I just had to write a quick post. It seems that bombing crowded marketplaces is not enough. The Parliament was bombed, ten minutes after the members stopped for lunch, in the staff coffee shoppe. I feel that the elected government has enough problems right now, and are doing the best they can to kick the US out, restore order, safety to its citizens and to begin a peaceful process of law and order, without these zealots killing innocents. This is just so repulsive to me. One of two things will happen. Iraq will cower and fall apart, just when they were taking those small shaky steps at self government sans dictator, or they will have their resolve strengthened and will unite together to combat this evil and uncaring act. I wonder if Iran has anything to do with it. I also noticed that they are similar to the Parliament house we have here in Canberra. They also have the tomb of the unknown soldier, which is close by.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6548337.stm
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The other topic is the disappearance of BBC journalist, Alan Johnston. I will be brief. Alan was on the last week of his tour. It is like being a week away from retirement, and then being struck down. Johnston was surrounded by armed men and taken. Nobody has heard from him since then. There are protests by the Palestinian people as he was the only foreign correspondent in Gaza, and had been there for a couple of years. He is highly respected there and it was said he was the "only bridge to the world" community where the honest opinions of the common people were displayed. He worked hard and was apparently very upstanding and accurate in his reporting. I will not profess to know this as fact, because I don't know if I have ever even read any of his posts, but I gleaned this info from news radio on the way home from work this evening and from various reports I have read. Again, I find it tragic. This is another topic I touched on last year, in the fallout from "doctored" pictures published by mainstream media outlets. A prevailing thought from these violent groups are.....If you write something about me that I don't like, I will KILL you.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6546059.stm
I have taken a bit of a break from slurping up all the news I could find, but just felt compelled to write again on these topics. If you do read this please comment. <---- no u won't be shot.
thanks. chanks.
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15 comments:
It has been a month and no demands or ransoms.....do you think he is still alive? Maybe it was planned. Maybe he just wanted to disappear. Ya never know these days.
I'd like to know who witnessed Alan Johnston being kidnapped. There's nothing in the news report about that.
I'd be willing to bet that he has a good chance of getting himself out of this situation through negotiation with his captors. He can discern their motives through talking to them. He's got the experience to know what kind of plight his captors are faced with and show them some compassion. I hope I'm right, but if I'm not, I'm scared someone will use this kidnapping as a way of promoting hatred or armed conflict.
I agree with both of you unfortunately. Isn't it funny that we get so cynical...BUT... if this man has been abducted it sure would be nice if he could, as psam says, get through to them. However, I don't know that showing compassion would be what the captors want and I also as Psam if he could possibly realize that what happened is already an example of hatred and armed conflict. Should proponents of Alan Johnston just accept this kind of action and hope for the best? I haven't seen anything to suggest, and it has been month, any retaliation.
thanks for your thoughts.
Psam
do you really think these terrorists can be reasoned with?
Caboolture--your nemesis
Caboolture,
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. People become terrorists because they have seen people around them suffer and die. It's not surprising that America is the object of a lot of terrorists' animosity because America has perpetrated so many military and economic actions around the world that have resulted in death and destruction. Please don't think I'm trying to say that the nation of America is synonymous with evil, because there are hoardes of Americans who are truly good people.
I also most definitely do not believe that the actions of terrorists accomplish anything worthy of any praise whatsoever.
But what do you do when your life, and your world, seems hopeless?
The conditions of social circumstances around terrorists are not unlike the conditions in Germany after the first world war. The entire nation was in poverty, because the people that created the treaty of Versailles were vindictive and ruthless. When you put a nation of people into poverty, it is a natural consequence that there will be lots of animosity running through the minds of the people in that nation. Some of that animosity will come out of them against each other, and some of it will come out against other nations in the world. The Nazis were terrorists. The only way to prevent social circumstances that cause terrorism to become a current in the psyche of people in a nation is to prevent that nation from being plunged into poverty in the first place. Please read that last sentence again a few times until the scope and magnitude of its implications sinks in to your understanding. If you can tell me how to express such a complex thought in a simpler way, I welcome your assistance.
Once terrorism has poisoned the minds of people in a nation, I can assure you that invading that nation will exacerbate the potential for people in that nation to want to use terror to achieve their objectives. They are motivated by despair and hopelessness. They have watched their families and friends suffer and die. What else is left for them to do other than to try to lash out, violently assaulting whoever else they can find in the world that they can blame for what they've suffered through?
