From: Daniel J Julius <danjjulius@gmail.com>
To: 'Dr. Jim Castagnera' <castagnerac@aol.com>; clairecastagnera <clairecastagnera@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sun, Aug 18, 2013 7:45 am
Subject: RE: Time to Turn Away from the War on Terror
I unusually agree with the Castagnera point of view but not here. We are by no means out of the woods where it comes to terrorism in my estimation, in fact it is only a matter of time before a true believer loads a bomb on a ship or plane and sends it to NYC. I would argue that it is only because of the vigilance and work of law enforcement, other agencies and individuals who are fighting a real war, that we have been as safe as we have been. I have traveled to Saudi Arabia, Oman, (the boarder of Yemen), the Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, southeast Asia and other areas where terrorism festers. The people who perpetrate these acts are at war with our way of life, they are supported by religious networks and organized crime, they believe they go to heaven for engaging in these crimes, and as the recent bombings in Boston highlight, we are held to be responsible for the policies of other nations as well as our western ways. The terrorists who flew the planes into the World Trade Towers, where some of my friends were killed, were not backpacking Palestinians, they were middle class brainwashed Saudi’s, some on student visa’s. We simply do not know when “they” will be moved to take a terrorist act.
I think saying, as you have here, that the legal response was a “tad harsh” misses a very important point, and while I agree you cannot have both individual rights and protect yourself against terrorism, (one “right” does get sacrificed) for me the choice is clear, and I am not so worried about the legal rights of terrorists/criminals or those who make movies celebrating Islamic extremism. (Do you fully understand the symbolism and meaning what the boys in the movie shooting guns are saying?)
I would also suggest that if I thought there were a way to negotiate I would try that too, I am not in favor of internment as we did to the Japanese in WWII, but we are, in my opinion, involved in a religious war and history has some very important lessons here.
Let’s stop worrying about stepping on the legal rights of criminals and terrorists and spend a bit more time on those of would be victims.
(Posted with Dan's kind permission.)
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