Abdication of Leadership
"Blessed are the peacemakers." Apparently that line was deleted from George W. Bush's Bible. As the Middle East continues to spiral out of control towards a vast regional war where is the leader of the free world? Where is the leadership so desperately needed to convince all parties involved that unbridled aggression and violence are not the answers? George W. Bush refused to answer media questions about seeking an end to the horrid violence being dispensed by both Israel and the Hezbollah.
Retaliating with the magnitude of force which Israel has unleashed is barbaric and unjustified. A much more measured and commensurate action was called for, not, basically, all out warfare.
The question of who started what is moot. Each side can cite provocations going back decades. People in that part of the world have very long memories. Who started what is not as important now as who will end the conflict. The United States doesn't seem to want to be part of any peacemaking process any longer. This is a shame. We have the strength and used to have the moral fortitude to press for such cease fires. Our current national policies relinguished that moral high ground to the point we cannot force others to do what we refuse to do.
When it is our national policy, according to the Ron Suskind book The One Percent Doctrine, to take action based on the flimsiest of suspicions, how do we dissuade other nations from also taking the view that only the response matters? No wonder the world is in chaos.
Bush relishes the concept that he is "a war President." He gloats and takes great pride in being a "warrior." He is not a man of peace but a warmonger and this is all the fruit of that poisoned atmosphere.
Once upon a time we had leaders like Menachim Begin and Jimmy Carter who were proud to be peacemakers. Men who stood for human rights and the dignity of all peoples. Men who did everything in their powers to bring peace. Now we have warmongers like George Bush, Ariel Sharon, Osama bin Laden, and others. We have an abdication of leadership. We've abdicated the high moral ground we used to be able to use to convince others to lay down their arms. No one will listen to a nation now using torture, rendition and gulags. A nation restricting its own citizens civil rights. A nation led by a man proud to say he's "a war President." How I long for the days when America stood for something great and we had leaders unafraid to step up and provide leadership on the international stage to end conflicts.
Retaliating with the magnitude of force which Israel has unleashed is barbaric and unjustified. A much more measured and commensurate action was called for, not, basically, all out warfare.
The question of who started what is moot. Each side can cite provocations going back decades. People in that part of the world have very long memories. Who started what is not as important now as who will end the conflict. The United States doesn't seem to want to be part of any peacemaking process any longer. This is a shame. We have the strength and used to have the moral fortitude to press for such cease fires. Our current national policies relinguished that moral high ground to the point we cannot force others to do what we refuse to do.
When it is our national policy, according to the Ron Suskind book The One Percent Doctrine, to take action based on the flimsiest of suspicions, how do we dissuade other nations from also taking the view that only the response matters? No wonder the world is in chaos.
Bush relishes the concept that he is "a war President." He gloats and takes great pride in being a "warrior." He is not a man of peace but a warmonger and this is all the fruit of that poisoned atmosphere.
Once upon a time we had leaders like Menachim Begin and Jimmy Carter who were proud to be peacemakers. Men who stood for human rights and the dignity of all peoples. Men who did everything in their powers to bring peace. Now we have warmongers like George Bush, Ariel Sharon, Osama bin Laden, and others. We have an abdication of leadership. We've abdicated the high moral ground we used to be able to use to convince others to lay down their arms. No one will listen to a nation now using torture, rendition and gulags. A nation restricting its own citizens civil rights. A nation led by a man proud to say he's "a war President." How I long for the days when America stood for something great and we had leaders unafraid to step up and provide leadership on the international stage to end conflicts.
posted by PA progressive @ Sunday, July 16, 2006
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