Fight back or die?
Reader comment on item: Defending and Advancing Freedom

Submitted by John Bellusci (United States), Mar 6, 2006 at 13:22

I am probably a little late commenting on this article, but I refuse to stay silent.

I have read most of the "feedback" on this article and see comments from a Filipino, a "Rational Individualist", and a Muslim and so on. The one thread that runs through all of the comments is the idea that in a global society individual rights and freedoms are at the forefront of any decision. That is ludicrous and the very reason that the war in Iraq is being fought. Saddam, bin Laden, Hitler etc. all believed that they could impose their ideas and extremist values on their people and the rest of the world. They tried to subjugate the people of their world.

However, French, German, Russian, and most freedom loving people do not seem to understand that in order to keep individual rights and freedoms you have to remove all semblances of those who wish to force religion and social views that run contrary to freedom. Yes, I said REMOVE ALL SEMBLANCES. You can not live in a global world of individual rights and freedoms with a few people running around killing you and forcing their views on you. You can not contain for a very long time cancer in the body. Eventually, it will consume the WEAKER parts of the body and kill it. If you believe that Jihadists should have the same individual rights as other free people to impose their faith and moral views; and that it is wrong to bring war to any people or government that does those things, then you have to be willing to give up your individualism and expect to one day be subjugated.

The British and American version of democracy is not the purest form of rule, but it does afford the most people with the most individual rights.

John B
Author of Byte Back and Mouth-to-Mouth
Caliente, CA

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