A few comments in the wake of the terrorist attacks on America (and see my recent article, New Israel: A Win-Win-Win Proposal). Given the attitude of hysteria and simpleminded accusations of treason hurled at anyone who dares to challenge the official government line, let me preface this by saying that I’m not a pacifist. The terrorists and any governments or individuals or groups that supported, aided and abetted them, deserve to be put out of our misery, ruthlessly exterminated (see my article Punishment and Proportionality). There is no justification for their attacks, especially on innocent civilians. They committed unspeakable evil, and have shown themselves to be savage animals.
Because the government monopolizes defense and policing services, we have little choice but to use the U.S. military to pursue the terrorists, if they are to be pursued at all. However, we should be cautious endorsing government action to pursue and punish these miserable animals. We must keep in mind that the actions of these criminals do not justify our taking innocent lives abroad, which would only serve to generate even more hatred of America and thus more terrorists and American deaths. And we must be wary of the federal government using this as an excuse to expand its power and extend its reach over the lives of foreigners and citizens, as it invariably does. Any government action should be focused on the actual perpetrators and their collaborators. (We should also explore private solutions, such as the encouraging development of a private $1billion bounty fund apparently being raised to hire mercenaries to kill or capture terrorists.)
Any government retaliation should be limited in scope and in duration. After the perpetrators are dealt with, we should also take a good, close look at our foreign policy to see what sensible, sound adjustments should be made. For example, a more isolationist foreign policy is bound to be cheaper for us and also less likely to stir up additional hatred and enemies. I, for one, do not think foreign interests are worth thousands of American lives.
Incidentally, some good columns on the attacks, from a paleo perspective, have appeared over the last few days at LewRockwell.com; see also AntiWar.com, and Wendy McElroy’s FoxNews/iFeminist columns; also Wendy’s Just War article. Two of the best are: the superb article is Jacob Hornberger’s The War on Terrorism; and Congressman Ron Paul’s Sept. 25 Speech to the House of Representatives.
