U. S. Politics, war 911, and foreign policy
Politicians get just a little bit done.
Our talk shapes what they attempt.Reality.
Three levels of conversation.
Three levels of love.
Three levels of belonging.I feel a sense of reality when I talk to another person and feel they are listening.
I feel a sense of reality when I listen to another person and feel they are speaking peacefully and altruistically.
The greatest sense of belonging comes when in the same conversation both of us talk and listen and find some common part to which we can agree which was different from each of our individual first beliefs.
This third level is a rarity but of such great value it’s worth is measured in patience.I will know that I am obliged to speak as well as listen. “What ever” is always the wrong answer.
The solution is not to agree with me, but rather to listen, consider and speak. Dialogue is not lacking in our present society. Consideration is lacking.
It would be destructive if those who disagree responded with “whatever”. It would be destructive if those who disagree responded with “you are completely wrong and I’m not listening to hogwash”. I’m looking for the loyal opposition who might start by saying “I am not sure but I believe I have a better idea“.What is the source of world order?
Order has been maintained by those with power through the use of power. This authoritative power is efficient. All corporations operate according to authoritative power. The boss tells you what to do and you either do it or leave the company.
It was radical to have the head of the state elected. Our Constitution not only has an election of the head of state but of those people will make the laws and those people who judge us even to the extreme of being judged by our peers. But that’s all. In all the spaces between authorities tell those who work for them what and how to do. Though we’ve come a long way we hardly have begun.
Between nations order is delivered by the interplay of each nation’s identity. The choice is between behaving honorably or behaving according to Nietzsche’s, “if you have the power you have the right”.
I think that religious man must have had some influence when the articles of confederation were written, the League of Nations was formed and the United Nations begun. They all hoped that man would behave with some sense of “goodness “or honor independent of their power. The United Nations actually worked for a while but it was not based on countries deciding what was right or wrong but rather in the balance of power between the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic. It was still an idea in my taste.Why we are hated and feared.
The inconsistencies of democracy.
With our form of government where every four years the meaning of honor and moral changes, we are inconsistent administration to administration. In the six-day war we allow manifest destiny and Israel gets to keep it stolen real estate even though it violates a treaty. In desert storm manifest destiny was disallowed and war justified by treaty.
We have more power than any other country. Every time we have a new president we break the word of previous presidents, most recently the 1972 nonproliferation treaty.The capitalist war monger role.
In the past we’ve supported wars of balance. We have supplied just enough money to balance the money supplied by the USSR to keep wars going. We purposely did not supply enough wealth to win a war nor too little to lose the war. Henry Kissinger during the Iraq Iran war explained this on television to the American people. As long as the country’s kept each other at bay our oil prices remained stable.
Place yourself in one of these countries. You have lost families and friends to the war yet it does not end. Eventually your country figures out that the United States is perpetuating rather than attempting to end your war. Your homeland government explains it to you “we die so they can make money”. From their view we are capitalist warmongers. They have reason to hate us. Such is the case in Iran, Iraq, Syria Pakistan and Afghanistan.The we/they attitude.
In Afghanistan we bombed and accidentally destroyed a senior residence. The people of Afghanistan are as angry as we would be if Bin Loden were in Pennsylvania and Bush had accidentally destroyed a senior residence there. Though he says he would pursue terrorists no matter where they are I know Bush would not bomb Pennsylvania. “They” are not “us “. In Pennsylvania he would use no bombing, good intelligence and the FBI.
The identity we have chosen.
As a nation we have a right to form our identity based on what ever form of order controls our identity. In this country we elect our president. He acts out for us all.
A strike was made against military and civilian personnel. Children were injured. Saddam Hussein cried out in pain. He did not have the power to strike back. President Bush simply called the strike preemptive. The American people shouted for joy” finally a president with balls “.
We refused to Re-elect Carter president of the United States predominately because of his meekness. It went unnoticed that we didn’t kill them and they didn’t kill us during his administration. The American people disapproved a humble country viewing it as weakness rather than noble.
President Bush is acting out, as we want him to act out. He has behaved aggressively because we have had the power to be aggressive. I voted against him because I did not want an aggressive president but rather I wanted honor to guide us. I will vote against him for I view him as a murdering terrorist, but I recognize that he represents this country and what its taste is. In politics murder itself is a matter of taste not righteousness.The war
On September 11, 2001 a cell of 20 people murdered 3000 civilians and killed 1000 soldiers. If it were a classic cell, it planned and executed the murders without contact with any other cell and without instruction. If justice is blind than the murderers are dead and justice is done.
This war is wrong. In the first two weeks of his administration Bush set his tone with a preemptive strike against Iraq in which children were killed. It was a tone we wanted for we elected him knowing this was his attitude. To the removed observer the only difference between this and the 9-11-01 murders was in the amount of destruction.
