2001.09.13
2001.09.12
it’s done. the world has changed. most of the rest of the world doesn’t know it yet, but it has changed. for americans in particular, *our* world has changed. we have been attacked at home. in modern times, this is unheard of. the american psyche has always felt invulnerable at home. now we are not. we are, like most people on the planet, a reactionary people, and we will react. and unlike many other people’s of the world, we have a blind optimism that once we set our minds to a task, it will get done. everytime we’ve set our minds on winning something, we’ve won. the lone exception that comes to mind is viet nam. we lost that because it was unpopular at home; we really didn’t want to be there. if we did, we would have won there, too.
i am sad to hear that there are already reprisal attacks against arabs around the country. it’s stupid. just because you are arabic doesn’t mean you even sympathise with the ideals of the potential attackers of NYC and DC. when the oklahoma building was blown up many thought it was the arabs. fingers were being pointed. then it turned out to be one of our own, a domestic terrorist.
did we point fingers and attack our own radical groups? no. we let the matter die. but i do hope that eventually we go after some of these domestic groups as the genuine danger they are. make no mistake, they are just as much the terrorist as any of these radical fundamentalists abroad.
meanwhile, i’m still stunned. i went to work today, and hardly did any work at all. i can’t concentrate on work. i still want to do something about all of this, but what?
it’s obvious to me that we are finally realizing that war has “evolved” to a new level. it has changed and the paradigm is new. we are familar enough with it to recognize it when we see it, but how prepared are we to defend against it? during the revolutionary war the british must have been stunned when some of us weren’t standing in lines and firing our guns in rounds. we were running around, hiding behind trees and other objects. the british probably didn’t know how to deal with it, much as we’re not entirely sure how to deal with this today.
but there has to be a way to fight this. fight fire with fire? do we find out who they are and just start killing them? do we find the symbols that are important to them and blow them up? it seems dishonorable to us. despicable. i’m sure the british during the revolution thought we were cowards, but we won. if we can adapt their methods, we should be able to win, too.
but what are thier methods? what are the parameters of this new form of warfare? should we support the formation of cells in other countries that will strike out against targets that we cannot openly attack?
i’ve been watching BBC America. they are getting footage that i haven’t seen here in the states. unbelievable. what i do appreciate is that they have actual footage of the rescue workers digging, burning the girders with blowtorches, and searching for anyone. thank you BBC.
i wish i had someone to hold during this.
Categorized: thoughts
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