IP: I know some will get angry at this one Thinking the Unthinkable 2002

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Howard D Singer <hsinger74 () juno com>
Date: Mon, 27 May 2002 12:56:40 -0700
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Re: IP Thinking the Unthinkable 2002

Dear Dave,

The question of what we ought to do if attacked again is  certainly
legitimate, and your comparison to  Herman Kahn's thinking about  nuclear
war makes sense. 

Living   within sight of  the Twin Towers, as I have for  20 years, I
have good reason to think of it.  But I believe that most  thinking on
the subject is unrealistic.

What I am  about to suggest is offensive to our sense of morality, but
please hear me out.  But before we can make the needed decisions, we must
accept two unwelcome facts:

One:  we are not in a position to defend ourselves against terrorists
without the earnest cooperation of various Muslim governments and their
police and security forces.  Only they understand their own culture and
know their own communities.

Two:  some of those governments are ambivalent about religious extremism,
or even covertly supportive.

It is well known that Al Queda operates in many countries  with  only
thin cover.  Western intelligence agencies can take us just so far, and
judging by recent reports, certainly not far enough.  Only the full
devotion of local police and security services to the problem has a
chance of success in rooting out Islamic extremism.  Certainly our
appeals  do not get us very far.

That leaves only one terrifying alternative.

If it should happen again, we must say to the government from which we
believe the terrorists came:  We can no longer endure what you have
tolerated. We will not allow you to be passive spectators at our steady
destruction, or to content yourself with pro forma gestures. We are
forced to make your survival  depend upon our survival.  Our problem must
become your problem. The people who attack us are your coreligionists and
your fellow nationals,  and you are better situated to deal with it than
we are.  Root them out, or we will destory your cities as our cities have
been destroyed.  It has come to this, and we have no alternative. In
three days we will destroy one of your cities in retaliation.

This violates all the religious and  ethical imperatives we have been
taught to honor all our lives. It  is barbaric, hideous, immoral, etc. I
know, I know, I know.  I am repelled by it too. But we are now in a
situation described by a fine legal mind (Edmunk Cahn), the possessor of
an exquisite sense of ethics, as the "morality of the extremes."    For
example, The overloaded lifeboat. The life and death choices in the
concentration camp.  The resort to cannibalism for the marooned and
starving. The hideous choices presented to wartime commanders. The
morality of the extremes is, tragically, sometimes inescapable. I suggest
you read his fine book: "The Moral Decision."

As  horrendous as it is, I defy anyone to come up with a better way to
induce recalcitrant governments to go after extremists  with as much
zeal.

Sincerely, 

Howard


------ End of Forwarded Message

For archives see:
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/