I am outraged by the latest news regarding United States air attacks against Somalia. Do we no longer have any regard for national borders? Do we feel as a nation that we can act with complete impunity anywhere in the world we choose? There are already reports of innocent lives being lost as a result of these latest attacks. Do we have any regard for human life? It seems not.
This behavior in addition to the planned escalation of our involvement in the fiasco that is Iraq will only lead to more violence, the death of more innocent civilians and increased hatred for the United States by many of the world's inhabitants, especially those of the poorest nations.
Is this the kind of people we have become, and the kind of nation we want to be? Is there no limit to the extremes we will go to insure our economic dominance?
This behavior is a sad testimonial to what we refer to as civilization. It is tragic especially in terms of what it portends for the future. History has demonstrated time and time again that empires begin to disintegrate when they become arrogant, over-extended and when they lose their moral underpinnings.
All this death and destruction is horribly unnecessary. The solution is a simple one: this nation must forego its psychotic tendency to deal with intractable problems by annihilating the enemy of the moment. We need to be willing to use intellect and pursue problems through peaceful means and that begins by honestly evaluating our own culpability in the world and choosing compromise even if that means ultimately adjusting the way we see the world and live our individual lives. We are, after all, not invincible and a nation among a community of nations. To persist with the same foolhardy arrogance will only bring us grief.
No comments:
Post a Comment