Yet what's as remarkable as Aum's potential for mayhem is how little of it, on balance, they actually caused. Don't misunderstand me: Aum's crimes were horrific, not merely the terrible subway gassing but their long history of murder, intimidation, extortion, fraud, and exploitation. What they did was unforgivable, and the human cost, devastating. But at no point did Aum Shinrikyo represent an existential threat to Japan or its people. The death toll of Aum was several dozen; again, a terrible human cost, but not an existential threat. At no time was the territorial integrity of Japan threatened. At no time was the operational integrity of the Japanese government threatened. At no time was the day-to-day operation of the Japanese economy meaningfully threatened. The threat to the average Japanese citizen was effectively nil.
Just as important was what the Japanese government and people did not do. They didn't panic. They didn't make sweeping changes to their way of life. They didn't implement a vast system of domestic surveillance. They didn't suspend basic civil rights. They didn't begin to capture, torture, and kill without due process. They didn't, in other words, allow themselves to be terrorized. Instead, they addressed the threat. They investigated and arrested the cult's leadership. They tried them in civilian courts and earned convictions through due process. They buried their dead. They mourned. And they moved on. In every sense, it was a rational, adult, mature response to a terrible terrorist act, one that remained largely in keeping with liberal democratic ideals.
Even that is not a good comparison. That is an organization as opposed 2 people.
But in response to the American reaction to a threat..... The Japanese people singulary, and as a whole would never stand up, and scream "What are you going to do about this!!" Where as that's what Americans do. Also, we have no idea what kind of surveillance they have, and what the people as a whole would mind.
Also, They didn't have to start a war to get to the Leaders.
Mastrloo
70 Iksar Monk
7 years later.
The hills are still triangles.
And the trees are still blocks.
I think the key is you don't treat terrorists like an opposing country and army, you treat them like criminals and outlaws.
Well, it’s the Super-Monroe Doctrine: “Get off our oil, people who dress funny!” - M. Bouffant
"You're a bad captain, Zarde. People like you only learn by being touched, and hard. And you will greatly disapprove of where these men put their hands." - M. Vanderbeam.
The key would then have to be to get other countries to arrest those criminals, that are in other countries. I remember Pakistan being real angry we got Bin Laden....and not just because they were not asked first. We killed their guest.
Not that I like the government listening to my phone sex, but this thread is so far off the mark, I might as well say my duck is wearing a pancake raincoat therefor your argument is invalid.
Mastrloo
70 Iksar Monk
7 years later.
The hills are still triangles.
And the trees are still blocks.
Massterloo wrote:The key would then have to be to get other countries to arrest those criminals, that are in other countries. I remember Pakistan being real angry we got Bin Laden....and not just because they were not asked first. We killed their guest.
Not that I like the government listening to my phone sex, but this thread is so far off the mark, I might as well say my duck is wearing a pancake raincoat therefor your argument is invalid.
There's no connection between domestic spying and what happened with Bin Laden, and that's kinda the point, since none of that domestic spying that was justified by his organization was used to catch him.
Well, it’s the Super-Monroe Doctrine: “Get off our oil, people who dress funny!” - M. Bouffant
"You're a bad captain, Zarde. People like you only learn by being touched, and hard. And you will greatly disapprove of where these men put their hands." - M. Vanderbeam.
We may never know what we learned from the losers the terrorist enchanted, those they located, and watched in the USA. It's not like they just started this after BL was killed.
Mastrloo
70 Iksar Monk
7 years later.
The hills are still triangles.
And the trees are still blocks.
