Sadly, our brilliant President has embraced the oh-so-human fantasy that war, once unleashed and escalated, can be controlled. What we've seen over the last few months of "consultations," culminating in the speech at West Point, is war's evil dynamism running away with well-intentioned people. The Bush-Cheney regime grabbed the bait Bin Laden set for them in 2001: they responded to outrageous provocation not by enlisting the peoples of the world to use the force of law against terrorism, but with the blunt instrument of invading and occupying other people's countries. Horror ensued and no one is safer. Much of the world can not see any justice in U.S. wars. Now a successor President finds no way out of the dead end journey of hatred the last administration left him with.
Code Pink in San Francisco marked this sad moment with a press conference at the Federal Building on Tuesday that brought together some of the people who know better.
San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos talked about his seven year old daughter. The Afghanistan war has been underway since before she was born. Will she ever know peace? He fears President Obama has lost his path.
Eddie Falcon served two tours of military duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. He fights flashbacks. "This is about OUR humanity."
Samina Sundas founded American Muslim Voice after 9/11 to work for peace and understanding between all of us in this country. She has recently visited in Pakistan where she has many relatives. People are frightened, of terrorist bombings, but also of U.S. drone attacks that kill many from the sky. She described Obama's Afghan war as a "shortcut that will crush other countries." She fears that war and more war prosecuted by this inspiring President will "destroy the hopes and dreams of people around the world."
I fear that too.
In the form of commentary on Psalm 137, Melissa Harris-Lacewell writes about the sadness of war on a Nation magazine blog:
I believe we have already destroyed too much of ourselves and of our so called enemies. I mourn this decision to feed the dogs of war and to bash the heads of babies against the rocks.
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