Good News
There is word (from Time magazine) today that some of the so-called insurgents in Iraq are sitting down to talk with some American military and civilian people about what they want and what it would take to cause them to stop their attacks. The reports are odd because the American military person identified is a Lt. Col, not exactly the highest ranking person, and the Iraqis are not said to represent a very wide group.
Nonetheless, despite the tendency of people like me, who have bitterly opposed our Iraq adventure, to decry any news from that country, I am heartened by this news and fervently hope it signals the beginning of serious talks.
I am not a pacifist, mainly because I am neither brave nor disciplined enough. But it seems clear to me that attempting to resolve problems and differences through force always results in unintended consequences, never the results envisioned by those who initiate the violence.
And that is because one always imagines eliminating those who stand between you and your goal, will result in your reaching your goal.
The first civil rights demonstration I joined, in 1963 in Boston, we were trained by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They taught us to picture where the people we perceived as the enemy, fit into what we pictured as the solution to the problem. If there is no place in your solution for your enemy, then it's not a solution. It's a revolution which means replacing their power brokers with ours, which will lead to yet another similar confrontation down the road.
It remains the hardest discipline for me. To picture where John Ashcroft and Saddam Hussein, Osama bi Laden, Michael Jackson and Snoopy Dog Dog all fit into the world I am working toward, is a major challenge. Iraq has persuaded me, again, that trying to eliminate those who stand in the way, is futile.
Nonetheless, despite the tendency of people like me, who have bitterly opposed our Iraq adventure, to decry any news from that country, I am heartened by this news and fervently hope it signals the beginning of serious talks.
I am not a pacifist, mainly because I am neither brave nor disciplined enough. But it seems clear to me that attempting to resolve problems and differences through force always results in unintended consequences, never the results envisioned by those who initiate the violence.
And that is because one always imagines eliminating those who stand between you and your goal, will result in your reaching your goal.
The first civil rights demonstration I joined, in 1963 in Boston, we were trained by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. They taught us to picture where the people we perceived as the enemy, fit into what we pictured as the solution to the problem. If there is no place in your solution for your enemy, then it's not a solution. It's a revolution which means replacing their power brokers with ours, which will lead to yet another similar confrontation down the road.
It remains the hardest discipline for me. To picture where John Ashcroft and Saddam Hussein, Osama bi Laden, Michael Jackson and Snoopy Dog Dog all fit into the world I am working toward, is a major challenge. Iraq has persuaded me, again, that trying to eliminate those who stand in the way, is futile.
posted by Blayney at 3:06 PM
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