Evil in the Islamic World

  • Posted by smijer
  • April 20, 2007

The reason I rarely post about stuff like this is that so many people write about these things with the attitude that they should justify a show-down at high noon. That because of these things, a hard-line approach, with the tacit hope for military aggression, is eminently justified. I don’t wish to be perceived as one who endorses that attitude - and it is nearly impossible to post about it without spilling a lot of ink explaining why bomb bomb bomb, bomb Iran is the wrong solution, and what approaches exist that are far more morally acceptable, and probably more likely to succeed. And, still, the take-away message for many people is “Iran bad, us good”, so let the killin’ commence.

I post more frequently on American malfeasance, though it rarely rises to the level of immorality found in this Iranian example. Why? Because I don’t expect people to use our shared disgust at American wrong-doers as an excuse to form a vigilante posse to beat our politicians and preachers into submission. I don’t expect the government to use our shared disgust at American wrong-doing as an excuse to launch a military campaign against the perpetrators. In fact, I don’t expect everyone to even feel that disgust or understand the reasons behind it. So, the best case outcome of broadcasting a criticism of crooks and liars at home is that their crimes and lies will be stopped - and the worst case is that there will be no impact. On the other hand, the best case when broadcasting about wrong-doing overseas is that there will be no impact. The worst case is that the wrong-doing will be multiplied. See Iraq for instance.

Nevertheless, such behavior disgusts me, and every once in a while, I have to say so. This is in no way an endorsement of the “give war a chance” platform.

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April 20th, 2007
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Buck
Posted on:
April 20, 2007 at 8:23 am

McCain continues to embarrass himself. There seems to be no bottom for the guy.

And if the Iranian Supreme Court suits the Iranians then that is their little red wagon to pull.

It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Ophelia Benson
Posted on:
April 20, 2007 at 12:45 pm

“it is nearly impossible to post about it without spilling a lot of ink explaining why bomb bomb bomb, bomb Iran is the wrong solution”

I don’t think that’s true, actually; I think one can post about it and spill a minimal amount of ink disavowing any pro-bombing intentions. And the fact is that many dissidents and dissident groups inside Iran and inside other repressive regimes want and welcome moral support from the outside; not only that, but they regret and even resent the silence of what ought to be their allies - of feminists, the left, supporters of human rights. It’s a depressing and destructive idea, this notion that criticism of oppression must be linked with ‘let’s bomb’ campaigns. Apart from anything else that kind of hands concern with human rights and women’s rights over to the Bush admin, and who the hell wants to do that?!

“It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Nor does genocide or famine or generalized torture in some far corner of the globe; is that actually a reason to ignore it? Is that generalizable advice to ignore everything that harms neither our own finances nor our own bodies? And not only to ignore it but to argue that others should ignore it too?

I must say I think that’s a repellent comment.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Buck
Posted on:
April 23, 2007 at 8:20 am

I must say I think that’s a repellent comment.

I borrowed it from Thomas Jefferson.

As for Iran we can bomb them or we can sanction them. Instant death or slow starvation. It’s a hell of a choice. Which would you prefer?

The other choice is to let Iranians govern Iranians.

Feel free to criticize. By all means. There are aspects of our own government that need to be criticized. But we need to lose the philosophy of “Team America: World Police”

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Ophelia Benson
Posted on:
April 26, 2007 at 5:36 pm

Ya, I knew it was a quotation (though I vaguely thought it was Johnson - der).

“As for Iran we can bomb them or we can sanction them.”

Not we - we can for instance criticize, and publicize others who do, and give them our support (moral, verbal, etc) - which is all they want: they want solidarity from feminists and human rights advocates and the like, they don’t want anything from the US gummint. ‘We’ doesn’t have to mean The Feds.