commentary

**Note: this post is in response to a comment I read on Cup of Joe Powell. I was going to leave a comment of my own, but it just kept getting longer and longer, so I made it a post of my own. I do recommend this blog, though he occasionally gets his info from a biased source. So, without further ado, my post. . .


When will they learn? There is no way to defeat terrorism. The very act of fighting terrorism creates terrorists.

This is a problem whose only solutions are through words. The way to resolve this issue is through some combination of diplomats, civic organizations, and religious leaders. One of the biggest hurdles on the path to peace is the attitudes we all bring to the table. We cannot approach this issue with a closed mind (on either side), or failure is emminent. A fanatic CAN be reasoned with, but only when you and he both realize that you were created by the same God (or Allah-just different names for the same figure) with the same care and love, and that He doesn't favor one person over another. We need to come to the realization that we are not fighting Islam, we are fighting people. To claim that we are fighting Islam leads to the conclusion that this is another Crusade, and I think we all agree that the Crusades were not in accord with Christian beliefs.

Like many Americans, I was in support of the war before it started. I believed that the government in Iraq was actively seeking to do harm to us, and I was a little excited (I'll admit). Since then, though, we have learned so much:

We have learned that Iraq had no capacity to harm us or their neighbors. We learned that Iraq was not engaged in a program that would give them that capacity. We learned that there was no connection between Iraq and al-Qa'ida (though there is now-thanks to us). So we waged war based on contrived "evidence" that we were to be attacked again one of these days. What we don't hear enough of is that this war was waged in violation of international laws.

We invaded a sovereign nation, that had neither harmed nor threatened to harm anyone. Then we removed a democratically elected leader and arrested him for crimes that he did not commit. Yes- the election was rigged, and there was no chance of Saddam losing it, but our own elections are also corrupt. Yes- Saddam did commit horrible crimes against many thousands of people, and he stood trial and paid the price for those crimes. But what have we gained from this flaunting of international law?

Nothing.

We are not safer. So we haven't had a terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11/01. That's 5 years and change. When was the last foreign terrorist attack on U.S. soil before that? Wasn't it in 1993? We didn't go on a global rampage after the WTC was attacked then, and we went 8 years without a foreign attack. And to say that the U.S. hasn't been the victim of an attack since 2001 is just inaccurate. We are attacked every day in Iraq.

To say that the terrorists will follow us home if we leave Iraq is nothing more than fear-mongering. I think we've had enough of that; what we need now is honest discussion. We need facts-not rhetoric.

We got off to a good start in Afghanistan, but we didn't finish. We just moved on to Iraq, and now Afghanistan faces a real threat from the Taliban. We overthrew the Taliban (which WAS a dangerous government) five years ago. Shouldn't Afghanistan be better off by now? Afghanistan has virtually no capacity to ensure public health, and medical care is almost non-existant. But what are we doing about it?

Also nothing.

Just like the Iraqi people, the Afghani people are worse off since our "help". Let's look for a diplomatic solution to Iraq, because there is no military one. Let's take care of the people we can take care of. Let's start here at home. Let's finish the job in Afghanistan. Let's finish the job in New Orleans. Let's fix our health care system. Let's fix Social Security. Let's urge and help our southern neighbors to create good-paying jobs, so that their citizens can stay at home and still make a living. Let's do something about global warming. Let's legislate higher CAFE standards for cars AND trucks. There is no reason that we should think of 20 mpg as good, even for a pick-up truck. Let's increase funding for embryonic stem-cell research, because that science has the possibility to cure diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Diabetes. Let's do something about the ongoing genocide in Darfur, or the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Let's work to end hunger and poverty.

The war in Iraq is a waste of our resources. The last thing we should be doing is sending more of our brave soldiers to fight in a civil war. We certainly cannot cut off funding for our troops who are there right now, but I would like to see Congress refuse funding for any escalation of the war.


snikta