Sunday, 8 September 2002

Sept 11: I had nothing to say until Dave did what he does best..... In an article from the UK's BBC, the former US head of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, Scott Ritter, has said that he does not believe IRAQ is sponsoring the type of terrorism that was responsible for the attacks of September 11 2001. What consitutes proof? Does anyone care? Do UN resolutions and global law only apply in times of 'peace' Dave Winer, in a recent , DaveNet has said what I thought not many Americans, could, or would say.. 9-11 was, imho, a small upheaval in getting to some kind of equilibrium in how the US participates in the world, both from the US perspective, and the world's perspective. That we got so much sympathy says how big the human heart is. That there wasn't more celebrating in the streets of world capitals says that they forgive us for our selfish attitude, which is back in force as if 9-11 never happened. So what were the lessons of 9-11 that the US has failed to learn? I think it's that God doesn't think we're as important as we do. The concept of national security is obsolete. We can't close our borders. We live on this planet with everyone else. Global warming, AIDs, terrorism, all penetrate all borders. New York is a world city. The last gasps of isolationism will be snuffed out by more humiliation, until we get the truth, we aren't above the rest of the world, but we /are/ part of it. Dave Winer Dave, you got it so right.... I am not suggesting that what happened across the US on September 11th 2001 was 'excusable', nor that the sponsors of such terror should not be held to account. I am suggesting though, that nothing happens in the geo-political sphere bi-laterally. The "with us or against us" mentality is so profoundly a week response. There are a *multitude* of current and historical reasons that have led to such a possibility as the events of September 11 2001. All developed/developing/Western/Northern [whatever-you-want-to-call-them] nation-states must look very seriously at years of foreign policy that often [but not always] produce the pre-conditions of oppression and the subsequent violent and irrational responses of those suffering. The life-boat analogy works pretty well here.. We are all in the boat, the stern is sinking and the folks at the bow think they are OK??? 9:55:17 PM

This is a live test of the mail-to-log feature for distributed/remote publishing to my log. Hmmm... I wonder.... 9:00:35 PM