Metaphor

Sep. 11th, 2004 11:50 pm
selenite0: (anvil)
[personal profile] selenite0
One of bloggers at Winds of Change came up with an interesting metaphor for the war while discussing the atrocities in Russia:

Smoking contributes to cancer. Russia had a three pack a day habit going in Chechnya for too long, so they shouldn't be too surprised now when the doctors hand Putin the X-Ray and shake their heads. But to suggest now . . . that the solution lies in quitting smoking, is ludicrously inadequate.

The terror has now metastasized, linked up with tumors elsewhere in the body of the world. It is a systemic disease and it requires a systemic cure that acknowledges the true nature of the disease.

The cancer of the jihadi mentality is ready to attack anywhere the tissue is weak. Those who advise against weakening the tissue further are correct, but they insist that the cure go no farther.

Give them what they want? Sure, stop smoking. But the cancer doesn’t want you to stop smoking. It wants you to die.


America's smoking habit has been propping dictators to maintain "stability" in a region that desperately needs change. We've cut back, and hopefully we'll completely quit soon. But the important thing is going after the worst of the cancer wherever we can. Right now that means cutting out the tumors easiest to get to and causing the most damage, not just one the one that made us go to the doctor. Saddam didn't have anything to do with 9/11--so what? He's contributing to the problem and Iraq's the best place to start on the solution.

I hope we can beat this without resorting to radiation therapy. But that's going to take aggressively using all the other treatment options first.

Date: 2004-09-12 01:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] oilhistorian.livejournal.com
And yours is to explain why Reagan, North, and Poindexter shouldn't be considered supporters of terror as well since they armed Iran in an effort to curry favor with these same terrorists.

Date: 2004-09-12 02:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenite.livejournal.com
Why? I'm not part of their fan club. I consider them part of the smoking habit.

Date: 2004-09-12 02:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] selenite.livejournal.com
On second thought, don't answer that "why?" I'm not interested in talking about those guys no matter how good the justification.

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