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THE BEST DEFENSE
By Woody Powell of 'Veterans for Peace'
Dear Friends of Cuneo,
As you can easily imagine, the attacks upon the World Trade
Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. were
the most heinous criminal acts ever perpetrated on my
country. I hurt for the people who died and with the people who
survived them; amongst those survivors I count a beloved cousin.
I understand and share, having gone through something like it
in my introduction to war in Korea, the succession of disbelief,
dismay, fear, grief and anger pushed to rage visited upon us
as a people. In my own case, after the rage, came the return
of sanity, thank God. We need to be sane to effectively confront
and defeat terrorism. Indeed it is to our advantage, because
terrorists are still in their rage and locked into the rigid
thinking of fundamentalism.
I believe it is our governmentsﾕ obligation to combat terrorism
in such a way as not to re-create the conditions that produced
it in the first place. That means, among other things, having
to know what those conditions were and how they occurred. That
means understanding the terrorist. "Know thy enemy."
Whenever I get to this point, the accusation is that I am excusing
the act itself. Let me say, categorically, that understanding
the motive does not excuse the act. It does, however, give
us an insight as to what we can do to improve national and
international security.
NOW THAT WE ARE BOMBING AFGHANISTAN, the imperatives are
even more urgent and changing rapidly. There are millions of
Afghanis in danger of starvation and death from exposure because
food and supplies cannot reach them while the bombing goes on.
I believe we must stop the bombing and turn our attention to
relieving this humanitarian disaster. Our considerable resources
should be put to the relief of human suffering - not the creation
of more suffering.
I do not think we should invade with soldiers, because it will
commit the region to another long-term conflict without hope
of eventual stability. I think we should back off, swallow
our pride, our thirst for vengeance, and take the more circuitous
and difficult course of developing dialogue with our opponents.
In other words, practice diplomacy.
If we can't do it ourselves, we should invite a third party
to the table and submit ourselves to a process we might not control
completely. It's tough for America to think that way - but
then, it's tough for individuals who, in order to preserve and
enhance personal relationships, must swallow hard and generate
the necessary humility -- and maturity -- to subject themselves
to arbitration.
Part of this process should include bringing the criminals who
attacked us to justice. I would like to see the UN put in charge
of such an operation and empowered to carry it out. I would
like to see a trial in a world court.
THEN WHAT?
Any plan would include a serious study of our relationships
with the people of the world, not just their governments; such
governments are often propped up and unpopular. Our mutual
survival demands finding ways to be a better global co-habitant..
There are reasons a large segment of the world sees us as opportunistic
extractors of vital resources, rather than quid-pro-quo traders
on an open market. We need to know them. We need to change
perceptions, not with Public Relations gimmickry, but with a
change of attitude and mutually negotiated policies with our
neighbors.
WHAT ARE VETERANS FOR PEACE DOING?
Our members are engaged all over this country, carrying out
educational programs to give people the ability to examine public
policy critically, writing editorials, speaking before student
groups - any groups who will hear us, in fact - seeking the answers
together to questions like, "Why do they mistrust and fear
us so?" And abroad, in cooperation with the local people,
we engage in projects to alleviate the damage caused by wars.
In Iraq, for example, we have rebuilt water treatment plants,
bringing drinkable water to 60,000 Iraqi citizens.
We are researching, conferencing, trying to determine the best
way to guide our democracy to improve the world's security
by working toward a time when terrorism is no longer considered
the final option of the hopeless.
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD PEACE OF A 'VETERAN FOR PEACE'
www.veteransforpeace.org/
This letter was written by Woody Powell, American veteran
of the Korean War and National Administrator of Veterans for
Peace, Inc., founded in the USA, in 1985, to promote non-violent
responses to the worldﾕs problems, and to abolish war as an instrument
of international policy.
This advertisement is sponsored by a Japanese peace movement
'Global Peace Campaign' (www.peace2001.org) and
by a Italian peace movement 'PeaceLink' (www.peacelink.it/
).
The Global Peace Campaign realizes a variety of activities and
projects. The most recent project in these days is the 'Global
Peacemaker Award', intended to promote people who contribute
most, with their original ideas and deeds, to the elimination
of terrorism and wars. For more information, please see: www.peace2001.org
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