University of Colorado professor Ward L. Churchill is arguing that the 9/11 victims were legitimate targets for our enemies to strike at, and he calls the hijackers "combat teams" rather than terrorists. Sure, Churchill is a repulsive fool, but even aside from that I think his comments are pointless. It doesn't really matter to me what you call our enemies; why quibble over vocabulary?
The real crux of the issue is that by changing the vocabulary, Churchill and others of his ilk are attempting to advance a more subtle arguement: if the people killed on 9/11 were "legitimate targets" rather than innocent victims, then we're not justified in avenging their deaths. But is that true? If our military forces are attacked by honorable enemies, it's still a declaration of war and we're still entitled to fight back.
So what's the point Churchill is trying to make? Even if his position is accurate, we're still justified in crushing our enemies; if their attack on 9/11 was justified as retaliation for our earlier attacks, then our subsequent attacks must likewise be justified. His essay is pointless as an argument for unilaterally stopping the conflict; all it can hope to achieve is to make Americans and terrorists into moral equivalents, thereby scoring some sort of abstract philisophical point.
I, however, am not particularly interested in the philosophy behind the War on Terror. I don't really care "why they hate us" -- or even that they hate us -- I just want them to stop killing my countrymen. The root causes are irrelevant to me, because I'm not after "justice"; we'll never reach agreement on that, so let's leave it to God. I just want to win.
Update:
Clayton Cramer agrees that the essay was pointless and trite. Sometimes I think the American left has no purpose other than to make the rest of us feel as bad about ourselves as they do about theirselves.
Actually, the amusing thing is that the philosophical and moral contortions that people like this must make in order to justify their arguments are really incomprehensible to the layman, and intentionally so. But the unintended effect may be that if they are successful at persuading the average person that the 9/11 civilian targets were legitimate, the general consensus among Americans will become that Muslim civilians are likewise legitimate targets.
And that would probably lead to a sharp decrease in the price of glass worldwide.
If the War on Terrorism is ever to be won, we have to start treating the disease. Right now, we're only treating the symptoms and, while that's necessary and something we should continue to do, treating the symptoms alone won't win the war.
The only thing that will work, over the long term, is to educate the Arab world. Arab youth are going to madrassahs that preach virtually nothing but religious fanaticism. As a result of this, the mindset they come away with from those "schools", and the purpose in life they receive from terrorist organization recruitment efforts that's tailor-made to fit that mindset... new terrorists are being grown for tomorrow to replace the ones we kill today.
Arab youth need to question their religious hegemony instead of being brainwashed into being raw material for terrorist groups and organizations.
MW: "Sometimes I think the American left has no purpose other than to make the rest of us feel as bad about ourselves as they do about theirselves."
Ridiculous.. and you know it.
Mark: How to we re-educate the Arab world? We have to dismantle their culture almost from the ground up.
Good question: How do we re-educate the Arab world?
Well, I'm no expert... all I know is that education is the key to a lot of things in life.. and this is no different.
Churchill is just another man that has been educated beyond his intelligence. I agree with Mark about educating the young Arabs, but I don't think it's very realistic. I mean, how can we do it in such regimes? If the Arab regimes were democratic then maybe we could start to present the young Arabs with multiple viewpoints. As far as Churchill goes you have to be able to admit you have a problem and narcissists will never do that. The same goes for the Islamists. They believe their culture is superior to ours no matter what evidence to the contrary. The best course of action would be to recognize Churchill for what he is: an educated idiot, increase the security of our borders in the US, and then do everything we can to bring democracy to the Middle East. Except for our borders I'd say we aren't doing too bad.
I say we let the Arab youth learn real things for themselves. It's too bad that they'll never have a chance to establish open schools and have an opportunity to be exposed to differing veiwpoints and ideas.
If only there were some way that Arab nations could elect their own government and make their own decisions.
If only there were some way that Arab youths would be able to hear opposing viewpoints and discuss politics and philosiphy in an open atmosphere.
If only there were someone that decided to do something about a few of the medieval, oppresive governments in the Arab world and give their citizens to take control of their own destinies.
You can say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
Mark: Americans treat education as a panacea.
Perhaps, but what's more to the point is that **I** don't believe it's the cure for everything.
Earlier I said that it's the key to "a lot" of things in life.. not all of which are problems.
It's quite right that there are generations of social and cultural brainwashing to undo in the Arab world... and that there are very real obstacles to overcome... but, really, what other option is there?
If it's a choice between:
- just killing terrorists without caring about how to keep more from being created..
and..
- killing them while working toward stopping more from taking the places of the ones we kill, by addressing the root causes of why people become terrorists....
I'll take the latter.
Does anyone else think that Ward Churchill is just trying to create some controversy so that his name gets in the news and then makes lots of money off of speaking fees and book deals? This guy is a total idiot and everyone knows it but everyone can't stop talking about this moron. So he probably will make lots of money because people will want to know what other moronic statements he has made and will buy his earlier books and essays! It just goes to show that if you are a know nothing liberal professor and want to make a quick buck and/or gain some notoriety say something really controversial that makes no real sense so that people will get upset and you get rich and famous over night for being a well educated moron.
