Reply #46: An Odd Report, Mr. Simmons

[The Magistrate]

What is the name of the organization this ensign is the banner of?

You miss two large points, Sir, in the situation in Iraq today.

The first is that the word terrorist is an utterly useless coinage, that really means nothing but violence of which the user of that word does not approve, and against which the user hopes to rally support by use of that terminology. Those persons commonly called terrorists are simply private individuals who arrogate to themselves one of the traditional prerogatives of the state, namely the use of violence for political purposes. Some of such individuals certainly commit crimes of war, just as the forces of some states commit crimes of war.

The second is that people in Iraq have every right, as patriots and nationalists according to their own lights, to resist the occupation of their country by the United States, and the rule of their country by a puppet government erected by the United States. To say this is to say nothing indicating either support for or disfavor towards their efforts; it is simply to recognize a fact of the situation, as it appears to a different perspective. The great degree of support those Iraqis who fight U.S. and allied forces in Iraq clearly enjoy among the people of Iraq is rooted in those people's feeling that these fighters represent them in opposing a conqueror.

"Whether a weapon is described as defensive or offensive tends to depend on which end is pointed to the speaker."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"