Klarinet Archive - Posting 000246.txt from 2006/03
From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Remarks on Tom Fox from The AmericanThinker
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:38:42 -0500
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Out of curiosity, Dan, what do you make of that article yourself?
Here's just a couple of thoughts of my own.
> All belonged to the leftwing Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), which
> provided "human shields" in Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi
> Freedom, works side by side with the anti-Israel, quasi-terrorist
> International Solidarity Movement and takes the standard leftwing
> position that America, as the world's biggest terrorist, got its
> comeuppance on 9/11/2001.
I somehow find it dubious that the CPT has ever held the position that
America "got its comeuppance" on September 11. I am sure there are some
in the ISM who have voiced that opinion, but I doubt it's the official
position of that organisation either. The ISM may be "anti-Israel" but
to call it "quasi-terrorist" is laughable. Standing in front of
bulldozers is hardly terrorist activity.
So, first off, we have an author trying to associate Tom Fox with views
which, if you read his own writings, you will *know* he despised.
> But Fox also harbored hatred for his culture and an overall disdain for=
America, as indicated by statements on his blog. He also suffered from a=
terrible naivete: "I think it would be fair to say that a survey of opin=
ion taken from news sources in various parts of the world would find peop=
le using the words 'fear and hatred' much more often than they would use =
the words 'respect and love' when it comes to describing the United State=
s. Not only in the Middle East but in Europe and in much of Asia and oth=
er areas as well. We are seen more as an empire rather than a beacon of h=
ope to the oppressed and downtrodden. We are seen more as a militaristic =
superpower, bent on imposing our will on others, rather than the keeper o=
f the flame of the hope and promise of democracy," said Thomas William Fo=
x, missing the fact that people fear America so much, that they flock to =
its shores
> in droves, seeking freedom and peace and economic opportunity.
Note that in the first sentence the author refers to "statements on his
blog" showing "hatred for his culture and an overall disdain for
America", but does not actually give examples. If the following
statement is meant to be an example, it is a very
poor one. What we see here is Tom Fox not expressing a personal opinion
about America but simply reporting his impression of others' opinion.=20
That this is described as "terrible naivete" is terribly ironic given
that while Tom Fox was actually *out there* talking to other people
*living* in different parts of the world, whereas the author appears to
base his opinion only on those who have moved to America (a tiny
minority, by comparison, and unlikely to be representative).
So, we have here another rather disingenuous attempt to paint Tom Fox as
a "hater".
> Crippled by this moral confusion, Fox habitually ignored the greater of=
two evils. His blog entry on Fallujah hints at as much. Though in his wr=
itings he essentially described the liberation of Fallujah as a senseless=
act, he failed mentioning that after U.S. forces chased out and killed t=
he Islamists who had held the town hostage, they made the gruesome discov=
ery of nearly two dozen torture chambers, awash in blood, some with bloat=
ed bodies and hacked off body parts dumped near them. Lt. Col. Gareth Bra=
ndl, a Marine said, "The face of Satan was here in Fallujah, and I'm abso=
lutely convinced that that was true."
And this author fails to mention the use of massive, *massive*
bombardment (including chemical weapons that most of the world considers
illegal) against that city, with scant regard for civilian life; or the
fact that the serious terrorist takeover of Fallujah occurred (and was
probably caused by) the massive US overreaction to the lynching of four
contractors. That this is not merely a "bleeding-heart liberal" opinion
can be seen by examining the following article by a senior officer in
the British army:
Changing the Army for Counterinsurgency Operations
<http://usacac.leavenworth.army.mil/CAC/milreview/download/English/NovDec=
05/aylwin.pdf>
(In fact this article is worth reading at length for anyone who takes
too seriously the idea that Tom Fox' concerns about US military actions
were wishy-washy nonsense.)
> All Tom Fox was to his captors and murderers was filth-- a piece of gar=
bage; a weak, vile, subhuman infidel of the Western variety; a creature t=
o be spit on and reviled and, when no longer of use, slaughtered like an =
animal and then discarded. They treated Mr. Fox like they would treat us =
all, as stones to be kicked aside while building the road to Paradise. Th=
ey treated Mr. Fox, and if given the chance they'd treat us all, like the=
Nazis treated the Jews.
So we see a self-righteous condemnation of evil men. But the
interesting thing is that if you read his blog, Tom Fox was very well
aware of the presence of religious fanatics. Yet he was also
aware---and met, and helped, and talked about---the real people of Iraq:
the many, many scared, suffering people who are living terrified lives.=20
He gave them a voice they would not have had otherwise. Yet to the
author of this article, they are barely worthy of mention: they are
casually referred to as the "brothers and sisters" of the terrorist
fanatics. Their voices are not allowed to speak.
If one reads Tom Fox' blog, one finds, not hatred, but sorrow,
compassion, and a burning desire to help the innocent---and a strong
desire to reach out to others and listen. If one reads *this* article,
one finds contempt, disingenuous argument and an absolute failure to
acknowledge *any* reasonable grounds for the concerns that led Tom Fox
to Iraq in the first place. (How interesting that "Adopt a Detainee"
can be referred to as "sympathetic to suspected terrorists" but not
mention Abu Grahib.) One finds an article that "looks to its own",
quoting only from American sources.
One finds, in sum, an article which attempts to further division and
deny questions, decrying others' violence while refusing to discuss the
violent activity of those who the author no doubt considers "his own",
and giving no voice to those who are actually caught under and suffering
at the hands of the collected effects of all this.
Given the choice between that denial and contempt, compared to a man who
put himself into mortal danger to meet and care for and give voice to
those suffering people, I know whose side I'm on.
-- Joe
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