Don't forget, Al, that there are plenty of conservatives who do the same.
That's right. In fact, he is just being a good capitalistic american. I think it's great that he can speak his mind like he has, and not be killed.
We have an awesome country, don't we?
Markb
You guys don't seem to understand that Mr. Churchill DOES have SOME truth to what he says. I mean, do you all HONESTLY think that Sept 11th happened because a bunch of Muslim Extremist, terrorist (whatever you want to call them) were jealous of life in the U.S. and just decided to come over here an attack? If you do, you're as close-minded as the employees on FOX NEWS. The U.S. has been doing stuff for years that very few people know about. I'm not a die hard right or left winger either so don't think I am. Our military has been either directly bombing innocent people (trying to get their targets) or aiding groups (that have America's best interest) that kill innocent people. I really wish that so many people could have an outer body experience and and look at the world as a WHOLE, and not just from our point of view. It's funny how the movie "The Matrix" shows how blind people really are (Americans) to the real world. We have things SO good here in this country we pay little attention to other events around the world or don't care until they AFFECT us. Just think about this next time you're driving your car and look at gas prices. ALL that secretive stuff our country has been doing for years is why we can pay $1.70 or so for a gallon of gas, while if you go to Europe, you'll pay 8.
OM: Ha, the reason gas costs US$8 per gallon in Europe is not because America plays dirty tricks, but because those governments tax gas at ridiculous levels and do everything in their power to increase its cost.
As for terrorists, no, they aren't jealous of us. They're just angry because others in their culture are jealous of us and want to emulate us. Particularly those pesky women who want to vote and stuff. Gosh!
A MESSAGE TO
WARD L. CHURCHILL
Dear Mr. Churchill:
Thank you for sharing with us your views regarding America. The somewhat modest popularity of your vitriolic ranting is positive proof that free speech works. I think you would be loathe to speak out so boldly against a less tolerant government…..say, Soviet Russia, Communist China, or North Korea to name but a few.
No, it’s far more comfortable for you to cower safely behind the protections and privileges which have been lavished upon you simply because you live in the United States of America. You have the right to express your opinion without fear of retaliation from the government you so gleefully rail against because in a true democracy it is deemed healthy to provide for open discourse.
By writing your books and essays and making them public, you have invited debate. And you shall have it. Right here, right now. You will have that debate, not with the government, but with a fellow citizen who finds you to be little more than an unruly child seeking to be disciplined. And that you shall have as well. If you are as intelligent as you would like others to believe, then you will learn some important truths here.
I must first tell you that I admire anyone who speaks out against injustice. What I cannot tolerate is a strong argument built on a weak foundation and that, sir, is your demise. Your views are predicated on the notion of “innocence” and there is none to be had.
Every nation, every people, every race, every tribe will conquer their neighbor if given the opportunity. It’s human nature to covet the resources we don’t currently control. It’s part of the essential survival instinct. It doesn’t matter if we’re trying to capture more geography, more water, more oil……..or a better place to hunt for food. We ALL will take what we need to survive. There is no innocence.
What matters is this, Mr. Churchill, under a tyranny people get in the way and are disposed of; under a democracy, people, even a conquered people, end up better than when they started. They have more freedom, more opportunities, and more safety than before. You would be well advised to give more thought to your outbursts. The people you seek to protect are better today because of the people you vilify. Perhaps you’re not as smart as you think you are.
Shall we continue, Mr. Churchill?
Best Regards,
Richard C. Henderson
While I can understand that there are a lot of people out there angry about what Mr. Ward L. Churchill has said. This is America and we have the right to say what we want whether they are unpopular or not. If he is dismissed from his job as a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, he can go to a U.S. district court and get his job back. In a U.S. Federal Court Mr. Churchill will win.
I am also a leftist. However, the events of September 11, 2001 were tragic beyond comprehension. These were innocent civilians who did nothing wrong and died for nothing. Usama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network hates leftists, socialists and communists. The U.S. CIA (Center for Imperialist Aggression) trained bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network in the 1980's to overthrow the Soviet backed Afghani government. I have no sympathy for religious fascists.
I will agree with Ward L. Churchill stating that the U.S. is a fascist government. The U.S. is run by fascists. I will also say that I proudly desecrated an American flag because I am opposed to the war in Iraq and because I feel that the American flag stands for fascism and imperialism and I am against fascism and imperialism.
Very Sincerely,
Brandon Harris
I believe that there are those who hate America because of things our government has done. I believe that there are those who hate America because of the things our government has not done.
I also believe that there are those who would hate America no matter what she did or did not do.
For those who hate America because of U.N sanctions....do you also hate the other nations who approved the sanctions thereby making the sanctions possible? Or is all the hate of the world focused upon America alone?
Am i nuts or does it seem these days that America is hated and blamed for everything that is wrong in the world?
Is it possible that other nations in this "utopian" world called earth may in fact be also guilty of evildoing.
Is it possible that even without America....that the world would still have war, greed, death, destruction, and evildoers? Could it be possibly an even more horrifying world without America? Is it possible? Maybe....