Letter to an unjustified supporter of the USA bombing in Afghanistan by Stephen Coleman

I have to respond to this unsupported justification for bombing innocent civilians.

First, I was as horrified as anyone else at the WTC atrocity, and recognise the need for justice. Justice represents one third of what we call democracy, there are strict rules and structures governing how they are conducted, including evidence, trials and sentencing to name but 3. They provide our society with justice, so that people who wander outside socially accepted laws are brought to accountability by the state. Here in the UK we have the "Prevention of Terrorism Act 2000," the US has gone further with an "Enemies of the State Act" both serve to bring additional powers to states working to control and manage terrorism.

The anonymous author firstly dismisses motive behind the WTC atrocity, and that is a critical error in the argument. It is precisely that motive we need in order to identify the culprits, and also serves in providing in part, evidence at trial.

The second error in the argument is in assuming a status quo remains, and Armageddon invites, because we are becoming technologically better each day and access to those weapons is simpler, yet to balance this argument we have improved methods of democracy which these countries are denied, in favour of puppet dictators, as seen in South America in the 70`s with Pinochet et al, and indeed in Afghanistan where a right wing Islam group was favoured by the West to rule after the post Russian war. In short, we are frightened of attack, but refuse to budge on any political motive they may have for causing Armageddon.

To emphasise this point, if we strip out the paramilitary arguments in N Ireland and Palestine, we are left with an unfair status quo regime, SUPPORTED by the West, for its own agenda. The ensuing frustration through the development of terrorism, then becomes the justification for the state continuing the status quo. Here in the UK it was widely recognised that the N.I. Protestant votes were essential to the re-election of Conservatives over 18 years.

Prevention of World War III was averted by the division of Pakistan`s nuclear facilities from the Taliban, and thus was ALREADY conducted very early in the campaign. US Secretary of State Rumsfield has already made it clear that AFTER Afghanistan / Bin Laden, Syria is next ???, so where is the justice for the WTC there ? or is it the case that selective terrorist regimes will be removed (as we saw in the South Americas in the 70`s).

Finally our author discusses agendas.....let us look at our Governments first. Bush was elected on tax cuts, his economy cannot deliver those tax cuts, so on the domestic front he needs something else. In studies conducted by Peacock and Wiseman (1968) they noted that huge state increases during WW1 and WW2 had;



"In these exceptional crises public opinion in liberal democracies was prepared to accept dramatic increases in taxation and state intervention in areas of social life hitherto regarded as private"

(cited in Dunleavy and O`Leary 1987 p111).

Copyright Stephen Coleman 2001 all rights reserved