Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

I got an email last night from a friend who is definitely more pro-war than I am. He forwards me various Bin Laden jokes and things like that, which I often object to on because I feel that reducing a highly complicated war into a one-liner joke is degrading to everyone involved. That said, he asked me, if I object so much to the positition the US has taken, what do I suggest as a reasonable alternative. My response:

1. As the UN has insisted, stop the current bombing which is doing zero damage to the Taliban, enormous damage to citizens, turning the Muslim and much of the international community against the US, and will only result in more terrorist attacks on US citizens which cannot be stopped.
2. Develop alternate energy research so the US is no longer financially/oil dependant on the Middle East and has no "need" to interfere with their politics. Then, worst case, they just kill each other off and leave the US alone.
3. Seek a diplomatic solution.
4. If #3 is unsuccessful, QUIETLY and out of the public eye take the Israeli approach -- simply assassinate Taliban and Al-Quaeda leaders and don't make ANY statements about it. Just have them disappear. No martyrs, no PR nightmares.

Look at what's happened so far — “first” (not really first, but let's make that the start of our count) around 5000 people were killed in the US by terrorists, as well as massive damage being done to the US financially. Then the US launched an attack which it had to call on every political favor and deeply put itself in debt over. The attack so far has been entirely ineffective at killing anyone responsible, but has killed around 500 innocent people, made thousands more homeless, and has disrupted aid efforts which, if the war continues, will result in the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians (none of them involved in the first attack on the US). In addition, enourmous resentment toward the US has been created internationally, especially in Muslim countries, creating a strong liklihood of continued attacks on the US, both my Al-Qaeda and other groups (since they know it works so well now). In addition, the US has attacked itself on its own soil with a series of “homeland security” measures, taking away the (perhaps illusionary) freedoms that in theory differentiate the US from other countries. Most people have seen this link, but this one takes the cake.

It's not as if it's going to get any better, largely because of the people calling the shots I suspect. Look at Bush — he's called for freezing the assets of Bin Laden, but his first business, Arbusto Energy, was financed by the bin Laden family. It's not like Arbusto was the only time either, Bush's Harken Energy Corporation was bailed out by Saudi Sheik Abdullah Taha Bakhsh and BCCI and Khalid bin Mahfouz. As Wayne Madsen points out, “the ties between bin Laden and the White House may be much closer than [Bush] is willing to acknowledge.”

Want the other side of the story?

When I present these alternate viewpoints, I can't prove to you that they are true. What I can tell you is that neither “side” is telling the truth — the media is certainly not impartial — and that only by learning as much as you can and from all points of view will you be able to make an informed observation.

Which brings me to an important reminder:

Today is Media Democracy Day.
Please, if you have a moment, read that page, and read it fully. It's not that long, and contains a great deal of important information. There are various events going on all day (mostly in Toronto), including protests at the CRTC regarding their attempt to shut down Star Ray TV…