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November 11, 2005
Terror strikes in unexpected places
Roger L. Simon reports that Moustapha Akkad -- along with his daughter Rima (a friend of Andrew Breitbart) were both murdered by the bombings in Amman, Jordan. (Via Glenn Reynolds.) As I've said before, Akkad's "Lion of the Desert" is an old favorite. I have it on DVD, and I'll watch it again in Akkad's honor. A Syrian born Muslim, Akkad was obviously more sympathetic to Islamism than I would have liked, but he was a great artist. And frankly, his views are more understandable than those of most of his Hollywood cohorts. His death is a real loss to the industry, and it's more than just tragic. The fact that a major, internationally acclaimed advocate of Islam was killed in this way does more to demonstrate the mindless, nihilistic evil of terrorism than any film anyone could have made. I'm hoping (just hoping) that maybe a few unlikely people will ask some much-needed questions that haven't been asked. Possibly in places where they wouldn't have been expected. Mr. Akkad's family has all my sympathy. posted by Eric on 11.11.05 at 10:03 PM |
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Yes, this does demonstrate the mindless, nihilistic evil of terrorism, and why it must be distinguished from other political violence such as assassination.
E.g., Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to assassinate General Edwin Anderson Walker, an outspoken opponent of the Communist Conspiracy, and then assassinated President John F. Kennedy for reasons known only to that Conspiracy (his forcing Soviet missiles out of Cuba?, his threat to Soviet supremacy in space?). Oswald chose these specific men, and no others, for his targets.
By contrast, a terrorist, when he plants a bomb or hijacks a plane and crashes it into a skyscraper, intends to kill, not a specific individual, but simply anybody and everybody who happens to be there, men, women, children. If some of the victims happen to agree with his political or religious agenda, too bad. They must all die "for the greater cause", says the terrorist. Some small percentage of those who died in the World Trade Center happened to be Muslim, also.
Therefore, while I oppose Lee Harvey Oswald and the Conspiracy he served, he was far less reprehensible than a terrorist -- terrorism being part of that same Conspiracy, the waging of "wars of national liberation" against the West, as outlined by Lenin.