Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Terrorist
Hello,
The alternative of despair is ..... ? ? ?
"I will go to the forest for justice.
The wind for my garment I wear ..... and the rain my drink."
Thus goes the introductory quote in Han Suyin's book and the Rain my Drink.
This book is about the days of the Emergency in Malaya when the Communists were terrorists, a one-way synonymy. The terrorists used guns and they terrorised the angmohs, the British colonials. They lived in and fought from the jungles, in conditions as aptly quoted. There was a time when they killed the British governor; and the result was that schools were closed, and schoolchildren had a holiday. What terror, what impact ?
Today, terrorists are not communists. They do not carry only guns, they carry bombs. They do not fight in the jungles, they bomb buildings, they bomb people. They do not kill a few or several, they killed by hundreds and thousands. They do not worry about personal safety, they choose to die in the fight. In a fight the aim is to kill and win; here it is to die and kill more, never mind who dies. This is terror, terrorism, terrorists, terror !
Like the Japanese kamikaze pilots who steered their plane to destroy a warship, these suicide bombers go into crowded areas and detonate the bombs wrapped around their bodies. This is the tactic of terrorism warfare, maximum damage to the enemy regardless of personal lives, as war is death anyway. This is the great difference between terrorism then and terrorism now.
Suicide bombing was an art of some freedom fighters in SriLanka. It has gone international, and it is leaning towards a synonymy with Muslims. And just like in the old popular TV series Candid Camera, SMILE or somewhere sometime somehow someone causes a spark and you are SATAY or barbecued delights !
In comic books of old there were great stories of mad scientists out to dominate the world at the expense of its destruction. Then it was only fiction because there was not the capability. Today the capability to destroy a country is quite widespread, and spreading. But the danger would not arise through a desire to dominate; more likely it will ooze out through a freak will to retaliate. And that will be the grandfather of all suicide annihilation.
Smile while we can !
Han Suyin's full quotation below, written in the 1950s, does point to some relevance.
The alternative of despair is ..... ? ? ?
"I will go to the forest for justice.
The wind for my garment I wear ..... and the rain my drink."
Thus goes the introductory quote in Han Suyin's book and the Rain my Drink.
This book is about the days of the Emergency in Malaya when the Communists were terrorists, a one-way synonymy. The terrorists used guns and they terrorised the angmohs, the British colonials. They lived in and fought from the jungles, in conditions as aptly quoted. There was a time when they killed the British governor; and the result was that schools were closed, and schoolchildren had a holiday. What terror, what impact ?
Today, terrorists are not communists. They do not carry only guns, they carry bombs. They do not fight in the jungles, they bomb buildings, they bomb people. They do not kill a few or several, they killed by hundreds and thousands. They do not worry about personal safety, they choose to die in the fight. In a fight the aim is to kill and win; here it is to die and kill more, never mind who dies. This is terror, terrorism, terrorists, terror !
Like the Japanese kamikaze pilots who steered their plane to destroy a warship, these suicide bombers go into crowded areas and detonate the bombs wrapped around their bodies. This is the tactic of terrorism warfare, maximum damage to the enemy regardless of personal lives, as war is death anyway. This is the great difference between terrorism then and terrorism now.
Suicide bombing was an art of some freedom fighters in SriLanka. It has gone international, and it is leaning towards a synonymy with Muslims. And just like in the old popular TV series Candid Camera, SMILE or somewhere sometime somehow someone causes a spark and you are SATAY or barbecued delights !
In comic books of old there were great stories of mad scientists out to dominate the world at the expense of its destruction. Then it was only fiction because there was not the capability. Today the capability to destroy a country is quite widespread, and spreading. But the danger would not arise through a desire to dominate; more likely it will ooze out through a freak will to retaliate. And that will be the grandfather of all suicide annihilation.
Smile while we can !
Han Suyin's full quotation below, written in the 1950s, does point to some relevance.
I will go to the forest for justice,
For justice and righteousness,
And become a green-clad man.
The rulers pursue me with soldiers,
With riders, chariots and spears.
I will go to the forest for justice,
The people will flock to me.
I right their wrongs from the green shades,
And kill the rulers with arrows.
The horsemen stumble with fear.
I will go to the forest for justice.
The wind for my garment I wear.
Together with my many companions,
The wind for my garment AND THE RAIN MY DRINK,
we build a new heaven and earth
Have a nice day
Ronald
# posted by chunmu @ 6:11 PM 
