We Will Survive -- If We Stop the Hate -- MIDRANGE-NONTECH

Folks,

I have called many Arabs friends over the years.  Practically wanting me to
take the equivalent of a "Klingon Blood Oath" not to tell their families back
home that they were drinking, or holding my hand while walking during
business negotiations, was the closest they came to harming me or any other
US citizen.  Discrimination against them is both unwarranted and
unacceptable, attacks against them even more so.  Before someone makes an
untoward assumption, Asmussen is _DANISH_ and we've been here for well over a
century, OK?

For those too young to remember, similar feelings toward Arabs surfaced
during the Iranian hostage crisis.  I was in college, and Arabs attending
took to wearing sweatshirts with "Saudi Arabia", "Kuwait", "Egypt",
"Palestine" (probably not a good one today), and the like daily to
distinguish themselves from Iranians.  We had a thirty foot embankment near
the center of campus on which someone spelled out "Bomb Iran" in pine cones.
Needless to say, some "good ole' boys" eventually decided that the one
identifiable "Eye-rainee-un" on campus needed to be "taught a lesson".
Little did they know that he "assisted" with our Karate classes, despite the
fact that he was three degrees above our instructor in black belt.  He
probably wouldn't have hurt them as badly had he not been under constant
harrassment for the entire term, not heard from his parents since the
extremists took over the country, or known that it was well known in his home
town that his parents had sent him to the US for an education.  Not a single
person who witnessed the attack would testify against him -- not out of fear,
but out of disgust over what those racists attempted to accomplish.  I wish I
knew what happened to he and his family.

World War III?  Not with China and Russia behind us (although supporting us
against Afghanistan was _NOT_ surprising given that Afghanistan was Russia's
Viet Nam).  The US is certainly not going to deploy troops throught Europe,
Africa, and Asia.  Heck, they're already _THERE_ if you count our presence in
NATO and in UN "peace-keeping" missions.

Except for the extremists, Islam doesn't condone this type of action (or that
perpetrated in Israel) any more than does Christianity.  Look at the
Christian faith itself (and I _KNOW_ from where I speak here before anyone
starts flaming me).  Fundamentalist elements of almost all protestant sects
here use the Old Testament ("an eye for an eye") when convenient and
expedient, completely ignoring "turn the other cheek".  Yet, "In Jesus' name
we pray".  Ask the Turks about the Crusades...

Frankly, I'm usually a "turn the other cheek" kind of guy.  I can put up with
a _LOT_ of crap without losing my temper.  Oh, I've been upset with people on
the various midrange.com lists before, but I'm always open to a well-reasoned
rebuttal and have apologized on those few occasions when I've been wrong (I
_thought_ I was wrong once, but I was mistaken :)).  All I want is
intelligent discussion.

On the other hand, I personally think that pacifism has no place in dealing
with bullies, whether they are on the playground or run a country.  The
Taliban in Afghanistan have killed innocent people, detained aid workers, and
destroyed world treasures in the name of their perverted view of Islam.  They
hate the US, although it was _WE_ who aided them in defeating the USSR.  I
say we take over Kabul, and hold it until Ossama Bin Laden is turned over.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Afghanis will protect their guests to their deaths.  I
somehow doubt that Bin Laden would be as welcome if he'd defecated in their
dining room during dinner.  He certainly did in ours.

Iraq?  Too bad Clinton didn't have a scandal when he was dealing with them.
We _LET_ Suddam Hussien throw UN inspectors out.  In case nobody was
watching, _HE LOST_!  The stance we should have taken was: (UN) "You won't
let us inspect this site?"; (Iraqi) "No."  (UN [Looking at watch]) "OK, we
have fifteen minutes to reach minimum safe distance, you have twenty, I
suggest you take it.  (UN)  BOMBS THE FACILITY INTO NONEXISTENCE 30 MINUTES
LATER.  Now _THERE'S_ an effective weapons inspection.

I hold in abeyance those thoughts that I originally held in anger for those
that celebrated on the West Bank of Israel after the attack.  They are
ignorant.  They do not have the free press that we have here, but the
repugnent posturing of their so-called "leaders'" propaganda.  They do not
realize, as does Yassir Arafat as he crawls all over himself to make amends,
that the same support of Israel by the US (and our frequent threats to
withdraw it) that they decry is the _ONLY_ reason that they have not been
wiped off the face of the planet.

All of which brings to mind another bad thought from someone considering
himself a pacifist.  We have certain laws in this country regarding how we
treat criminals and POW's that precludes extracting information from them.
Surely they'll be wanted in Israel for _something_?

Some Thoughts,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com