231
No eloquence can match the impact of their evil. Americans' critical
weakness in the past two decades has been their reluctance to shed blood for
their goals. They believed they could construct a huge military and never
have it fight real wars and suffer real casualties. They thought they could
alter history and advance their interests from the air alone. With the
exception of the Gulf War, which they hesitated to finish, they have shrunk
from the fight. When the current enemy struck again and again throughout the
1990s, Bill Clinton responded without real credibility, struck back without
real endurance, enraged the terrorists without truly hurting them. We are
now living with the consequences of his appeasement, and of his refusal to
challenge Americans beyond what the polls said they already wanted to do.
Whoever launched this war on Americans has now accomplished the task Clinton
didn't dare embark on. America has been bloodied as it has never been
bloodied before.
I would be a fool to predict what happens next. But it is clear that Bush
will not do a Clinton. This will not be a surgical strike. It will not be a
gesture. It may not even begin in earnest soon. But it will be deadly
serious. It is clear that there is no way that the United States can achieve
its goals without the cooperation of many other states - an alliance as deep
and as broad as that which won the Gulf War. It is also clear that this
cannot be done by airpower alone. As in 1941, the neglect of the military
under Bill Clinton and the parsimony of its financing even under Bush must
now not merely be ended but reversed. We may see the biggest defense
build-up since the early 1980s - and not just in weaponry but in manpower.
It is also quite clear that the U.S. military presence in the Middle East
must be ramped up exponentially, its intelligence overhauled, its vigilance
heightened exponentially. In some ways, Bush has already assembled the ideal
team for such a task: Powell for the diplomatic dance, Rumsfeld for the deep
reforms he will now have the opportunity to enact, Cheney as his most
trusted aide in what has become to all intents and purposes a war cabinet.
The terrorists have done the rest. The middle part of the country - the
great red zone that voted for Bush - is clearly ready for war. The decadent
Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead - and may well mount what
amounts to a fifth column. But by striking at the heart of New York City,
the terrorists ensured that at least one deep segment of the country
ill-disposed toward a new president is now the most passionate in his
defense. Anyone who has ever tried to get one over on a New Yorker knows
what I mean. The demons who started this have no idea about the kind of
people they have taken on.
But what the terrorists are also counting on is that Americans will not have
the stomach for the long haul. They clearly know that the coming retaliation
will not be the end but the beginning. And when the terrorists strike back
again, they have let us know that the results could make the assault on the
World Trade Center look puny. They are banking that Americans will then
cave. They have seen a great country quarrel to the edge of constitutional
crisis over a razor-close presidential election. They have seen it respond
to real threats in the last few years with squeamish restraint or surgical
strikes. They have seen that, as Israel has been pounded by the same
murderous thugs, the United States has responded with equanimity. They have
seen a great nation at the height of its power obsess for a whole summer
over a missing intern and a randy Congressman. They have good reason to
believe that this country is soft, that it has no appetite for the war that
has now begun. They have gambled that in response to unprecedented terror,
the Americans will abandon Israel to the barbarians who would annihilate
every Jew on the planet, and trade away their freedom for a respite from
terror in their own land.
We cannot forsee the future. But we know the past. And that past tells us
that these people who destroyed the heart of New York City have made a
terrible mistake. This country is at its heart a peaceful one. It has done
more to help the world than any other actor in world history. It saved the
world from the two greatest evils of the last century in Nazism and Soviet
Communism. It responded to its victories in the last war by pouring aid into
Europe and Japan. In the Middle East, America alone has ensured that the
last hope of the Jewish people is not extinguished and has given more aid to
Egypt than to any other country. It risked its own people to save the Middle
East from the pseudo-Hitler in Baghdad. America need not have done any of
this. Its world hegemony has been less violent and less imperial than any
other comparable power in history. In the depths of its soul, it wants its
dream to itself, to be left alone, to prosper among others, and to welcome
them to the freedom America has helped secure.
But whenever Americans have been challenged, they have risen to the task. In
some awful way, these evil thugs may have done us a favor. America may have
woken up for ever. The rage that will follow from this grief and shock may
be deeper and greater than anyone now can imagine. Think of what the United
States ultimately did to the enemy that bombed Pearl Harbor. Now recall that
American power in the world is all but unchallenged by any other state.
Recall that America has never been wealthier, and is at the end of one of
the biggest booms in its history. And now consider the extent of this wound
- the greatest civilian casualties since the Civil War, an assault not just
on Americans but on the meaning of America itself. When you take a step
back, it is hard not to believe that we are now in the quiet moment before
the whirlwind. Americans will recover their dead, and they will mourn them,
and then they will get down to business. Their sadness will be mingled with
an anger that will make the hatred of these evil fanatics seem mild.
I am reminded of a great American poem written by Herman Melville after the
death of Abraham Lincoln, the second founder of the country:
"There is sobbing of the strong, And a pall upon the land; But the People in
their weeping Bare the iron hand; Beware the People weeping When they bare
the iron hand."

