Tag: Osama Bin Laden

Prof. Dominique Moisi, Man To Man?

Dominique Moisi is the author of a book, The Geopolitics Of Emotion, which is a book that needs to be read by all people concerned about the future of our planet. I personally benefited from reading it in that some cherished values that I held had to be changed to accommodate different perceptives.

Moisi’s credentials are impeccable and that is why I find a comment attributed to him to be rather disappointing. He is said to have commented on hearing about Osama Bin Laden’s death as “They did it, and they did it in the most classical, manly way,” said Dominique Moïsi, senior fellow at the French Institute of Foreign Relations. “It wasn’t a drone, it wasn’t technology, it was man versus man.”

What rubbish! One entity used his youngest of heaven knows how many wives, as a human shield to protect himself from being killed. I would not call that a manly way to fight or die. It was not man to man dear Professor. It was, man to mouse.

Revenge!

Welcome to the Loose Bloggers’ Consortium, where every Friday, some of us post on the same topic. Today’s topic Revenge, has been chosen by gaelikaa.

Gaelikaa, that message is for you. I will select a topic that you will find as difficult to write on as I find this.

This is what revenge can mean.

“Acquiring weapons for the defense of Muslims is a religious duty. If I have indeed acquired these weapons, then I thank God for enabling me to do so. And if I seek to acquire these weapons, I am carrying out a duty. It would be a sin for Muslims not to try to possess the weapons that would prevent the infidels from inflicting harm on Muslims.” – Osama Bin Laden, Time Magazine Dec 1998

“Swami Aseemanand allegedly admitted to placing bombs on a train to Pakistan, at a Sufi shrine and at a mosque.

He has also allegedly confessed to carrying out two assaults on the southern Indian town of Malegaon, which has a large Muslim population.

He has been remanded in custody for the four attacks.” – BBC News.

I think that ‘revenge’ is a waste of time, emotion, energy and resources. It usually results in a reinforcing cycle of madness. I confess that there are occasions when I do feel like taking revenge for some perceived hurt, but that phase usually passes. It doesn’t grow like a cancer as it does on some of my acquaintances. I now see chain mails reflecting such emotions on the increase and do feel that rationality has disappeared from our lives.

I hope that nothing ever happens to me that will make me want to take revenge. I also hope that I do not do anything knowingly or unknowingly that can result in someone wanting to take revenge.