Editorial: Human vs. Human Means No More Humans
by Diane V. McLoughlin; The McLoughlin Post, Feb. 22, '09
The survival of the human race may not be tenable long-term - perhaps not even short-term if we
do not get out of the war business.
Central to survival are many pressing questions including this one: Now that we have painted
ourselves into this corner of fear, how do we turn American foreign policy around on a dime? It
would have to be overhauled enough that our enemies could allow themselves to believe that our
newfound goodwill toward peaceful change includes them.
Deeper to the core of our neuroses, I believe, lies the fear that our enemies we have so wronged
may be beyond caring whether or not we are capable of change.
Our choice seems clear: We keep killing like it's some kind of perverse insurance policy propelled
by the conviction that if we stop, the enemies we made will rise up to smite us...and continue to
tip the scales toward global conflagration.
Or we quit - and by we I mean all the world's war players - cold turkey. Physics: That which is not
impossible is bound to occur. This is not pie-in-the-sky idealism. It is time for the human race to
face the fact that we are reaching the end-point where war no longer can be a game in which
anyone can win.
Nukes? They are at one end of the spectrum. On the other? It isn't superior weaponry that is
defeating us in Afghanistan. It is the imperative to survive, even bereft as you are of comparable
weapons, money or education; stuck hungry and barefoot in snows. One wonders if there is more
than one meaning behind Jesus Christ's proclamation that the meek shall inherit the earth.
To start, we must investigate the top leadership of the former Bush administration for war crimes
and other impeachable offenses. We must not be guilty of hypocrisy. Nobody is above the law.
Members of Congress should wake up and remember that the Constitution endows each of them
with a legal set. Law is adversarial in nature. If you are not prepared to fight for what is right what
the hell are you doing in either the Senate or the House of Congress in the first place? (Cynthia
McKinney certainly understood her role as congresswoman.)
The Right. The Right has a hard time grasping what the rest of the political spectrum keeps
harping on about regarding 9/11. Is it really logical that all that time, all that money, all that effort
went into pulling off 9/11 by people who - it was claimed - did it because they don't like us
because of our freedoms? That is, when they are waaayyy over there on that side of the world
and we with our freedoms are way over here. (Rather, see Osama bin Laden's, 'Letter to the
American people'.)
Well, that's not correct. It is completely inaccurate. We weren't here minding our own business.
They were there and we were way over there too, minding a lot of other peoples' business and
killing a lot of other people including hundreds of thousands of other people's children, just in Iraq
alone.
So yeah. Past American administrations stirred massive hornets' nests and we are left holding
the bag.
Another thing. We must rescind the Bush administration's change in policy whereby we adopted
the nuclear 'first-strike' option, a declaration that was frighteningly destabilizing in geopolitical
affairs. For fifty years the U.S. maintained the brave and moral position that it would never resort
to nuclear weapons first in confrontation with another state. That helps to keep it cool. It meant
that nukes were more likely to stay locked up in the Fat Boy tool chest. And Bush destroyed that.
On Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan? We get out.
Israel? The U.S. must proclaim that the Palestinian people have the right and the moral obligation
to defend themselves against Israel's aggression, occupation and ethnic cleansing. The U.S.
must cease the annual billions in tax dollar donations to Israel. American tax dollars subsidize
Israel's crimes.
The U.S. must also outlaw all American charitable donations that can wind their way to financing
Israeli terrorism. This will be easier for the U.S. administration to achieve in coming days than one
might think. Israel is on the verge of being led by a newly-elected political coalition of extreme
right-wing, racist fanatics - Benjamin Netanyahu leading the way, Avigdor Lieberman following.
Americans may finally be able to recognize that the 'peace process' was an utter sham.
I recommend that if it is going to be change we can believe in it will need to be swift, backed with
resolve.
Continue to carry a big stick, obviously. And a shovel. After what was stirred we will require a
robust self-defense into the foreseeable future.
There are no guarantees. In relationships the only thing we can really control is what we choose
to do ourselves. It is time to start walking softly, home.
