At 3/1/08 11:37 AM, morefngdbs wrote:
But I find comparing the 9/11 attack with the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki to be similar to comparing grapes with coconuts...
Dissimilar as they are, the sobering comparison was the whole point of the discussion via OP's LINK.
That point was raised in an effort to explain to a new "political generation" of 13 to 18 y/o's (arcansi stepping in as classic case ;-) ..that War is Hell, ..War has Targets, ..Targeting Civilans isn't the exclusive providence of Terrorists, and ..America pretty much set the standard for using Terror Weapons (WMD) to achive Victory.
Historical thou it is, it's relevant enough and recent enough to put some perspective into the whole "outrage and hate" felt by these young Patriots who think of 9-11 as the only crime against civilians in their short existence.
..by dropping nuclear bombs [on Japanese cities], the U.S. actually saved lives.
..or by dropping 1 nuke within sight of Tokyo (out to sea) with 1 days warning for reporters and cameras to witness it, could have saved even more.
9/11 was a terror attack.
but they chose to attack [WTC] a symbol of American Pride.
Symbol of Pride in American eyes, or a Symbol of Domination in the eyes of those who did it? That's the question.
Iraqi's used to feel great Pride, even under Saddam. For all the bad he did, he stood up to America's rhetoric by voicing Iraq's opinion on the world stage, he built Palaces of great elegance and displayed them on TV, he oversaw Iraq raise it's standard of living to one of the highest in the middle east, and on the whole he put down dissent and stopped rival factions slaughtering each other (albeit, by torture and fear of death). Sure, he had the occasional war against it's his neighbours (Iran, Kuwait), but heck, even America fully supported one of those.
Pride (ofcourse combined with propaganda) is a powerful tool for good OR bad. For every country it raises up the spirits of it's own people, it tears another apart.
Judging by subsequent events (the provocation of 2 as yet unfinished Wars.. a growing sense of chaos in middle east) ..then as you say, Pride could well have been the target.
The question remains; how should you then respond when someone attacks (mainly) your Pride, if only in order to provoke an overzealous or misguided retaliation?
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