more on Who they're spying on

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tom Fairlie <tfairlie () frontiernet net>
Date: June 9, 2006 9:54:18 PM EDT
To: h_bray () globe com

Subject: Re: [IP] more on Who they're spying on

To Mr. Bray
(and the others who might support his views),

In the midst of an ill-planned and poorly executed
"War on Terror" that has cost us approximately $300B
so far and expects to rub shoulders with a trillion, you
should be instead asking why we are so firmly committed
to such a shaky enterprise to begin with.

Was it the death toll on 9/11? I can't imagine why, since
we never suitably investigated the crime to begin with, and
there are many more significant causes of death in the U.S.
In fact, there are more than 8,000 murders each and every
year due to firearms and few people would spend $300B to
solve that problem.

Was it the economic loss on 9/11? Again, why on Earth
would someone spend $300B to make up a loss that was
an order of magnitude less?

Was it the finger in our eye from Muslim extremists?
Assuming that they were even involved (none of them was
considered even an average pilot), how does it make sense
to avenge the death of 3,000 people by sending 3,000 more
to their death? (I didn't forget to include contractors and those
in Afghanistan.)

Even the argument that "they just hate us" is silly when you
look at the number of times that we have poked our finger in
their eye. Let's ignore the Crusades for a moment, and simply
remember the 1950s, when we deposed Iran's prime minister
after he foolishly tried to nationalize their oil industry. They had
to endure 25 years under the Shah and his CIA-trained secret
police and now we can't understand why Iran is so uppity.

It's quite possible that people hate Americans, but I hate the
National League and you'll never find me at a Giants/Cubs
game with an IED. Let's all chill down a bit and focus on getting
our own house in order before breaking and entering our
neighbor's house, raiding his fridge, and calling him a loser.
It would be easier, safer, and far cheaper to just invite the
neighbor over for a beer. You don't have to love the guy.

To respond to your last call for comments, I would like to add
the following: I don't expect our law enforcement community--
at any level--to protect me from all harm. I don't want them
scouring the purchasing habits of inner city youth to see
when they're most likely to rob the convenience store I happen
to visit; I don't want them checking the credit card payments
of my middle class neighbors to determine when their houses
will be robbed; and I certainly don't want them listening to my
phone calls in case al Qaeda happens to be telemarketing.

All of these crimes can be better prevented by removing the
motives in the first place. Crime will never disappear, but time
and time again we see that a country or community with a
vibrant economy experiences a reduction in crime. Those who
are most active in the terrorist community have no such hope
and are fodder for the extremist elements that happily direct them.

I see no reason to kill them or build a fence around my house
when I can just as easily give them a pat on the back, a
sandwich, and a job. I was taught in school that we were the
richest and most noble country on the planet. Let's start acting
that way.

Tom Fairlie



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