Black Day at Blacksburg
Was the wanton April 16, 2007 massacre of 32 people by a warped mind on the Virginia Tech campus an act of terrorism?
I say yes.
It was an act of terrorism by those who armed him. The gun lobby which has placed commercial interests above the consequences of easy availability of arms and ammunition to unstable characters like Seung-Hui Cho (and, for that matter, Dick Cheney) has 32 more deaths on its hands but does not care.
The placement of a weapon into the hands of an indiscriminate killer was compounded by the laxity of the police, who might have averted 30 of the 32 deaths had they managed to nab Cho in the interregnum between the two rounds of shooting.
Shades of Nithari, perhaps? The NOIDA police could have saved many children by acting in time on the complaints from parents in the early days of the serial killings.
Those charged with protecting the innocent from terrorism are as culpable as the terrorists if they are found wanting in their job.
Am I being too harsh?
Ask the family and loved ones of those who died at Blacksburg.
I say yes.
It was an act of terrorism by those who armed him. The gun lobby which has placed commercial interests above the consequences of easy availability of arms and ammunition to unstable characters like Seung-Hui Cho (and, for that matter, Dick Cheney) has 32 more deaths on its hands but does not care.
The placement of a weapon into the hands of an indiscriminate killer was compounded by the laxity of the police, who might have averted 30 of the 32 deaths had they managed to nab Cho in the interregnum between the two rounds of shooting.
Shades of Nithari, perhaps? The NOIDA police could have saved many children by acting in time on the complaints from parents in the early days of the serial killings.
Those charged with protecting the innocent from terrorism are as culpable as the terrorists if they are found wanting in their job.
Am I being too harsh?
Ask the family and loved ones of those who died at Blacksburg.
posted by Anjan at 4:43 pm
3 Comments:
Based on your analysis, all of the major US automakers, as well as the foriegn ones selling in the US, are guilty of terrorism. Last year, thousands of Americans, many times the amount killed in the VT massacre, were killed by automobiles. The automobile companies did nothing to ensure that that their products would be handled so as not to pose a threat to the safety of those killed and injured. The police and other government officials are complicate in that they knew that thousands of people would be killed on the roads and they did not stop it.
Am I being too harsh?
Ask the family and loved ones of those who died on Interstate 95.
Or concede that living in a free society means that some will misuse that freedom to the detriment of others. The alternative is to place ourselves in a tyranny where even criminals are helpless to do us harm.
You have a point there, Gary... I especially like what you said in your last paragraph.
But are there ways to educate people to be safely free? At the end of the day, those who live by the gun - or gas pedal - may well die by the same.
Both good points. But people drive cars every day and most of the accidents occur when drivers are in some way impaired, via alcohol, drugs or other distractions. People also have access to guns yet don't go off the deep end and kill their friends. But sometimes they do, so what is the common denominator? Again, impairment - in this case, drugs. What is common to all the school shootings is prescription medication, usually to handle depression. Some drugs make you larger, some make you small - or some make you want to kill your friends while you are on it and some when you stop taking it. Either way, 32 people are dead. If Cho were not taking Prozac, would the bullets still be in the chamber? Auto manufacturers don't stop making cars because they make money selling cars. Gun manufacturers won't stop selling guns because they make money selling guns. Where we are truly being manipulated is from the drug manufacturers who won't even let you notice that it is their product causing the killings. The reason is the same, they make money selling drugs. If a few people die as a result, that's the cost of doing business. Of course, the manufacturers aren't the ones paying that cost.
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