September 6, 2004
Into The Abyss
Lileks and Steyn cover the madness in Beslan better than I can.
Lileks handles the media reaction to the horror:
Cicadas, airplanes, wind in the trees. A peaceful weekend. At least here. There’s a bloody child on the front page of the newspaper. The Strib subhead calls them “Islamic guerrillas” and “fighters” and “militants,” because you know one man’s terrorist is another man’s disciple of God who practices his sharpshooting so he can nail children in the back at 50 paces. This teaser to an inside story made my jaw bruise my sternum: “This week’s bloodbath in Russia shattered the notion that innocents are taboo terror victims.” This is why I despair sometimes. Now we learn that innocents are no longer taboo terror victims.
Steyn covers why sadness isn't enough:
Sorry, it won't do. I remember a couple of days after September 11 writing in some column or other that weepy candlelight vigils were a cop-out: the issue wasn't whether you were sad about the dead people but whether you wanted to do something about it. Three years on, that's still the difference. We can all get upset about dead children, but unless you're giving honest thought to what was responsible for the slaughter your tasteful elegies are no use. Nor are the hyper-rationalist theories about "asymmetrical warfare".
Good stuff about bad stuff.
Posted by Kevin Murphy at September 6, 2004 6:29 PM | War On TerrorI have read that America garnered a lot of worldwide sympathy after the September 11 attacks, and I believe it. Some people say this sympathy and goodwill has been squandered unnecessarily in the years since 2001, by our actions taken in the War on Terrorism and Iraq.
Unfortunately, by my recollection that sympathy never translated into support for doing anything about the problem! Other countries opposed our going into Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban government. Saudi Arabia long resisted cracking down on the terrorists in their own midst. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair went against his own people's popular opinion to support us, and continues to pay the price.
In effect, they said: "We'll wring our hands alongside you, but we'll wash our hands of any attempt to take action."
Sympathy is great. But it can't stop there.
