[lit-ideas] Re: Ground Zero Mosque's Saudi Patron

  • From: Mike Geary <jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 08:54:25 -0500

Make that "good posts".

Mike Geary



On Sun, Aug 29, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Mike Geary
<jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Good post, Phil.  I wish I could be so logical.
>
> Mike Geary
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I had written:
>>
>> "Groups like al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood are dangerous, and
>> people who support these groups must be challenged.  However, these
>> groups are not existential threats to countries like the U.S. or even
>> Israel."
>>
>>
>> to which Eric replied:
>>
>> "Scenario: al-Qaeda style attack. Five small nuclear weapons detonated
>> simultaneously in five major US cities. Decapitation of government.
>> Assistant Secretary of Agriculture put in charge. He orders
>> retaliatory nuclear strikes against Mecca, Tehran, Damascus,
>> Pyongyang, and in his madness, Islamabad.
>>
>> China reacts by launching first strike of one hundred nukes at US. US
>> reacts by sending 500 nukes at China. Russia reacts, and either in
>> preemption or response, the US sends 700 nukes at Russia as it sends
>> 100 nukes at what's left of the US. India sees a chance to attack
>> what's left of Pakistan but not before Pakistan lobs a few nukes at
>> India.
>>
>> The rest is described in _The Road_."
>>
>>
>>
>> If we follow Eric's scenario, the existential threat is not an al
>> Qaeda style attack, which may have devastating effects but would not
>> mean the end of the U.S.  Rather, the existential threat would lie in
>> how the U.S. responds to such an attack and the blowback that would
>> necessarily follow.  This is similar to what happened on 9/11.  The
>> attacks on New York City and the Pentagon were not even remotely a
>> threat to the country and its existence.  However, the U.S. response
>> has proved far more costly, in terms of human beings and resources,
>> and more devastating to the politics of the U.S.
>>
>> Al Qaeda and similar groups are very dangerous, but the threat they
>> pose to countries like the U.S. is quite limited.  And, to quote from
>> a movie, 'Every search for a hero must begin with something which
>> every hero requires, a villain.'  For those who need a villain, and
>> such a need is not limited to individuals of a particular political
>> stripe, these groups are not sufficient.  But Islam could easily be
>> portrayed as a monster worthy of Bellerophon.
>>
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Phil Enns
>> Indonesia
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>
>

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