[965] in peace2
Re: NO WAR!!!
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Daniel Collins)
Thu Sep 13 13:40:26 2001
Message-Id: <200109131740.NAA26034@jimi-hendrix.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 13 Sep 2001 11:00:39 EDT."
<v04020a03b7c67942f81f@[18.54.0.161]>
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Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 13:40:17 -0400
From: Daniel Collins <daniel_@MIT.EDU>
Here are some replies to a couple of e-mails:
> I know MANY MANY people who do NOT want an economically and
> politically-motivated blood bath.
Very true, but not all 'blood baths' are economically- or politically-driven.
Some may be in the interests of peace.
>... thousands of innocent women, men and children will die.
Not all wars involve large scale death - assassinations (a theme discussed
last night) may be adopted. It's not always feasible, nor politically
acceptable, but seems more ethical than directing cruise missiles into Pizza
Hut, or the like.
> 1. war \'wo.(*)r\ n [ME werre, fr. ONF, fr. OHG werra confusion, strife;
> akin to OHG Xwerran to confuse, L verrere to sweep, sweep away 1a1: a state
> of usu. open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations
Are [we] not at war because the opposition is not (or may not) be a recognized
'state or nation'? This definition is perhaps archaic now and of little use in
an argument.
> To declare war, even to fight as though we were at war, is to give in to fear,
> xenophobia and racism. To attack all those whom we percieve as different and
> therefore threatening is to prove we are no better than the cowards who
> launched this attack, that we have learned nothing from decades of bloodshed.
Is fear bad? It's good to fear a fall from a cliff or a bullet, because they
can kill. If [we] were xenophobic, would we not declare war on _all_
foreigners? Why the selectivity? Racism would be one motivation for war, but
so is defense.
Finally, some other thoughts:
Peace is a 2-way street; if the other group doesn't want it, it doesn't exist.
Making them want it could be achieved in various ways; (a) to make them fear
not having it (ie. have a war of sorts), or (b) rectify the origin of their
desire not to have it. This last point addresses US foreign policy (in this
case) - it's time to wake up and smell the aviation fuel.
Pax,
Daniel