So let's get back to your question, caboolture. "Do you really think these terrorists can be reasoned with?"
First of all, it seems impossible to definitively answer that question yes or no unless you are Alan Johnston himself. He knows more about these particular "terrorists" than you or I. There are as many different social circumstances that create hatred and armed conflict as there are cultures in the world, so it's impossible to say what's going through their minds. One thing that I can tell you I believe for absolute sure is that no human being will become a terrorist unless they have watched people around them suffer and die and have become so angry about it that they feel a need to violently retaliate. I have no doubt that Alan Johnston is in great danger from these people, but I also believe that he is astute enough to know that their animosity is rooted in suffering. He may also be sharp enough to convince them that he is not the reason for their suffering.
I live in a nation that has armed itself with violent weapons of destruction. Try as I might, I cannot convince very many people in my nation that weapons of destruction do not accomplish anything good. I am just lucky that those weapons are not pointed at myself. When you look at the fact that I have such a difficult time convincing people in my own nation to stop reacting with violence to horrible situations, it seems quite likely that you may be right: perhaps there is no way for Johnston to reason with these people. We can't rightly know that unless we hear his words, and his description.
Now, caboolture, I have put a lot of time and effort into describing my perceptions so that we can communicate effectively. Perhaps you can spend some time enlightening me as to why you believe there is such a thing as a human being that cannot be reasoned with.
The only way to prevent social circumstances that cause terrorism to become a current in the psyche of people in a nation is to prevent that nation from being plunged into poverty in the first place. It seems to be a thought worth repeating a few times.
I hear he has been killed. Still no proof but scary all the same.
Ya Psam sounds like they are to be reasoned with. He's dead. Oh and in case you didn't notice. This has nothing to do with america
Caboolture
I am very sorry if Alan Johnston died caboolture. I'm sure that as much as we seem at odds with each other, we probably are both very upset about this occurrence.
I would assume that you believe I'm somehow partially responsible for this having happened, given the way you seem to think, so of course I'm doubly sorry.
As far as America goes, you started a conversation about terrorism. America has created a so-called "war on terror" which has created countless casualties since they started it, so when you ask a question regarding terrorism, it does indeed have something to do with America, so take your snarky comment and choke on it. You call yourself my nemesis, but you're such an idiot that it's not a very threatening gesture.
Why don't you actually come up with some commentary that has a little bit of thought behind it so the readers here can actually feel as if your presence is warranted.
Oviously you have problems. Sorry i do not see any mention to America in what I put here. Do YOU THINK I AMNOT WARRANTED TO BE HERE AND YOU ARE. I DON'T THINK ANY ONE READS YOUR DRIVEL ANYMORE!!!!
I think you are taking this to far Psam. Sorry if I offended
Caboolture
Obviously all of us have problems caboolture. That's why we're here. We are all upset by times we have to watch people in our world hurt each other. That is quite a problem. And none of us can get away from these problems unless we just ignore them. The fact still remains that we all know it happens, and we can either choose words so that we influence other people in the world to reduce the occurrence of these things happening, or we can start fights with each other.
Your ability at sarcasm is certainly appreciated. Your presence here is warranted if you address the issues being presented in such a way that you are influencing people to learn from them, and give them strength to become more capable of using their own influence to diffuse volatile or violent situations. My presence can be judged similarly. By calling each other names, we are doing one of two things. Either we are presenting comic relief for readers and enjoying a good sparring match, or we are both displaying that neither of us are presenting a beneficial presence here.
I am also sorry if I offended you. If we've really made each other angry, then clearly we've misunderstood each other, because we're obviously both intelligent people.
Perhaps if we call each other nemeses in the future, we'll both know we're joking and not get angry. If we have disagreements, we can insult and verbally abuse each other like civilized people, instead of firing bombs and guns at each other like Al Qaeda and the American administration, or Palestinians and Israelis.
Oh my goodness!!! Caboolture, leave my Psam, I am, alone.
I haven't been checking but boy am I glad i did today. I wouldn't say Psam or Cubalture are "intelligent."
No...but they sure are talkative.
Far better to participate in a discussion in an attempt to encourage ideas to be passed around instead of say nothing and then call people unintelligent who've actually taken the trouble to express a point of view.
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