michaelab said:
Steve and Will, I'm sorry you don't agree with me. If you want to label me a left-wing liberalist then feel free, I am one and proud of it.
I'm *not* sorry I disagree with you Michael
, indeed I feel its good that we don't all follow one way of thinking - if we did things would IMHO be worse, neither the left nor right has all the answers, particularly with regards to terrorism. As for labelling you, well you kind of labelled yourself there didn't you, with no help from me
michaelab said:
In case anyone got the impression that I was condoning terrorist action in my previous post then you misunderstood. As a pacifist I wouldn't ever condone violence, and I don't think any sane human being would suggest that what happened in Beslan was legitimate action. However, I do understand why they (terrorists in general) are doing it and that's a completely different thing.
We're not poles apart here I feel, I also understand why the Chechens want independence and feel so strongly about it, but it still in no way at all justifies what they did - it seems you think that that as well, but that didn't come across so well from your initial post.
michaelab said:
Another thing which is undisputable is that terrorism arises from bad politics. It's an effect, not a cause. Unless people understand the cause and rectify it then terrorism will always be around.
Michael.
I feel the causes are much more complex than just
our flawed foreign policies, its also down to the governments of the Middle East (the oil wealth has hardly filtered down much has it, leaving most people in the Middle East in poverty, with little or no education), then we have the misuse and abuse of religion to pursue purely political goals (religious zealotry is far more powerful than purely political zeal IMHO).
If someone can be truly convinced that they'll go to heaven for a life of paradise for all eternity if they blow themselves and a few infidels up, then thats so much more powerful and motivating than just 'it serves our cause for independence'. Orders from God are more important than orders from any man to a religious person. The problems we face with terrorism are exacerbated by the ability of people to convince others that their will is also the will of God, and I'm not exactly sure what we in the west can do to influence the mad mullahs and sheikhs away from doing this, and the Middle Eastern governments seem more concerned with their own wealth than spending money to educate their people to see through the hatred of some of their own religious leaders
Terrorism is a 2 way street, we can do things in terms of our foreign policy to help reduce popular support for the terrorist cause (and that doesn't have to be 'give them what they want', we can do things to help without giving in), but I feel as long as their is religion and people trying to use it for their own gains, there will be a minority of militants always trying to cause trouble.
The key is doing things so that this hardcore minority has little or no popular support - thats where our foreign policy can act as an influence, but changing our foreign policy won't make Islamic terrorism just go away overnight. The religion itself will have to moderate itself rather more first IMHO
though I can appreciate some people don't see a moral difference between those civilians killed deliberately by Al Qaeda, or those killed unintentionally whilst our forces try to hit a military target. Personally I differentiate (its like the difference between involuntary manslaughter and murder IMHO), but I suppose they're just as dead afterwards 
the ruskies are going to take pre-emptive strikes against terrorism anywhere in the world 
