Bustem' Down said:
There's a difference between combatant and non-combatant. I don't take a gun as soon as I get into port and start shooting at brown people.
You know, I fully understand the concept of not needlessly provoking a bad situation here. If you see a growling Doberman coming slowly towards you, hair up on neck and head slightly lowered - you don't *provoke* it.
And to be sure, I get a little tired of the inclusive/specific kinds of debate where - in this example - the Koran gets insulted because of what murderous Muslims have done, and somehow we must *respect* the Koran because of what *peaceful* Muslims haven't done. So therefore, all Muslims get a free pass. On the other hand, all Americans bear the 'guilt' of whatever oppression Muslims feel have been against them.
"We" are *all* guilty for being Americans. "They" are not all guilty, because they "all" aren't terrorists. In fact, we can't insult the ones who ARE guilty, because it insults the ones who don't kill, behead and blow up children. We even have to swallow our justifiable outrage, because we have to be polite to all of these guys. Meanwhile, *every* one of us, according to the logic of people like Ward Churchill, are justified targets for the terrorists.
All Americans, bad. Some Muslims, bad, but don't go around saying that.
Screw it.
Let's put this in perspective. They *killed* our people. They used our planes as weapons, they beheaded people, and they danced in the streets overjoyed at it. And we not only can't strike back, we can't even take precautions against possible attackers (profiling)? We have to be *POLITE* about their religion? This, to people who HAVE NO PROBLEM killing those practicing any religion other than Islam (at least, in their native lands)?
Maybe it's because, people just don't want to see Americans as 'victims'. Because they'd see it differently if the ones being attacked were, say, black, or gay. Or women. Imagine white supremacists consistently blowing blacks up - and the news programs being silent about it, while whites celebrated, openly, and white religious leaders encouraging more of the same in the name of God. Imagine women or gays being openly assaulted, and having authorities warn them not to provoke attacks - because "you brought this on yourselves".
You know what? SOME people do say such things - but most of us think it's damned idiotic.
I'm tired of hearing about how polite I need to be to Muslims. Almost every terror attack against the United States for the last fifteen years has been done by Muslims - you're damned right I have every right to have them checked out at airports. It's stupid to make Granny go through a full cavity search because it would be unfair to Mohammed.