Fellow shellers,

The horrible attacks of yesterday are a watershed event in history. The
suffering and pain that other parts of the world experience regularly has
suddenly burst the illusion of apartness that Americans usually feel.

I feel compelled to say that acts of revenge and a standard of no
distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them will surely result
in continuation of the cycle of violence.

A standard of "no distinction" is not an auspicious one for the US.

Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, leader of the FRAPH death squad, now resides in
Brooklyn. Hundreds of documents pertaining to the death squad's activities
were seized by the US military. The government of Haiti has repeatedly asked
for Constant's extradition and for the return of the documents; the US has
refused. Does this signal a right of Haiti to launch an attack on the US?
Emphatically, no.

Henry Kissinger, just a couple of weeks ago, received a summons by French
police in Paris regarding an investigation into the disappearances of French
citizens in Chile in the 1970s. He ignored it and took a plane out of
France. He now faces a hearing in Washington, DC, for the kidnapping
(leading to the murder) of the Chilean Army chief of staff in 1970. A
suspect in state terrorism being harbored on US soil?

There are lots of calls for blood and this is a natural response. But I
believe yesterday's events entail a re-examination of cherished assumptions
about conduct and policy. Meting out punishment but not being accountable
for one's own conduct is the type of thinking that led us to this point,
unfortunately. The world needs reason and justice, not more fuel on the
fire.

******

Can we get back to shelling?
Are people willing to name some of the good shelling beaches in their
experiences? Also, have others been finding that there's a general decline
in the quality of shelling over the past 20 years?

David Kirsh
Durham, NC