Terror in the US & world at large (WAS: Re: [ RadSafe ] New Airport X-Rays Scan)

[Steven Dapra]

March 4

         May I recommend "Dying to Win The Strategic Logic of Suicide 
Terrorism," by Robert A. Pape (Random House, 2005).

         According to the dust jacket, "Every suicide terrorist campaign 
has had a clear goal that is secular and political: to compel a modern 
democracy to withdraw military forces from the territory that the 
terrorists view as their homeland."

         Pape makes a strong case for this being true, (and not only among 
Islamic terrorists).  On p. 243 he notes the increasing Muslim dislike of 
the United States, and on p. 244 says, "The underlying reason is not 
discontent with Western political or economic values, which are supported 
by majorities or near majorities in these [three] countries.  Rather, the 
taproot is American military policy.  Overwhelming majorities across a 
range of Muslim countries believe that the United States conquered Iraq to 
control its oil or to help Israel rather than to end terrorism or promote 
democracy, and fear that their country might be next."  Pape provides 
survey data to support these assertions.

         See also p. 316, fn. 4 for a book Pape recommends that gives an 
"extensive evaluation of the growing resentment of American policies in 
numerous areas around the world."  (I have only read Pape, not the book he 
recommends.)

         The solution is not more people snooping through travelers' 
luggage, not more Homeland "Security"/TSA goon squads, and not more x-ray 
scanners operated by higher-paid inspectors.  It is to quit sticking our 
national nose into everyone else's business.  Don't we have enough problems 
at home to keep us busy?

         Please read Pape's book before you start flaming me.  Thank 
you.  If you don't have time to read it, please read five or more of the 38 
reviews on Amazon.com, where it received 4 1/2 stars.

Steven Dapra
sjd at swcp.com


At 11:09 PM 3/3/07 -0500, LNMolino at aol.com wrote:
>
>In a message dated 3/3/2007 8:40:32 P.M. Central Standard Time,
>crispy_bird at yahoo.com writes:
>
>In time,  this terrorism with pass,
>
>Please tell me you're not serious? "this terrorism" will likely be  with us
>for millenniums as it has in other parts of the world. We are in a 
>world  where
>one can get from any point on the planet to another point in mere hours if
>not days. The spread of the threat is very real and will not just be gone and
>it  IS a RAD issue as some would seek to take the power of the atom to do 
>evil
>deeds  with and they would not hesitates in dying to do so hence WE should be
>concerned  about it.
>
>Louis N.  Molino, Sr., CET