(name) London

NOTE FROM ZILLA: Now this email #231 is written by someone who truly knows what he is talking about. Bravo! Very well written!

232
I made a very realistic sculpture of Bin Laden and his followers. But before
I could show anyone, somebody flushed.

Fair enough, as an American you are entitled to be caught up in the
illogical war fever obviously gripping your nation. But also bear in mind
all the atrocities committed by the American state against civilian
populations the world over. You only have to go back a couple of months
(disregarding Americas ongoing support of sanctions on Iraq) to find
foreign civilian death at the hands of America. A Pakistani pharmaceuticals
factory was ruthlessly bombed with the loss of thousands of civilian lives
(approx. 3 000). If you need more damning evidence that shit happens look
to Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a civilian death toll in the hundreds of
thousands.

You may come back with "yeah, but the world trade centre victims were
merely doing an entirely civilian job, so the targeter must be evil." But
think, by working there you enable the operations to run smoothly, the
operations, by design or otherwise keep the poor poor and the rich rich.
Therefore, by default, anyone enabling smooth operation at said institution
is guilty in whatever small way of maintaining the oppulent west fuck the
rest of the world unless it makes us richer point of view.

All said I know many Americans, and as individuals you're pretty ok, it's
just sad you are actively an arrogant superpower. Kill whoever the hell you
want, you always have.

NOTE FROM ZILLA: Well, I am sure Osama Bin Laden thanks you for your kind words and support.

1) Approach an ignorant person who is saying something like ... "there
should be no retaliation."

2) Have a brief conversation with them and ask if military force is
appropriate.

3) When he says "No," ask him "Why not?"

4) When he says, "Because that would just cause more innocent deaths, which
would be awful, and we should not cause more violence" ..... Punch him in
the face ..... hard.

5) When he gets up to punch you, point out to him that it would be a
mistake (and contrary to his values) to punch you because he would be
causing more violence.

6) When he agrees with you that he has pledged not to commit violence,
punch him in the face again . . . only harder this time.

7) Repeat steps 2 through 6 until he understands that sometimes it IS
necessary to punch back!

240
I got these two jokes in my office email and though I would send it to you, Zilla...hope you post them!

Q:Why does Osama always carry a piece of shit in his pocket?
A: It's his photo ID
Q: What do Bin Laden and Hiroshima have in common?
A: Nothing, yet.
Q: How do you play Taliban bingo?
A: B-52...F-16...B-1...
Q: What is the Taliban's national bird?
A: Duck
Q: How is Bin Laden like Fred Flintstone?
A: Both may look out their windows and see Rubble.
Q: Why does the Iraqi Navy have glass bottom boats?
A: So they can see their Air Force.
Q: What does osama bin laden and General Custer have in common?
A: They both want to know where those Tomahawks are coming from!
Q: What's the difference between the Taliban and a bucket of shit?
A: the bucket

And here is the other one:

Three guys, a Canadian, Osama Bin Ladin and Uncle Sam are out walking together one day. They come across a lantern and a Genie pops out of it. "I will give each of you one wish, that's three wishes total," says the Genie.

The Canadian says, "I am a farmer, my dad was a farmer, and my son will also be a farmer. I want the land to be forever fertile in Canada." With a blink of the Genie's eye, 'POOF' the land in Canada was forever fertile for farming.

Osama Bin Ladin was amazed, so he said, "I want a wall around Afghanistan, so that no infidels, Jews or Americans can come into our precious country...in other words no one but people who believe exactly the way I do." Again with a blink of the Genie's eye, 'POOF' there was a huge wall around Afghanistan.

