
Bosnia we watched. No more watching - time to take offensive against
gross violators of human rights.
>>
Doing nothing is certainly wrong; but I cannot see how we come out on
top by lowering ourselves to their level. No matter how accurate our
missiles and bombs are, we will kill innocents in an open force
air-attack. If we are "pro-rights", we cannot win by violating them.
Perhaps teams of very well equiped ground units could accomplish what
the B-2 stealth bomber cannot. Another idea would be to send a
massive education / propaganda team to the aggressor -- let's saturate
them in our memes!
<<
I think you are overestimating the "grasp" of very young children or
very dogmatic people. I dont think young children in general
understand the concepts of death and suffering, and I dont think
telling them will help. They do understand pain though - and pain is
not necessarily a bad thing -although it can be used that way.
>>
Well, sometimes it is necessary to restrain and tell later. My point
was that (1) if the child has enough "grasp" to understand that the
pain was inflicted to keep it from a certain activity, it should also
have enough grasp to understand less violent information.
ERiC