Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on January 13, 2004 05:37 AM
No, the U.S. is not an innocent bystander. But, since when is being an "innocent bystander" a requirement for looking after your own interests or commenting on the harmful impact of another society's behavior?
Moral purity is neither possible nor is it a prerequisite for taking action.
The U.S. is not responsible for the killings at the Khobar towers. The people who made and deployed the bomb are responsible. They share that responsibility with a Saudi regime that failed to prevent the attack, and with a Saudi society that nurtures bigotry, isolation, extremism and hatred.
The Saudis have every right to fashion their society as they see fit, but only if all Saudis are allowed to participate, democratically, in the process. It is difficult to see that happening in a society that treats women as sub-human and, to cite a well-known example, allows school girls to die in a burning building because an official religion enforcer blocked the rescuers for fear that they would actually see the faces of the victims.
It is as specious and as morally bankrupt to excuse this kind of behavior with a reference to religious "freedom" as it is to excuse the Inquisition with a similar reference.
In the meantime, lack of innocence is no excuse for failing to oppose racism, sexism, and extremism and, in much of the Middle East, outright medievalism, when and where we find them.
And an unwarranted sense of moral superiority does not justify exempting the perpetrators and supporters of the Khobar killings from paying for their crimes. You, it seems, are quite willing to ignore that if it gives you a chance to engage in a bit more unthinking America bashing.
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No, the U.S. Is Not Responsible for Khobar
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on January 13, 2004 05:37 AMMoral purity is neither possible nor is it a prerequisite for taking action.
The U.S. is not responsible for the killings at the Khobar towers. The people who made and deployed the bomb are responsible. They share that responsibility with a Saudi regime that failed to prevent the attack, and with a Saudi society that nurtures bigotry, isolation, extremism and hatred.
The Saudis have every right to fashion their society as they see fit, but only if all Saudis are allowed to participate, democratically, in the process. It is difficult to see that happening in a society that treats women as sub-human and, to cite a well-known example, allows school girls to die in a burning building because an official religion enforcer blocked the rescuers for fear that they would actually see the faces of the victims.
It is as specious and as morally bankrupt to excuse this kind of behavior with a reference to religious "freedom" as it is to excuse the Inquisition with a similar reference.
In the meantime, lack of innocence is no excuse for failing to oppose racism, sexism, and extremism and, in much of the Middle East, outright medievalism, when and where we find them.
And an unwarranted sense of moral superiority does not justify exempting the perpetrators and supporters of the Khobar killings from paying for their crimes. You, it seems, are quite willing to ignore that if it gives you a chance to engage in a bit more unthinking America bashing.
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