Such a Safer World Today

Jean Charles de Menezes: an unarmed, brown-skinned man from Brazil, shot five times in the head by British policemen who thought his coat was too bulky and might, therefore, be hiding something.

Which truly makes us less safe: terrorists, or the "war on terror" itself?

For a chilling examination of what unthinking, bigoted hysteria can lead to, I highly recommend Arthur Miller's short novel Focus, in which an unassuming office worker, living in Brooklyn towards the end of World War II, faces creeping anti-semitism after he buys eyeglasses that "make him look Jewish". The movie, starring William H. Macy, was also good.

Posted on July 25, 2005 at 18.21 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Splenetics

2 Responses

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Tuesday, 26 July 2005 at 17.26
    Permalink

    Menezes' death is a tragedy, all right. Not the least of it, I'm sure, will be the guilt and remorse of the officers who killed him. This will haunt them the rest of their lives.

    But there's more to it than you mention. He was reportedly seen running from a house where terrorist suspects were known to live. Not walking, but running. With a heavy coat on, it's not likely he was just out jogging for the exercise value.

    Menezes jumped the turnstile in the underground station and failed to stop when ordered to. There was no language problem; he was said to be fully fluent in English.

    It's impossible to know what he was thinking and why he didn't stop. If he thought he was being pursued by thugs, he surely would've called out for help from other people or tried ducking into a door, or something.

    In any case, it would be a mistake to vilify the officers or indict their efforts to thwart terrorist bombers. Menezes is a not entirely hapless collateral-damage loss. Regrettably, he's but one of a total larger and more horrific than we'll ever know.

  2. Written by Bearcastle Blog
    on Tuesday, 16 August 2005 at 17.31
    Permalink

    More on Terrorism Hysteria

    As I continue to believe: it appears to have been a case of police terrorism-hysteria. This from ITN [Great Britain]:

    Mistakes led to tube shooting
    8.25PM, Tue Aug 16 2005

    ITV News has obtained secret documents and photographs that detail why po…

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