A minor item: when US troops go into a country, no matter what the leaders
here say, they are there to STAY see e.g. Jugoslavia, Saudi Arabia and
dozens more.  Thus 'taking the Taliban out' means adding parts of Central
Asia to the US empire.

 >
> 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
>