September 17, 2001
Andrew Sandlin explains why "Justice in the defense of liberty is a beautiful thing." [WorldNetDaily]
Former Greenpeace-er Bjorn Lomborg talks about the case for environmental skepticism. You can read more of Lomborg's arguments in his book The Skeptical Environmentalist. [TheEconomist.com]
Julian Simon's classic book The Ultimate Resource II [Amazon customer reviews] is available in its entirety online. Sample chapter titles: What are the limits on food production?, When will we run out of oil? Never!, and Coercive recycling, forced conservation, and free-market alternatives. [The Ultimate Resource II] [100+ articles by Simon]
September 14, 2001
"Persistent invocation of a few widely accepted ideas is a powerful rhetorical tool, especially in a political system dominated by television. But thinking in sound bites does not lead to sensible policy choices, not matter what principles you espouse." -- Christopher Jencks, in his book Rethinking Social Policy.
Columnist Myles Kantor goes after some so-called "libertarian" leaders for their revoltingly politicized response to the WTC attack. [Horowitz's FrontPage site]
Retaliation is not about revenge, it's about responsibility. Hopefully we can learn from our foreign policy mistakes, but we cannot escape them merely through condemnation at this late date, and "I told you so" responses to this situation are philosophically bankrupt. Radical non-intervensionism is not an option.
Yes, American foreign policy has been atrocious, practically a set-up for hostilities; for that matter, so was the Versailles peace treaty in 1919. The West almost certainly created the socioeconomic environment in post-war Germany that allowed Hitler to rise to power. America made many terrible mistakes in the 20th century. But by the logic of these fools it was morally irresponsible for us to deal with Hitler, the monster of our own creation!
September 13, 2001
Message to conservatives: if you want your words to be heard, don't speak them as foolishly as columnist Ann Coulter did today: We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war.
Why do people on "progressive" sites on the web, and in the news, keep going on about how if we kill families in Kabul, we will be just as barbaric as the men who killed 5,000 people on the 11th? Nobody reasonable, nobody worth listening to, is saying that we should kill innocent men, women and children merely because they are Islamic, or because they live in Kabul. If we seek military resolution in Afghanistan, we will move against military targets, not against civilian targets. Civilians may die, but only through the imprudence (read evil) of their governments. We will not be seeking their blood, and their blood will not be on our hands.
Additionally... We are NOT seeking vengeance too quickly, without thought and deliberation. If we were going to seek brash vengeance without regard to the culpability of the people on whom we are visiting our revenge then we would have done it on Tuesday, or yesterday, not today, not tomorrow. What: are we supposed to count to ten, or wait two weeks, before making our move, merely to assure the world that we are not killing in a self-righteous nationalistic fury?
Update: I've thought about this some more, and I must admit that I'm actually conflicted on the point I made above. Our record in Serbia, where we bombed a Chinese embassy "by accident" and destroyed a hospital and other civilian targets, is admittedly not encouraging. Prudence on the part of the US is in order. Hopefully we can move beyond the incompetence of Madeleine Albright and prove our collective right to be called Western, to claim civilization, in whatever form our retaliation takes. We can't lose sight of what makes US different from the people who did this.
Why terrorism is not a criminal justice issue. [The New Republic on the failure of Clinton-era "anti-terrorism" policies]
Don't forget that the Bill of Rights is an American institution for American citizens. Due process is forfeitable: these terrorists just forfeited it. So yes, the proper response to violence is violence (against the guilty!), just as the proper response to war is war. Peace has to be made. It can't merely be wished into being. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
September 12, 2001
WTC Tragedy -- Links
Donate money to the Red Cross. [Amazon.com Honor System]
Wonderful shot of a candlelight vigil in Nevada. [Must-see Reuters photo]
"No shelter for terrorism must be allowed to remain, no quarter can be given, or the plague will resume with even greater fury. Only such a total global effort will keep the modern barbarians away from the gates of civilization, and prevent another global eclipse of civilization." [Jerusalem Post]
Osama Bin Laden originally received training from the CIA during the Soviet/Afghan war! [Who is Osama Bin Laden?]
Other attacks blamed on Bin Laden. [AP]
Valuable graphic timeline of NY attack. [Reuters]
Flashback: the Record of Hackensack, NJ reported that "correspondent Michael Moore easily entered baggage areas (of the Newark International Airport), observed contract security guards sleeping on post, and, at one point, accessed the ramp, or tarmac, area of the airport leaning his foot on one wheel of a parked plane. At no time was he stopped or challenged. [Emergency.com, from a 9/96 story]
Insurance in NY state doesn't cover "acts of war"? [MeFi thread: will all "insurance" come from the public purse?]
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