[LINK] OT: bin Laden is dead

[Karl Auer]

On Mon, 2011-05-09 at 09:40 +1000, Darrell Burkey wrote:
> Certainly looks that way. So, how do they get away with it? That's a
> serious question. Why isn't someone holding them accountable? They must
> have a legal justification of some kind? Have they published anything?
> Has anyone officially put it to them?

The wheels of justice grind very, very slowly - for nations, even
slower. The individuals involved rarely get caught or punished. That's
OK - as a species we have to rise above the small stuff and see the
precious things.

> Putting aside the above I do have another question. How do we deal with
> situations where someone declares war, openly murders innocent citizens
> and then runs away to hide in a part of the world that won't support
> their capture? The suggestions made here, and I think Karl was the only
> one who really answered about that issue, really don't work IMHO.

There are two steps. First step: Don't forget. Second step: Don't take
the easy path.

> So, do we just stand by and accept that under our legal systems these
> people have the freedom and right to murder as they see fit if it suits
> their cause and just pray we aren't sitting in the wrong cafe when they
> blow one up?

"Freedom to murder"? You have that freedom, so do I. The freedom to do
right must by definition include the freedom to do wrong. The most
iniquitous laws of all are made when we try to take away the freedom to
do wrong.

"Right to murder"? Nobody has the "right" to murder. A crime is a crime
even if the perpetrator is not caught and/or not punished.

So yes, they do have the freedom to murder. It's a freedom they must
have if we are to have our freedom. No they don't have the right to
murder. They can hide in places in the world where the laws of civilised
countries cannot reach, but they are doing just that - hiding. They are
imprisoning themselves. And the circle of darkness they hide in will get
smaller NOT if we act as they do, but when we act as they do not - with
patience and principle.

Oh and remember - your chance of dying in a cafe blast is miniscule,
absolutely miniscule. If you want to make a real difference to your
chances of surviving to a ripe old age, eat better, eat less, and don't
drive :-)

There is of course another matter here, that seems to have been
forgotten in all the kerfuffle. What did Osama bin Laden want, and why
did he want it? The US (and all of us) would do better combating those
reasons than combating their symptoms, because those reasons did not die
with Osama bin Laden.

Feed people, educate people, welcome refugees. It's not bleeding-heart
liberalism - it's hard-nosed self-defence. And it's a LOT cheaper than
bullets.

Regards, K.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)                   +61-2-64957160 (h)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer/                   +61-428-957160 (mob)

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