An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind

[Ichingcarpenter]

Millions of Americans believe that war doesn’t work, that war cannot end terrorism because war is terrorism, and that U.S. war-making is breeding a new generation of terrorists around the world. Millions also want the senseless killing to stop and they realize we must begin with ending our own military’s killing sprees. Americans want a new nonviolent response to the violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen. We don’t want to keep on inspiring millions of oppressed people to join ISIS or Al Qaeda. We want to stop the killing, make reparations, and start healing our world.

Al Qaeda and ISIS are the outcomes of far too many years of U.S. warfare in the Middle East. The American government has killed hundreds of thousands, militarized much of the Middle East, funded the Palestinian occupation, and used drones to kill innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere.

What is needed instead of continued military violence is a new global nonviolent response. The United States should immediately halt all its bombing raids and drone attacks and pursue ceasefires everywhere. We should start a massive reparations program to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, and every land we have bombed, on a scale greater than the Marshall Plan. We should cut off all funding to ISIS from all quarters, and fund nonviolent peacemakers throughout the Middle East. Creative nonviolence should become our new foreign policy and the policy of every nation.

More: http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/30/an-eye-for-an-eye-makes-the-whole-world-blind/


John Dear, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is an American Catholic priest nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also a Christian pacifist, an author, and lecturer.

[6chars]

1. Look at all the German terrorists we created after WWII

Should never have defeated them militarily.

[a2liberal]

3. Look into the Marshall Plan

Which the article alludes to. Also look into what happened in Germany after WWI, pretty much universally accepted as being primarily caused by the state the war left their economy in. I'm not sure I agree with the article but your response pretty much ignores a lot of historical facts...

[6chars]

4. Win first, then aid

That is what worked in WWII. Also, the article positions aid as reparations, which is ridiculous and also will reinforce terrorists that they are right and we are wrong. Marshall, on the other hand, was positioned as a demonstration of strength and commitment to our ideals. What the author of the article proposes would be disastrous.

[cprise]

6. Godwin's law.

Your comparison is inappropriate.

[tecelote]

2. Our solution to the problem simply perpetuates the problem further requiring more of the solution.

Collateral Damage. We don't like to talk about it but it is what creates more terrorists. We kill people's parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents. They get mad at the US and become terrorist to fight the terrorists (USA).

It works as planned creating more war and more profit from war.

Take the profit out of war and it will end today.

[6chars]

5. One hears this a lot, but I am skeptical

Have not seen evidence. While there are surely cases where someone became a terrorist as a result of someone dying in a drone strike or whatever, I doubt it is at a rate that replaces the number of terrorists killed. If the rate is that high, it is among people who are already highly predisposed to become terrorists. What seems common is people getting radicalized from Internet, religious leaders, things like that.