Guilty For Voting:

Note the comment in the short article below that we in America "are all warriors because you chose this government". I will forgo making the point that this is yet another example of the fact that radical Islamists view our society as a threat, and so it is not specific grievances that drive their violence, but a belief that Western society is somehow fundamentally unholy, and must therefore be destroyed.

Moving on from this, I second that sentiment in a way - in a deomcracy, we are not entirely innocents as we partake in the system, or at least are given the chance to do so. We therefore must take responsibility for the policies of our nation, and work to elect those who will carry out those policies that we believe to be propper.

(But by the same token, we should extend our loyalties to that same government - even if we disagree and while we maintain a healthy skepticism regarding government action here and abroad - and not attempt to dissociate ourselves simply because we don't like the leader the majority of voters has chosen. To do so is irresponsible, immature, and worst of all, social-suicide (in the sense that leads to the ultimate demise of our own society).)

However, working from the philosophical basis of our political system - namely that of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers - when one lives in an unjust society, one has the right and duty to rise up against that government. That is, living in a Democracy only provides us with the peaceful, nonviolent means to replace an existing government with one more just or more in line with the views of the general public - of the people. Living in an oppressive society should not excuse one of this moral, social, and personal obligation. Therefore, while Islamic fascists may be right, in a sense, to charge that all civilians in the West are complicit in the existence of our societies, our cultures, our infidel world and therefore are not innocent - so too may we consider, in a sense, that all peoples in the Middle East, living in states sponsoring or supporting terrorism are also complicit in the existence of their societies - and therefore are not innocent.

The implications of this reasoning are many, but I will not address them here. Just some food for thought.

~JDS


In the Netherlands, 6 Muslims Accused In Bomb Plot

BY TOBY STERLING - Associated Press
October 17, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/41681

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Six Muslims accused of plotting an attack against Dutch politicians went on trial yesterday, including a man who was acquitted last year on separate charges in a setback for prosecutors.

Since Samir Azzouz's earlier trial, the government has passed new laws making membership in a terrorist organization a crime and outlawing "recruiting" for a terrorist network. Mr. Azzouz, 20, is charged with both, as well as plotting to murder one or more politicians that authorities said he considered hostile to Islam. Evidence against him includes a videotaped apparent suicide message Mr. Azzouz recorded — leaked and broadcast on national television — in which he is shown holding an automatic rifle and saying he wanted to punish the Dutch people for their government's support of the American-led war on terrorism.

"You are considered warriors because you chose this government.Your possessions and blood are promised to us," he said on the tape. Months after Mr. Azzouz's release following his April 2005 acquittal, he was arrested and accused of plotting to attack a Dutch politician or government building.Authorities said he had tried to buy weapons for the attack.

Yesterday, Mr. Azzouz grinned and chatted with his co-defendants in court.

Defense lawyer Victor Koppe says Mr. Azzouz is innocent of any wrongdoing and his latest prosecution shows authorities are prejudiced against him and harassing him.

Other evidence in the current case includes automatic weapons, digital bombmaking manuals, and a list of the home addresses of politicians, including Prime Minister Balkenende and a former member of parliament, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, authorities said.

In June 2004, Mr. Azzouz was arrested as a suspect in the armed robbery of a grocery store. At his home, police said they found bomb-making materials and detailed maps of parliament, Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, and a nuclear reactor. He was taken into custody, and the country was put on a nationwide terror alert that lasted for several weeks.

Investigators also said they found a pellet gun, ammunition clips and a silencer for automatic weapons, night vision goggles, and a bulletproof vest at Mr. Azzouz's home. In the April 2005 verdict, judges found the bomb-making materials he had assembled were not capable of causing an explosion. He was convicted on weapons possession charges and released with time served.

The Dutch secret service said then that it considers him a terrorist, and the agency keeps him under constant surveillance.