BOP 9/11 Archive: Part Two
By BOP Staff
September 12, 2011
C. Hyde: “This is just sooooo accurate. people are totally unwilling to give up the time and the relative ease of air travel in this country for more security. Last time i went to logan it looked to me like it was a security nightmare, but when the place takes you forever to get in and out of as it is, i can't imagine that any sort of real security measures there would be acceptable since they'd just make travelling out of there even more painful. Most people aren't willing to trade their time for enhanced security.
The price of freedom is sometimes very dear.”
Lafarrow: “Of you want a legal reason why we can do whatever we want i'll provide it. The US has a long history of pursing pirates wherever they reside "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" terrorists are nothing more than pirates. Consequently they are outside the rule of international law. Now our relations with the host country don't fit this construct so you can just do what you want and say "screw you" (see Libya and Quadaffi under Reagan). The court of international opinion will be swayed back into our camp by economic weight of the US. or you can seek permission and use economic and other pressure to bend the state to your will. Takes longer, yes, and Iraq shows that that method has its drawbacks. Third option, it would seem, would be to use the United Nations as an extraterritorial police force to do your dirty work. "Its not us, ma, it's the world killing you." All in all
international law is just the force of will of the strongest state.”
David Mumpower: “You know, Ben is right here (hey, after a couple of years, he was due). This country has a longstanding history of doing what we want then justifying it later. Also, any country dumb enough to try to protect these murderous thugs deserves whatever they get and I consider that a matter of public perspective, not personal opinion. It's very hard to argue you're protecting people you believe to be innocent when one is dumb/proud enough to advertise his crime ahead of time. Laden is a man without a country right now (though he's trying to get one).
What the paranoid in me fears is that he has some ally that hasn't stepped up to the plate yet and that this is a trap we're going to walk into. The realist in me recognizes he's just a crazed zealot and it's unusual for those types to ever find allies...though not impossible.”
Continued:
1
2
3
4
5
Print this column
