Another response to Terrorism:  "Good" vs. "Evil":

Rob's reply
>> Adults say many things to you but you really don't understand what happened to your daddy. You want to understand, but you can't. <<

So a four-year-old wants to understand why the attacks on America happened while an adult writer doesn't. That would explain why children ask questions like "Why" while adults simply react like knee-jerks.

>> Those children can't possibly understand the evil that altered their lives forever. <<

And yet they, unlike O'Reilly, try.

>> All Americans should want the evil stamped out forever. But we all don't. Some of us want to UNDERSTAND the terrorists who attacked us. <<

This is a sad, stupid misconception among warmongers. Understanding the terrorists—the reason for the attacks—doesn't mean giving them a free pass. We can root them out while we try to understand them. Since we can't eliminate terrorism worldwide anymore than we can eliminate evil or crime or poverty, understanding and addressing the problem is the only way to prevent future attacks.

>> But like the 4-year-old girl, I don't understand the point. <<

She has an excuse for not understanding: she's too young. O'Reilly's excuse appears to be his profound ignorance.

>> Who cares why the terrorists did what they did? Who cares why some people hate America? <<

Only those who want to eliminate the problem in the future. People who prefer to suffer hate-inspired attacks can continue not to care.

>> It is simply not important to explore the motives of brutal killers unless you're doing a psychology thesis or something similar. <<

The best diplomats are often the best psychologists. The best soldiers, too.

>> Should I try to understand why Jeffrey Dahmer slaughtered people? Why Hitler hated the Jews? Why Mao murdered millions in China? <<

Yes. Yes. Yes. As part of Dahmer's trial and sentencing and imprisonment, psychologists probably have tried to understand him many times. It's called the American justice system, as a four-year-old might be able to explain to O'Reilly.

We also should try to understand why the Founding Fathers countenanced slavery, why Andrew Jackson and others committed genocide against Indians, and why Lyndon B. Johnson fabricated the Gulf of Tonkin incident to ensnare us in Vietnam. All these and many other historical realities deserve our understanding.

>> Am I supposed to waste my time trying to ascertain the motives of monsters? That would be a colossal mistake. <<

Why, because you have something better to do with your time? Invent more lies about how your TV show is unbiased and spin-free, perhaps? Whatever it is, go ahead and do it. Stop wasting your time writing stupid columns that are easily refuted.

Did Patton try to understand Germans?
>> Do you think General George Patton tried to understand the Germans he captured? No, he killed or imprisoned them without a second thought. <<

That may explain why he fell out of favor with the Allied command.

>> The general could not have cared less that Germany got hosed in the peace agreement after World War I. <<

That's why the general was a general and not a world leader, statesman, or diplomat. Warmongers like Patton and MacArthur were pushed aside as irrelevant while leaders like Eisenhower became president.

>> America must now reject and scorn the voices of the appeasers and excusers. We owe the terrorists nothing but death and destruction. <<

Again, understanding the root causes of terrorism and rooting out the terrorists aren't mutually exclusive. The stupidity of people who think otherwise is palpable.

>> They have forfeited any kind of due process or consideration by attacking innocent civilians in order to please their god, who approves of mass murder. <<

I thought there was only one god. This could be a significant theological breakthrough.

Oh, wait...I get it. Their god is also our god. Our god approved of the mass murder of Native Americans, of Jews, of Iraqis. So there's only one god after all, and he approves of mass murder.

>> Now our government must act aggressively to punish those who attacked us and discourage the maniacs who would do it again. <<

Punish yes, kill no. Justice yes, revenge no.

>> Understanding the terrorists is only necessary in order to catch them. <<

No, it's also necessary to address the conditions that created the terrorists. Otherwise, the same conditions will create more terrorists with the same hatred: of globalization, imperialism, and America.

>> You can't persuade evil. You can't reason with fanatics. <<

That's generally true. Indians and Jews both tried to reason with the Euro-Christians who were murdering them. Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and so they died.

>> I get frustrated with Americans who see the world through their own selfish prism. <<

I can see why O'Reilly would be frustrated with his own limitations. I find his limitations frustrating also.

How to prevent the Holocaust
>> The Holocaust would not have happened if the nations of Europe had recognized the evil dripping from Hitler's every pore. <<

It also wouldn't have happened if American presidents and the Vatican hadn't turned a blind eye to it. And it wouldn't have happened if the allies hadn't imposed onerous conditions on Germany after World War I, creating the conditions that led to Hitler's extraordinary rise.

Luckily, while Patton was killing Germans, leaders like Truman and Marshall conceived a plan to save Germans. It was called the Marshall Plan, perhaps the greatest government program and the greatest antidote to war ever. Anyone want to guess how Patton...or MacArthur...or Bush...or O'Reilly would've voted on it?

>> But they wanted to UNDERSTAND the Third Reich, to negotiate with it in the hope of attaining peace. It is no different today. <<

Warmongers like O'Reilly are certainly no different. They're no different than cave men who hit each other over the head with clubs 50,000 years ago. But today's peacemongers are quite different. We advocate forceful action...just not violent forceful action...unless it's absolutely necessary...which it isn't in this case.

>> There is an incredible evil in this world and it is not capitalism or a foreign policy that tilts toward Israel or a failure to recognize global warming. <<

Anybody want to bet this doofus wasn't crying about terrorism before 9/11? The amount of worldwide evil hasn't changed since the terrorist attacks. Only O'Reilly's blindness has changed. The attacks suddenly opened his eyes to the grave problems around the globe, and now he's doing his best to deny them. In other words, the truth is too scary for this fellow, who prefers his eyes wide shut.

>> No this evil kills women and children in the name of God and rejects all humane behavior. <<

Are we still talking about the Islamic terrorist evil, or the US bombing evil? After all, US bombs and sanctions have killed many, many more women and children in Iraq than the terrorists did in America. Or are some dead women and children important but not others?

>> This evil is easily understood if one looks at the face of the 4-year-old girl waiting for her father to finally come home. And that's the kind of understanding America needs right now. <<

Yep. As noted earlier, even a four-year-old asks better questions than this ignoramus. If four-year-olds made policy decisions rather than some adults, the world might be a better place.

Seriously, let's ask the four-year-old if we should drop bombs that will blow up the bad guys and innocent women and children as well. Or if we should surround the bad guys and force them to give up like the police do on TV. I'll abide by her decision if you will. Any takers?

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