xmca@weber.ucsd.edu writes:
>Many Israelis do not like American interventions. They say Americans come
>with their naive beliefs about how the things are. I don't want an
>indiscriminant bombing of Afghanistan. Plus, I don't think Bush is capable
>of any reasonable solution. Should we take a vote for the place for the
>first nuclear terrorist attack? Which coast, any suggestions? (see above
>the plane dilemma).
whew. !!
as you know, of course, the Israeli - Palestine relation is pretty
specific, historically, when the US agreed to recognize Israel as a state,
which effectively chooses sides,
and paternalizes Israel at the same time.
the press conferences i have seen are fairly consistent with the message
that there is no "enemy" to attack, but
a global situation that needs to be addressed. No single nation controls
any central terrorist organization, but what is at stake is the support
that terrorists receive in arms, funding, papers, travel, training, and so
on (e.g., i can' condone what you are doing, but here's $100,000...")
what i understand is that there is no plan for any "bombing" but an effort
to arrest those who support terrorist activity, and that involves
a vast number of countries worldwide, not just Afghanistan or the middle
east.
as for Bush, i doubt anyone believes he is making decisions, but is
instead saying what he is advised to say,
and decisions are being made in intelligence, security, military, and
other agencies, as well as NATO,
and in the intelligence communities around the world.
arrests are already being made, in Europe, and while the popular rhetoric
may be about "bombing" whomever, i've heard nothing to indicate such a
thing is even remotely connected to the agenda being pursued - which is
about ending civilian casualties, and addressing the wider issue of global
terrorism.
furthermore, in response to Eugene's quest for a definition of terrorism,
my understanding is that names and actions are relied on for assessing who
is involved, not a categorical fit - if so-and-so is known to have trained
in an Iranian terrorist camp, then he/she has learned guerilla warfare,
illegally, and is considered a potential threat. if so-and-so is
associated with an organization that has purchased weapons illegally, he
or she is considered a potential threat.
this past summer i read the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
publications (Cdn spies) - many documents are about global terrorism,
organized crime on a global scale, and the difficulties that these kinds
of crimes present to law and intelligence organizations around the world.
Ironically, the Russian mafia is renowned for providing weapons to
terrorist cells, organizations, and causes - rendering Puskin's
endorsement of global action against terrorism as valuable as the
widespread denials of any involvement from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and
Palestine, Libya, Syria, and so on.
having an official position on terrorism is convenient, but does not
address the presence of guerilla training camps, the possession of
biotechnical weapons and nuclear bombs, all obtained through organizations
such as the russian mafia and
the Indonesian guerrilla organizations that currently command much of
Indonesia's rural and poverty classes.
>
>Honestly, I don't have a solution. But all this is a reminder for me that
>the world I lived in is a dream world, and I perceive the xmca discussion
>as an attempt to come back to the dream world.
>
>Sorry
thanks for the laugh! academics? with solutions? please. now that's a
dream! :)
in the world of publications that exist outside the academic realm,
there is much to be learned about foreign policy and global activity.
indeed, the journal, Foreign Policy, is highly informed with real-world
issues,
and most governments publish screeds of documents that are, surprisingly,
not all propaganda.
diane
************************************************************************************
"Waves of hands, hesitations at street corners, someone dropping a
cigarette in a gutter - all are stories. But which is the true story? That
I do not know. Hence I keep my phrases hung like clothes in a cupboard,
waiting for someone to wear them. Thus waiting, thus speculating, making
this note and then another, I do not cling to life."
Virginia Woolf, The Waves, 1931.
(...life clings to me...)
*************************************************************************************
diane celia hodges
university of british columbia, centre for the study of curriculum and
instruction
vancouver, bc
mailing address: 46 broadview avenue, montreal, qc, H9R 3Z2
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