In a post on “War on terror” failing: fueling terrorism, Michael Westmoreland-White makes several recommendations:
- Close the Prison at Guantanemo Bay, which has become almost as infamous a symbol as the prison at Abu Ghraib.
- Close all secret prisons run by the CIA.
- Ban all cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of prisoners, whether prisoners of war or “enemy combatants.”
- Restore Habeas Corpus and make all trials of terrorism suspects conform to international law.
- Hold a regional Middle East Peace Summit in which all issues: the 2-state solution in Israel/Palestine, tearing down the wall, return of the Golan Heights, stability of Lebanon, etc. are on the table.
- Fund education throughout the Muslim world so that poor parents aren’t forced to turn to extremist madrassahs.
- Send Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzalez, etc. to the International Criminal Court at the Hague to stand trial for war crimes.
I agree that it would be good if such things were to be done, though I wonder if any politicians have the political will to do them.
But most of those things are simply damage control or limitation. They could, perhaps, stop fuelling the fire, but the fire, I think, is out of control. It is a firestorm that is finding its own fuel, and no longer needs people like George Bush to feed it.
Ther harder thing, however, is damage repair. And I admit that that is something that has me flummoxed. What can Christian peacemakers do to not merely tro to limit damage, but to repair the samage already done? No one can restore the status quo ante — the toothpaste is already out of the tube.
It also seems unlikely that any Christians from belligerent nations could do much — the business of the Korean missionaries in Afghanistan has shown that. We can pray, of course, and should always do that. But is there anything more?
Does anyone have any ideas?
1 Comment
9 October 2007 at 11:45 am
I agree that these suggestions are like a tourniquet: stopping the bleeding, but not curing the wound. I think the latter will take decades. It will take us meeting Muslims, getting past stereotypes, defending their religious liberties (sometimes against our own governments), and much, much more–and it will take time. As you well know, Steve, memories are long in Africa and Central Asia–where the Crusades or the expulsion of Muslims from Spain in 1492 are spoken of as if they happened last month. It will take us helping each other find new ways of remembering–for healing and not storing up for revenge.
There will be no quick fixes. But we can work to stop the bleeding, now.
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