War makes no one safe
President Bush calls the charges by Amnesty International of U.S. abuse of prisoners "absurd." And Vice President Cheney says he is "offended" by the suggestion our nation would engage in torture. Yet even FBI documents support the mounting accusations by released prisoners.
Daily news from Iraq and Afghanistan — countries "set free" by U.S. invasion — describe bombings and killings which have resulted in nearly 2,000 deaths of U.S. military personnel and tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan citizens.
The Pentagon continues to announce its plans to build permanent military bases in both countries, to build more nuclear weapons (while denying them to other nations), and to develop the capability to destroy property and people from space.
When will we as a nation understand that war makes no one safe? When will we have leaders who see beyond the destruction of war to the possibility of constructive, peaceful solutions to international threats as a better way of life for all? When will we as a people support the funding of a peace corps as an alternative to a military corps to go into other countries to help their people build a better life?
Neoconservative leaders seem to be in charge these days in Washington. Many of them are on public record calling for U.S. military and economic dominance of the world for the next century. If our economic interestes are threatened, they say, our military should strike preemptively to preserve our interests. How will this make anyone safe in the world?
Everyone talks about making the world safe — for democracy and freedom, we often add. But we will never do that by economic and military dominance over others. We will never do that through war.
