Re: virus: Martyrdom and the fallacy of the single cause

Kevin M O'Connor (kmoprime@juno.com)
Wed, 30 Oct 1996 04:03:51 EST


On Mon, 28 Oct 1996 18:50:52 -0500 David Leeper <dleeper@gte.net> writes:
>Kevin O'Conner,
>
>> What would you like us to take away from your statement with regard
>to
>> Palestinians who recruit and train young men to be suicide bombers?
>
>Kevin, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but please follow the thread.
>I'm tired of repeating the same thing over and over.

I've read each of your posts on this thread; some of them repeatedly. I
think I got the major theme, i.e. suicide attacks are the product of
natives' desperation at the ursurpation of local autonomy by an occupying
foriegn power and no other factors, be they historical, religious, or
cultural causally contribute to the actions of the suicide bombers. The
question at which I keep hammering away in search of an explanation
concerns a particular quote. I'd have to go to the archive to fish it
out, but I suspect I can paraphrase accurately enough for you to identify
it. You said something to the effect that we all choose our words with
care in an attempt to present our views in the most favorable possible
light, but that sometimes the words we choose are false. That sentiment
formed a paragraph unto itself and you didn't explicitly apply it to the
topic at hand. It seems as though you thought its application would be
obvious. It wasn't obvious to me so I asked for clarification. In
responce to that request you said that you were talking about the IRA
and the PLO. I gathered that much, but what I didn't understand is what
message you intended to convey about the IRA and the PLO with your
aphorisitc statement about everyone presenting their case in the best way
they know how and sometimes employing falsehoods in the process. I still
don't know what to make of that cryptic paragraph.

Rather than repeating yourself, as your original attempt didn't convey
the intended point, maybe you could restate it in as clear and concise a
manner as you know how. If you're tired of trying to crowbar what seems
to be a simple sentiment into my thick skull then you're welcome to
abandon the thread. Do as you will.

Take care. -KMO