Posted by Alan F. Bachrach, M.D. on September 28, 2001 at 17:52:14:
In Reply to: Re: You're right! posted by Al Gordon on September 28, 2001 at 07:17:06:
Al,
I think many of us took the events of 9/11 very personally. I live in Nashville, which is a long way from NY, DC or Toronto. I can tell you that many people here were terribly upset, angry and moved to action. For example, the Red Cross blood donation center was swamped with potential donors. Memorial services were held all over the city.
I think a lot of good has come from the discussions about whether we should retaliate or how we should retaliate. I note that the news coming over the internet tonight states that we are gearing up to feed 1 million Afghans at risk of starvation. This is good and the right thing to do. I have also learned from these discussions and from the news media that there is no point in bombing Afghanistan's cities. There is nothing to bomb. So, I think our ability to communicate over the net has resulted in better information, less inclination to respond indiscriminately with bombing, and perhaps a clearer picture (though, admittedly the picture remains fuzzy) of who our enemies are and how difficult it will be to find them and destroy them.
So, we need to keep talking.
This medium also helps us to realize how many kooks there are out there. Maybe that's the really scary thing!
Alan