Friday, May 22, 2009
Would-be terrorists
The New York Times reveals some of the nonsense surrounding the arrests of a would-be terrorist gang in New York. Eric Snyder, an assistant United States attorney, says "It's hard to envision a more chilling plot." Really, Mr. Snyder? Does "9-11" ring a bell? I'm perfectly willing to admit these men would have liked to pull off a rather nasty piece of business, but "hard to envision a more chilling plot"? You must not be paying attention (or watch much TV).
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg goes him one better: "Sadly, this is just a reminder that peace is fragile and democracy is fragile and we have to be vigilant all the time." Again, this would certainly have been a memorable and nasty incident had anything happened. But it would have had zero effect on the "peace" in this country, and the only way it would have affected the "democracy" (such as it is) in this country would be if Obama or others used it as an excuse to further curtail constitutional rights, as Bush & Co. did with 9/11.
If you want to look for a country where "peace" was fragile, you might try Afghanistan or Iraq, where massive acts of U.S. terrorism have caused the deaths of more than a million people, and where (particularly referring to Iraq), thousands of car bombs have been exploded since those invasions, as opposed to the one which didn't explode in New York. Afghanistan hasn't known peace since 2001, and Iraq since 2003. If only Mayor Bloomberg and the rest of the American ruling class was more sensitive to their need for "peace."
