There was nothing excellent about Massoud or his henchman Rabbouni. They jsut
weren't quite as foul as the Taliban.



llevitt wrote:

> I don't know whether this list is open for comment; if it is, I want to say
> just one thing:
> The sense I get is that either there is ignorance of what the Taliban is and
> stands for, or witting oblivion to it. Of course war against Afghanistan is
> futile, but action that will take out the Taliban and place the country's
> leadership in the hands of the opposition (whose excellent leader the
> Taliban have just assassinated) would help, not hurt the country. If that
> result is collateral to destroying Bin Laden and his Afghanistan cell, so
> much the better for the world. Ask the women of Afghanistan: The doctors,
> teachers, and former students now sequestered and hidden behind the veil
> whose lives are hell and whose suicide is rampant. Foolish leftists, not to
> recognize a real foe of enlightenment and freedom when they see it! It is
> depressing to me, a lifelong adherent of the left and admirer of Chomsky (I
> even have a picture of him when he was about twelve!) to have to say this.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Sueko Sakai" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 10:20 PM
> Subject: [CHOMSKY] facism in action
>
> > an opinion here in hilo is that retaliation against afghanistan serves no
> > purpose other than ego gratification because in war torn afghanistan, its
> > infrastructure; its cities, towns, communities; its economic, social, and
> > political foundations no longer exist.  in other words, families, such
> > that they are society's foundation, no longer exits in this no man's land
> > called afghanistan.  in chinese philosophy the axiom is: the human
> > individual care for others.
> >
> > it seems to me that we need to pause a moment, we need to comfort each
> > other in our confusion, grievance, shock, for we need to clamly, and most
> > importantly collectively, undress the false reality(s) that caused this
> > carnage.
> >
> > what has happened is a dream come true for "brutus."  and what is
> > happening is facism is in action.  not very long ago i said something
> > about keeping an eye on bush, because of the manner in which he won the
> > presidential election, something about how his politics might match
> > hitler's.  what's happening in the usa today?
> >
> > if we are to collectively undress the false realities that caused this
> > carnage, then the political becomes the starting point for our objective
> > discussions.  this is so because the political is the inquiry into the
> > order of human things, where the important word is human (strong).
> >
> > in this process, i believe, we must use facism's faults, past (hitler &
> > etc.) and present (the global tyranny of western imperialism and
> > multinational corporations), as a mirror in order to recognize,
> > understand, and define the virtues that will reveal a contrast to the
> > facism (wu) we are currently witnessing, experiencing, and being
> > subjected to its latent force.
> >
> > in part this is so because the adventure with nazism has effectively
> > shrunk the language and terms of political debate (strong) as exemplified
> > in the hyped politic blitz from our president, media, and etc.  perhaps
> > this is why poet saijo want to wreck english, ESPECIALLY STOMP ON TUETONIC
> > ROMANCE JUDEO ROMAN BULLSHIT.  but for certain it's because we live in
> > contradictions, such that we've put thinking before living, which is what
> > not only suzuki is saying, but also schmitt is saying politically, namely,
> > legality before legitimacy.  of course these should be in reverse, for the
> > latent force behind this false reality is that we're no longer a sovereign
> > county.
> >
> > the concern that is being raised is rooted in the doctrine of liberalism's
> > individuality because the autonomous, isolated, and solitary--example
> > bush--whose absolute stance toward himself--he has no scruples--gives us a
> > world in which nothing is connecting to anything (strong).  in other
> > words, the political has been substituted by liberalism's perpetual
> > discussion, merely by avoiding the issue(s).  and this is how, according
> > to schmitt, the tyranny of western imperialism depoliticized and
> > dehumanized the world.  we must not only not allow this to happen to us,
> > but also we must remember that the american way of life is marked by the
> > spirit of democracy and fair play (wu).  now what do you suppose chomsky
> > would say to this?
> >
> > in short, and according to struss, what is needed is a system that does
> > not negate the political but brings it into recognition.
> >
> > keeping in mind that everything is connected to things - consider the
> > following quote from restorative justice: healing the effects of crime by
> > j. consedine.  this quote is with respect to punishment in the criminal
> > justice system.  in my opinion it is relevant to this event
> >
> > the public cry for retribution shows that we are still close to barbarism.
> > civilization begins when vendetta ends--wolfgang rosenberg.
> >
> > as i'm seeing it the cutting edge of the political is that which
> > illuminates the human condition and makes it intelligible, for
> > self-articulation as discourse is a speaking concern for the world
> > (wright).  in short, from within this space the political elements of
> > schmitt, dewey, chomsky plus the spiritual factors of jung, suzuki,
> > nahm-mijo manifest itself.
> >
> > reactions!
> >
> >
> >
> > p.s.  clarification of my "all."  take for example when i say, "all of us
> > are stupid," in the manner that pua kanahele is explaining why the
> > hawaiian warrior can't be measured until traditional cultural values and
> > standards has been recovered in the pacific, i'm recognizing the fact that
> > the very small number of not stupid folks is negligible to be even
> > considered.  take for example the yuppies, less than 2% of the 4 million
> > have decided to grow up.  when that negligible number is reflected off of
> > our 35+ million population...--do you see it?
> >
> > however, if this small number was significant such that the moral rot
> > we're experiencing was not, that social violence wasn't in a state of
> nation
> > crisis, as the consequence of their social action, then and only then it
> > is not all of us.
> >
> >
> > ke'iko