The meaning of words is also in their history. We should be reminded that the War On Terror is meant, first and foremost, not against those whom we call terrorists, but against internal political opponents and internal dissent. We should recognise that it is on the internal front that the the war on terror has produced results up to now. Bin Laden and his acolytes are roaming free and producing more terrorists while we, citizens of the free world, are paying a high price for Bush's and the Neo-Cons war on terror; restriction of civil liberties, banalisation of torture, marginalisation of honest dissent, criminalisation of the innocents, absence of a people friendly social agenda, neglect of the social agenda alltogether. Thanks to François Furstenberg for reminding us of our homegrown terror inspired, not by Bin Laden, but by Bush's and the Neo-Cons' policies.
"If the French Terror had a slogan, it was that attributed to the great orator Louis de Saint-Just: “No liberty for the enemies of liberty.” Saint-Just’s pithy phrase (like President Bush’s variant, “We must not let foreign enemies use the forums of liberty to destroy liberty itself”) could serve as the very antithesis of the Western liberal tradition.
On this principle, the Terror demonized its political opponents, imprisoned suspected enemies without trial and eventually sent thousands to the guillotine. All of these actions emerged from the Jacobin worldview that the enemies of liberty deserved no rights.
Though it has been a topic of much attention in recent years, the origin of the term “terrorist” has gone largely unnoticed by politicians and pundits alike. The word was an invention of the French Revolution, and it referred not to those who hate freedom, nor to non-state actors, nor of course to “Islamofascism.”
A terroriste was, in its original meaning, a Jacobin leader who ruled France during la Terreur. "
Paul Krugman's 'Fearing Fear Itself'
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Since March 29th 2006
2 comments:
I just saw Sarkozy on 60 mins!
The man is pathological! He needs to see a shrink for anger management!
The man was yelling "stupid" at one of his staff on camera, because he was "angry"!
I really think instead of oath of office, these "new" world readers need to take a psychological assessment before taking office!
Naj,
Sarko prides himself by being like he is and French seem to love that, it gives them the impression that they are changing their country for a more assertive country, after a series of more placid self-ffacing presidents.
I know this is ironic but don't forget that Sarko is a product of the celebrity image age. He calculates his declarations, actions, movements, and every one of his appearances according to TV schedule. The only one who actually surpasses him in this manipualtion is Bin Laden.
When celebrities stop doing good movies and working, guess what they do for maintaining their image on our screens and glossy magazine newspapers ? They advertise their bad life, and so this is what Sarko exactly does with his bad behaviour.
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