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| Fifth Column |
| Stuart Reid sez we lost in Afghanistan and he can't quite make out the difference between amputations and lap-dancing (Whoa! There's one... Nope, that's not it) |
| 2001-12-31 |
Stuart Reid The Americans have so far failed in their stated war aim: to bring Osama bin Laden and other leaders of al-Qa'eda to justice. Bin Laden has not been captured, dead or alive. (I gather, however, there have been reported sightings in Cleveland, Ohio). The al-Qa'eda network has not been destroyed (though, according to the FBI, it is active in the United States). All that has happened is that the Taliban have been defeated and replaced with a broad-based coalition of Hampstead-style thinkers and Nazi-style warlords. Women continue to wear burqas in Kabul, and to be whipped... The September criminals must be brought to justice, and their networks destroyed, but it is impossible to view an unending war against terrorism - Orwellian, unwinnable - as a crusade for true Western civilisation. What we have here is a clash between post-Christian liberal humanism and mad and murderous theocracy; between lap-dancing and limb-cropping. Oh. Well, in that case we should stop. George! Don't go after any more Bad Guys! We can't win anyway. Just "bring them to justice." Whatever the hell that means. I confess, though: Until women are forced to engage in lap-dancing, I'll continue to think we're morally superior. And even if the lap-dancing was mandatory, I'd go with that over the amputations. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |