putting down the US military

[Tim May]

At 4:07 PM -0800 2/19/98, Attila T. Hun wrote:


>Eric J. Tune wrote:
>
>>Your "cheering" was a blatant slap in the face to anyone who has
>>ever served in uniform. [snip]
>>
>    absolutely. misplaced criticism and a personal offense to me
>    as well as all other servicemen.

"Personal offense"? Gee, I'm crushed. (Attila, you wrote such a nice rant
about fascist Amerika...then decided to be "offended" when your predictable
hot button was pressed: any criticism of the military and any cheering of
its defeats. So predictable.)

I'll repeat: I cheer when I see the U.S. swatted down in its foreign
adventures. While I don't necessarily with harm to specific soldiers,
they're just pawns in a geopolitical power game. Eggs have to be broken to
make omelettes, and sometimes planes have to be shot down, aircraft
carriers have to be sunk (my fondest wish for Operation Wag the Dog), and
soldiers have to be stuck by the pikes of the peasants (as in Somalia). War
is hell. Nothing new there.

To _not_ want the U.S. to be taught a lesson just because it means some
soldiers must die as part of the lesson (else there is no lesson, of
course) is to let the USG do anything it wants.

By the way, the same arguments--identical in all ways--about individual
sons (and, sometimes, daughters) dying in the cause of war can be used in
many other arenas. For example, no doubt the CIA agent killed in Athens
when his name was published in a newspaper had parents, perhaps a wife and
children. So? He was still a spy, and some folks angry at having
imperialist spies in their midst offed him. Rough justice.

And no doubt some government soldiers in Burma, killed by rebel forces,
also had mothers and fathers, blah blah blah.

Both of these examples have crypto connections:

- the rebel forces in Myanmar/Burma use PGP. Ergo, PGP is helping
"terrorists" kill government soldiers.

- the publication of lists of CIA and DIA agents via "whistleblowing
remailers" is expected to increase. Remailers _will_ be used by "enemies of
the U.S. government." On this one, Louis Freeh and I have  long been in
agreement, me for even longer than he's known what the issues are.

Get used to it. When Johhnie or Hans or Sergei goes to war, he may die. And
perhaps because of Cypherpunks technologies. All part of the scheme of
things.


>        Tim gets to say his piece,
>        and we get to lump it      --or lump Tim.
>

Another empty threat from Attila?


--Tim May




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