3/11
It is a terrible thing when people can't live their lives without worrying about terrorists blowing them up as they try to live their lives. The people killed in Madrid today undoubtedly wanted nothing more than most people want - to earn a living; to fall in love; to raise their children; to go shopping; to grab a bite to eat - in other words, to live. These were people carrying about their ordinary lives. They were not soldiers. They were not government officials.1 Maybe they approved of their government's actions. Maybe they did not. But the terrorists who killed them did not care. To the terrorists, they were guilty - tried, convicted, and sentenced to death while simply living their lives. I feel a tremendous amount of empathy for the Spaniards today, as well as all victims of terrorism.
I also feel a tremendous amount of empathy for the people living in dire circumstances who just want to simply live their lives. Those whose lives were turned upside down by the war in Iraq. Those who are oppressed by governments, be it their own or those of other nations. But I feel no empathy for those who strike back by murdering civilians going about their lives. None.
BTW, is it just me, or did the American media start to pay more attention to this tragedy once a purported al Qaeda link came into play, as if terrorism committed by non-Muslims is somehow less important?
1Okay, some of them might have been soldiers and/or government officials. But I was talking in generalities, so please, no nitpicking.
Comments
I have come to the conclusion that we, individually, personally, are just going to have to expect, and except this. This is the way it's going to be for a while. I hate it with every fiber of my body, but I can't stop it. What I can do however is control how I react to it. How it effects me. I can realize that we are here for only a short period of time, and that the wonders of life are still present. I can look to those wonders in the moment, and not be taken whole by these ghastly events. I can still build my own house, and not let others build it for me. From now on these events will act as a catalysts for me. A catalysts for redoubling my efforts of planting the seeds that allow me to be who I truly am. A catalysts for taking seriously the realization that no one but ourselves can control the places our minds go, and that I will take my mind where I want it to go regardless of the times I find myself in. I will no longer bow to these masters who want to control our fear and our anger. I'll control that from now on thank you very much.
Posted by: BSB | March 12, 2004 08:22 PM
It's not just you.
Posted by: Ricky | March 12, 2004 09:32 PM
The amazing thing is that it only took them a couple of days to arrest some suspects.
Posted by: Brass | March 13, 2004 02:41 PM
I don't find that particularly amazing. It only took them a couple of days to arrest Timothy McVeigh after Oklahoma City. It only took them a few days to arrest the first suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In each case, the terrorists had stupidly left clues. And while you might find it amazing that terrorists would stupidly leave clues, consider how often criminals do stupid shit that enable the cops to find and arrest them. It happens a lot.
It's generally the terrorist masterminds who plan these things that are very smart and difficult to catch. The idiots who are recruited to implement the plans are, usually, not all that hard to catch.
Posted by: Lesley | March 13, 2004 03:03 PM