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by Diane V. McLoughlin; The McLoughlin Post, Feb. 22, '09
The survival of the human race may not be tenable long-term - perhaps not even short-term if we
do not get out of the war business.
Central to survival are many pressing questions including this one: Now that we have painted
ourselves into this corner of fear, how do we turn American foreign policy around on a dime? It
would have to be overhauled enough that our enemies could allow themselves to believe that our
newfound goodwill toward peaceful change includes them.
Deeper to the core of our neuroses, I believe, lies the fear that our enemies we have so wronged
may be beyond caring whether or not we are capable of change.
Our choice seems clear: We keep killing like it's some kind of perverse insurance policy propelled
by the conviction that if we stop, the enemies we made will rise up to smite us...and continue to
tip the scales toward global conflagration.
Or we quit - and by we I mean all the world's war players - cold turkey. Physics: That which is not
impossible is bound to occur. This is not pie-in-the-sky idealism. It is time for the human race to
face the fact that we are reaching the end-point where war no longer can be a game in which
anyone can win.
Nukes? They are at one end of the spectrum. On the other? It isn't superior weaponry that is
defeating us in Afghanistan. It is the imperative to survive, even bereft as you are of comparable
weapons, money or education; stuck hungry and barefoot in snows. One wonders if there is more
than one meaning behind Jesus Christ's proclamation that the meek shall inherit the earth.
To start, we must investigate the top leadership of the former Bush administration for war crimes
and other impeachable offenses. We must not be guilty of hypocrisy. Nobody is above the law.
Members of Congress should wake up and remember that the Constitution endows each of them
with a legal set. Law is adversarial in nature. If you are not prepared to fight for what is right what
the hell are you doing in either the Senate or the House of Congress in the first place? (Cynthia
McKinney certainly understood her role as congresswoman.)
The Right. The Right has a hard time grasping what the rest of the political spectrum keeps
harping on about regarding 9/11. Is it really logical that all that time, all that money, all that effort
went into pulling off 9/11 by people who - it was claimed - did it because they don't like us
because of our freedoms? That is, when they are waaayyy over there on that side of the world
and we with our freedoms are way over here. (Rather, see Osama bin Laden's, 'Letter to the
American people'.)
Well, that's not correct. It is completely inaccurate. We weren't here minding our own business.
They were there and we were way over there too, minding a lot of other peoples' business and
killing a lot of other people including hundreds of thousands of other people's children, just in Iraq
alone.
So yeah. Past American administrations stirred massive hornets' nests and we are left holding
the bag.
Another thing. We must rescind the Bush administration's change in policy whereby we adopted
the nuclear 'first-strike' option, a declaration that was frighteningly destabilizing in geopolitical
affairs. For fifty years the U.S. maintained the brave and moral position that it would never resort
to nuclear weapons first in confrontation with another state. That helps to keep it cool. It meant
that nukes were more likely to stay locked up in the Fat Boy tool chest. And Bush destroyed that.
On Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan? We get out.
Israel? The U.S. must proclaim that the Palestinian people have the right and the moral obligation
to defend themselves against Israel's aggression, occupation and ethnic cleansing. The U.S.
must cease the annual billions in tax dollar donations to Israel. American tax dollars subsidize
Israel's crimes.
The U.S. must also outlaw all American charitable donations that can wind their way to financing
Israeli terrorism. This will be easier for the U.S. administration to achieve in coming days than one
might think. Israel is on the verge of being led by a newly-elected political coalition of extreme
right-wing, racist fanatics - Benjamin Netanyahu leading the way, Avigdor Lieberman following.
Americans may finally be able to recognize that the 'peace process' was an utter sham.
I recommend that if it is going to be change we can believe in it will need to be swift, backed with
resolve.
Continue to carry a big stick, obviously. And a shovel. After what was stirred we will require a
robust self-defense into the foreseeable future.
There are no guarantees. In relationships the only thing we can really control is what we choose
to do ourselves. It is time to start walking softly, home.
top
home
archives
RSS: editorials and news digest.
