Homestead mailing list

[Walter H.Jeffries <Highlands AT blacklightning.com>]

On Sep 4, 2004, at 3:40 PM, Tvoivozhd wrote:
> There are only two ways to really stop guerrillas, the Genghis Khan 
> and Stalin quick way or for the desperate a thirty-year properly 
> funded program of education coupled with a thirty-year properly funded 
> program of bringing them as employees and entrepreneurs into the 
> greater economy.  People making a good living don't deviate from it to 
> become guerrillas.

The problem with this theory is that in the mid-east (and other areas 
throughout history) there are a large number of young men who have 
education and money but go into the jihad. This was the same in the 
Christian "Holy Wars", the Crusades. From what I can glean they tend to 
be unmarried and have no children, claim boredom and are said to be 
searching for 'meaning'. This fits with the insurance and banking 
industry's view that married people with children are far more stable 
and reliable (serfs?).

A portion of the above problem is that the religion and clerics push 
the martyr complex and the us vs them view that anyone outside their 
sect of their religion is a heathen. They offer no compromise, just 
subjection. When any group gets like that they tend to be difficult to 
live along side of since they have no tolerance for differences.

One thing to remember about Chechnya is that it is a portion of the 
populace that is pushing the guerrilla war against Russia. There are 
Chechnyians who do not want to separate from Russia and most of all do 
not want to live under the guerrillas' rule even if they did separate.

It is also to be noted that while the news reports 'X dead', there were 
almost 1,000 saved. The media tends to gloss over the fact that the 
Russians saved the lives of 1,000 people and that it was the 
Chechnyians, with the help of "Arabs and al-Qaida", who took the 
hostages, blew up the building (the Russians rushed in AFTER the 
hostage takers started the explosion), deprived people of water, food 
and bathrooms for three days and killed the hundreds of people. It was 
the hostage takers who did the awful deed. From their historic actions 
they intended to kill all the hostages anyways. There should be no 
negotiations with people like that - it will only encourage them.

Compassion and helping people lift themselves up is good but it doesn't 
always work. If you study history you'll find that the worst trouble 
makers aren't the most oppressed but actually quite privileged. We 
spend an enormous amount on helping people but that alone will not stop 
deviants like these hostage takers or al-Qaida.