This war won’t work. Our army will invade sovereign nations. All nations will be looking to the day when we might violate their sovereignty as well. We will lose allies.
This war won’t end. Wars against ideas degenerate into purification wars. If we kill the innocent while attempting to find the guilty we are as terrorizing as any other terrorist. Eventually everyone is murdering righteously for the sons of the murdered are murdering.
I am not a purist. After an effective CIA gathers good intelligence we can continue our covert operations using the assassins we claim don’t exist.
Then there’s my base anger. I am against the war because I do not want those murderers to get what they wanted; war.
My favorite choice is to continue building security, strengthen our CIA and FBI, postpone acts of aggression and change our foreign policy.
I want us to honor our treaties and consider preemptive strikes acts of war. I want us to respect the sovereignty of nations. I want us to consider it more important to protect the innocent than to punish the guilty. We can always strike out later.
I behave honorably. I want my government to do the same. Rather than God bless America, God bless everyone.I wish for peace on all earth as a result of conversation. It will not come about by the grandeur of man as a moral beast for he has only recently touched on the beginnings of morality. Rather it will come about through order. The order will recognize man as the beast he has been with the history he has had. The peace will come about by viewing both the right and wrong of things along with who has the power to enforce or disrupt order and the practicality of common support.
Conversations with my son who favors the war have helped me temper my view of this war. We found it necessary to consider it a discussion of differences in taste rather than righteousness. With the help of some religious people seeking the right words might be a beginning toward honor between countries. It would help if Bush would cease calling the enemy the evil ones, for I find our behavior as deplorable as theirs and I do not consider myself evil.I have some immediate hope.
Until we name specific enemies and countries there is no means for the war to end. Therefore, we must immediately end the war against terrorism and replace it with a war against specific people and specific nations. I of course personally would just as soon replace it with no war. But that’s my religious taste. If we do not the naming of the enemy will become as important as the destruction of the enemy.
I can put up with using special troops in the smallest of groups rather than the CIA to assassinate enemies. But we better stop the bombing for it cannot be done without murdering innocent citizens of countries we have not declared war against.What should US policy be?
In the short term solve the Israeli Palestine problem.If we were to act honorably only we would have to honor the treaties violated by the six-day war. We would have to recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation independent of Israel. We would have to stop supporting Israel with weapons. We would also have to give the United States back to the Indians.
If we were to act with loyalty only we would have to support our ally Israel but not so much as to destroy Palestine. This would be consistent with our old war mongering position, that of maintaining the status quo by spending money to perpetuate the “ war “ between Palestine and Israel.
We must continue to broker political peace between Israel and Palestine. Personally, Israel could stand being threatened by an end of our supply of weaponry. Also we should pressure Israel to let go of Palestine and to recognize Palestine is an independent sovereign nation. This will begin the defusing by showing the world a humility and morality without lack of strength and honor. “They” will be able to believe we will cease war mongering.
I also note positively that Colin Powell finds it important to establish definitions for words like terrorism, murder, killing and the like. In the short-term problem this is necessary to reestablish peaceful order. I hope we recognize that although we are the greatest single power we are not powerful enough to oppose a united world against us and therefore must pay attention to what the rest of the world thinks of us. This means it is pragmatic for us to change our behavior in the world. We must cease war mongering. We must pay attention to what’s going on in the world without the necessity of another 911to get our attention.In the long term promote the similarities between Islam, Judaism and Christianity. There’s no need to destroy any identity. It is enough to accept each other.
Let religious men exchange views. Let all be able to see the brotherhood of humanity by seeing their religious leaders finding brotherhood. Let each participant share by insisting upon that which is with peace in their heart and smallness of self. Let words be picked carefully, freely coining new words according to” the creation of order”. Through conversation exchange views as differences in taste rather than in fundamental belief.How I might play a game with a Saudi Arabian who favors Bin Loden and wants as I want “ peace on earth.” .
I propose “3000 innocent people were ferociously murdered 9/11/ 01.”
He proposes “ 150,000 civilians were killed in Hiroshima by dropping an atomic bomb. “
We agree that “humanities political history is filled with war atrocities done by countries that felt they had the power to get their way “.
Sadly for now the game has failed. Let’s try again in four years with a new president. In the meantime let’s play a different game. Hypothetically let us propose that after the war is over your Muslim granddaughter and my Christian grandson wish to marry. Let’s talk about the service.This is the raving of this madman. However by speaking and listening to other madmen with other views we might arrive at a practical agreeable proposal. That’s politics. I want people talking about politics and religion again. The young get politics. The old get religion.