Uncle Sam (A former civil engineer) asks, "I'm very curious, please tell me more about this wall."

The Genie explains, "Well, it's about 15,000 feet high, 500 feet thick and completely surrounds the country; nothing can get in or out----virtually impenetrable."

Uncle Sam says, "Okay. Fill it with water, please."

I'm always thinking of those who perished that terrible day.

(name)

242
I don't know what all Bush has in mind, but it is clear to me so far that dropping these bombs isn't accomplishing a whole hell of a lot. The Taliban still have not turned over Bin Laden and his associates. Now I see these protests in Pakistan. I saw a poll that says that 83% of the Pakistanis are with the Taliban on this. I think it is time for us to revisit our thoughts on all of this.

There is absolutely no question that these fundamentalist Islamics are the mortal enemies of all who do not believe as they do. These desire things to be the way they were back in the medieval times when Islam was a great and terrible power on this planet.

If we look at any country that is under control of Islamic fundamentalists, we see that there is no real freedom. No freedom of speech. No freedom of religion. Women are property...they are beaten, they are humiliated, and they are treated like cattle. Television is not allowed at all. The people have no real commuication with the outside world. Punishment reaches far beyond the crime. In other words, they push their countries back to the dark ages.

Their hatred for the Jews exceeds that of the Third Reich. Their hatred for Christians is almost equal to that. And, there is no question that if Buddhists or Hindus tried to tread on their land they will hate and kill them, too. Yes, KILL. These Islamic Fundamentalists back up their seemingly endless hatred with murder.

They are our mortal enemies now and will remain so no matter what we do. So, we must destroy them at all costs. Is there anyone in their right mind who has any doubt whatsoever that if these Islamic Fundamentalists got their hands on nuclear, biological, chemical, or any other type of weapon of mass destruction, they would not hesitate to use it on the United States or any other country that they consider to be their enemies. Considering how many other religions these fanatics hate, that means most of the world is their enemy in their minds.

My point is this: regardless of how many thousands of "innocent" lives are lost, I have come to the strong belief that we must, at all costs, completely destroy the countries that are led by or that sympathize with the Islamic Fundamentalists. I am talking about wiping them out before they commit some unspeakable atrocity that makes the World Trade Towers attack of September 11 pale by comparison. Be assured, they will not hesitate to do so once they have the means. We must destroy them completely before they do this. If this means nuclear weapons, neutron bombs, or fusion bombs, then we must do it. We must wipe these religious fanatics off the face of the map. They have become a cancer on this planet, and there is only one way that we can deal with a cancer: we must remove it.

Additionally, I believe that any American who sympathizes with these people, our mortal enemies, is a traitor to this country and should be deported or thrown in prison. Preferably, we should deport these traitors to a country where they can live under the harsh rule of Islamic Fundamentalists so that they can learn firsthand how wrong they were to go against their own homeland. The Islamic Fundamentalists will kill them. These peace protesters, these "intellectuals" in our universities, all of them must be dealt with. they are fools. They are aiding and abetting our mortal enemy. Do these fools think that the enemy hates them any less than the enemy hates the rest of us? They are not true Americans...they are anti-American in most senses of the word. So, let us hand them over to this enemy with which they side, and let them see their mistake as they take their final breath when the enemy, without mercy, hangs them from the nearest street lamp, as these Islamic Fundamentalists are prone to do.

(name)

Nostradamus predicted that “In the year 1999 and Seven months, from the sky shall come a great king of Terror……..”, I do not think that it was coincidental that in July 1999 US led NATO was bombing woman and children in Yugoslavia.

The only pity I have is that you Americans cant see what it is you really are

New Zealand

NOTE FROM ZILLA: Oh, we have a pretty good idea what we are. We are a very big part of the reason you are not speaking German or Japanese, giving a stiff-armed salute all the time, and watching very carefullly every word that you speak lest you be executed for treason, sedition, or some other trumped-up charge. We are the reason you are free to speak your mind as you just did, and which I posted, even though it strongly insinuates that we Americans got what we deserved on September 11th. You are no friend of ours. You say "let's not forget that your country has killed more innocent civilians than any other country" You are way off track. Just as a couple of quick little examples: after we left South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese went in and slaughtered over two million civilians. Stalin's regime killed over 22 million civilians. Your buddy Milosevic was responsible for the slaughter of a massive amount of civilians, too. We stopped him. Let's not forget that, eh? Study history. Not that it would matter; the only pity I have is that you so obviously hate Americans and you live in New Zealand when you really belong in some country ruled by a regime as brutal as the Taliban so you can wake up.

