Re: Thought for the Day

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: Not strictly true Sarah, most of us city dwellers understand terrorism all too well.  If the IRA do not want to kill people, why have they bombed shopping malls in broad daylight, when the vast majority of people would be women and children, or office blocks on a work day, or pubs during the busiest time of day?  Why would nail bombs, truly a hideous weapon, have been used in the middle of a national park on a parade day?  True, there have been bombs go off at night, on structures, and there are coded warnings (which are for the most part, not a prevention but a way of claiming responsibility) - my own life would once have been in danger had it not been for a coded warning (a story for another time perhaps), but terrorism is terrorism, no matter what the country or circumstances.

: I remember all too well, when the IRA was at its busiest, what it was like going into the centre of town, where the risk of an incident was so much greater.  I can remember my mother saying, if we alter our way of life, then they have won, and so we continued as normal....with extra vigilance.

: Just because the terrorism we are more familiar with in this country is not committed by suicidal fanatics, does not make it any less heinous.  And as for the suicide itself, it is easy to understand....these people believe 100% that what they do, they do for God, it is ingrained from an early age....just as you would lay down your life for your loved one, they will lay down their life for what they believe to be the greater good.  It is that simple.  Those terrorists never saw innocent human beings being killed, they saw the embodiment of evil being eradicated.  To them, it was a noble act of heroism.

: The difference between what has happened in NY and any other act of terrorism in recent years....is the scale, and that is all.

: Sorry for getting up on my soapbox....its just a very touchy subject for anyone who has close contact with the effects of terrorism, I suppose.

: Adele



: : Hi Adele,
: : Thank you for that -- a fine choice.  

: : I've had a couple of calls from friends in England, and my parents have heard from the rellies there, and they even heard from the owners of a B&B in Warwickshire that we stayed at this summer.  My former boss in London was home sick yesterday and she was glued to the TV. She said everyong there is shell-shocked.  The difference between the terrorism they (and you) know is first that the IRA don't really want to kill masses of people, so their bombs go off on Sundays or late and night.  And second, and more importantly, that the IRA don't really want to die, so they plant bombs and walk away. She said the English are having a hard time understanding terrorist -- that many of them! -- who would hate so much that they would all throw away their lives and leave families behind -- to die and take as many innocents with them as possible. 

: :  Could this have happened 250 years ago in the time period we all study so much or is this a new phenomenon??

: : LHK,
: : Sarah M.

: 
: : : When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.

: : : 
: : : ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~


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