> I'm confused. Are you saying that unless someone has specific remedies for
> removing the al-Qaeda from Afghanistan or elsewhere that it amounts to the
> equivalent of giving them a pass on whatever their crimes may be?
In the current context, yes, I do. Al Qaeda does not suffer from ideological or theological doubt, nor does it have second thoughts about committing mass murder in pursuit of its twisted dream. Jesus, man, the fuckers wiped out the World Trade Center, slaughtering thousands, and are doubtless planning more attacks. What more do you need?
> I follow Chomsky pretty well and certainly don't hang on his every word
but
> can't recall his saying we should just leave the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda
> alone. Don't Chomsky-Zinn-Finkelstein call for first gathering proof of
> wrongdoing and then exhausting all legal means at our disposal before
> considering (or not considering) what amounts to illegal military means to
> accomplish our objectives, however ill defined they are? I would like the
> 'do nothing' Chomsky quote referenced if possible.
The Chomsky quote came from his talk at MIT early in the game. He said something to the effect that sometimes you can do nothing, and that the Taliban would solve a lot of problems if it just disappeared (magically, I guess). I'm sure it's still at ZNet if you wish to look it up.
DP