I am a Brit who has just finished reading some of the newer e-mails and have just have one question to ask you:who was that moron who wrote #248?.

We think people who are born royal are special !!!!!!!! What fucking millenia (let alone century) is this moron living in. We think the royal family is a joke. The royal family is maintained because they pull in an amazing amount of tourism for the Uk and just to highlight this, Americans top the league at visiting 'royal' attractions.Strange way to display dislike.I don't know if moron still believes that royalty are something akin to Henry VIII, court jesters and beheading and all that shit, but the royal family do nothing else but open parks and support charities.

As for finally having a good leader in Blair, does the name Thatcher ring a bell. No.Well try finding out where she is next speaking in the States. You might discover that she is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars so Americans can listen to her.Even if she is thought of as a mad old hag in the UK. Are you also aware that you live in a nation which has elected great leaders such as Nixon (honest guy), Kennedy (oh no i forgot, your country killed him so you could enter Vietnam.), Reagan (dont move the autocue too fast !) and finally Bush (it is well known that every geriatric voted for Bush Snr because they thought he was running again). Then you put Clinton on trial for a blowjob. a blowjob for fucks sake whilst OJ walks free. Saddam Hussein must have been pissing himself with laughter. And as for the quip about how much the world owes you, i'll tell you what . Us Brits will teach you how to run an election. Ours are over within 24 hours,not weeks.Maybe we can pay you off that way.

Please respond with another wonderful e-mail so we can continue this pointless nonsense.

Anyway,enough of the tongue in cheek nonsense Ryan.

I have to say that what is currently going on in Afghanistan-aka shithole- is very disturbing. Tell me how many bombs is it going to take before the Bush administration realises that the Afghans will not hand over Bin (bag) Laden? Does the Bush admin. realise that they are giving the Taliban the most fabulous recriuting scheme they have ever had?. UNCLE LADEN NEEDS YOU.This despite half the nation despising their rulers.

I had the privelege of sharing a lunch with a Vietnam vet some years ago (Marine Corps.) and he gladly discussed his time in SE Asia. What really annoyed him was the issue of taking hills.One day taking a hill with heavy casualties.Vacating it the next and then coming back a week later to do it all over again. What really stuck in my mind was a quote he said halfway through lunch- 'you cant take shit from the air'.And twenty five odd years later its happening again. Surely Kosovo taught us that.We (allies) bombed and bombed and yet the murdering,raping and ethnic cleansing continued far below the metallic birds. Sure Milosevic is up on war crimes now, but that is cold comfort to those in the unmarked graves. This isn't a dig at the States as every nation in Europe knew what was going on in their backyard and shamefully did nothing.

Ground war is the only way. But tell me how many yellow ribbons will it take to change your mind. And you will change your minds. Not because you feel the cause is unjust (and i can say that 75% of brits agree it is just, me being one) but because bombing the people who have done you no harm (the majority of Afghani's) cannot be seen (by anyone, and if you disagree you are simply not human) as 'just' from a nation who 'in god we trust' .So just who is using 'god' for what ends. Just remember how Kent State polarised opinion during Vietnam. How despised Muhammed Ali was then and compare your feelings now.Whats next- carry on bombing them eternally.well the russians tried that on their doorstep and failed miserably.

Footnote- 'Therefore i have heard of military operations that were clumsy but swift,but i have never seen one that was skillful and lasted a long time.It is never beneficial to a nation to have a military operation continue for a long time' - Sun Tzu 'The Art Of War' circa 2000 years ago.

Ryan i hope the constant references to Vietnam is not seen as a dig, it just that America 1960-1980 was my thesis for my History degree.

M.C. ,London.
A Brit who belives that justice will prevail but have no idea what justice we are talking about.

NOTE FROM ZILLA: (Regarding email #252) Though I do not agree with some of what you say here, I must say that your statement is very well written and makes some strong, thought-provoking points.