RE: Moscow against peace?

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

Very nicely put. It must be stressed that our military anti terrorist
actions are there to bring about peace. We do, however, be careful not to
project (to the rest of the world) and image that we are planning to me
pacifists about this. Justice should always be the torch that lights our
way. If we live by this simple rule we will eliminate terrorism and help the
whole world achieve a renaissance never experienced on earth!

"Your brother in arms"
Shahab...


-----Original Message-----
From: kkhowe@moscow.com [mailto:kkhowe@moscow.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 10:12 AM
To: vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Moscow against peace?

> Good for you Duncan. If  these people were really for peace, why were'nt
> they demostrating against the terrorists on Sept 12? They seem to be
> hypocrites to me, along with a couple of other things.

I'm sure they weren't demonstrating on Sept. 12 for the same reason as all
of
us: they were likely rivetted to their radios and televisions, watching the
agonizing scenes of death and destruction that were being broadcast from the
focal point of this crime. As a whole, we have all felt this shock and loss,
and the divisiveness some on this list seem to be promoting is a shameful
legacy to the suffering we have endured. Like everyone else, the concerns of
those who promote this rally were likely centered on the families and
friends
of those injured and killed in the devastating attacks. I've no doubt that
they
did not even conceive the idea for this event until after the nation as a
whole
began to emerge from the collective shock we all felt. Witnessing the hate
and
violence swelling in this country, I'm sure they thought the same thing I
say
now: how can anyone be against peace?

I simply cannot understand how ordinary humans can be against a rally that
promotes a fundamentally peaceful message. Perhaps you believe that
sometimes
peace can only be achieved through violence, and I say to you that I believe
this is indeed a sound and true concept. Perhaps someone should show up at
the
rally to promote that idea. But I doubt anyone who has so rashly spoken
against
this rally truly thinks that peace itself is a concept not worth pursuing,
or
that the destruction of innocent lives can in any way repay the loss our
souls
have suffered. I'm sure all of us, as a nation, believe that those
responsible
for this crime should be brought before the court of humanity to suffer the
consequences they have wrought upon themselves.

This rally simply serves to remind us that the world has not, and never will
be, as black and white as some people hope to make it. Bringing justice to
the
responsible parties may require military action, and it might bring more
suffering to those who have done nothing to earn that fate. This is not
always
an outcome to be avoided: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time
to
time with the blood of patriots & tyrants" -- Thomas Jefferson. However, it
is
also something we CANNOT ignore. Some reactions I have seen suggest that we
are
willing to refresh that tree with the blood of those who will never be
remembered, their sacrifice unknown, refused the respect they are due. If we
must kill innocents and criminals alike to bring resolve out of this chaos,
so
be it. But I will not stand quiet while we close our eyes to the suffering
of
those innocents slain in this nation, and those innocents slain in other
nations in our name, who all now lay together at the foot of that tree.

I am personally 100% behind military action in Afghanistan. The terrors the
Taliban has committed against the population of that country are alone
enough
to merit military intervention. I am also for peace. These are not exclusive
concepts by any measure. I am not a non-violent pacifist, unlike the
revolutionary man Gandhi, but I still believe in many of the tennets of
peace
and non-violence that he has supported. Of these, one in particular stands
out
now as a message and a warning to us all; a danger we must consider and
measure
against the actions we are taking and will continue to take against human
beings in the country of Afghanistan:

"I am more concerned in preventing the brutalization of human nature than in
the preventing of the sufferings of my own people....I know that people who
voluntarily undergo a course of suffering raise themselves and the whole of
humanity, but I also know that people, who become brutalized in their
desperate
efforts to get victory over their opponents or to exploit weaker nations or
weaker men, not only drag down themselves but manking also." -- Mohandas K.
Gandhi

- Keith
Howe

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