Christian Democrats in the United States
Global Issues - AfghanistanWas the U.S. invasion necessary, if any wars are ever necessary? Maybe NATO should have invaded in 1998, after the theo-fascist Taliban started locking up their women, beheading nonconformists and destroying religious art. Those are more honorable intentions than private profit on the "silk pipeline" from Saudi Arabia to China. J did say some wars (and rumors of wars) were necessary, they were the "birth pains." Was this one? Forgiveness is a more difficult struggle than a terrorist jihad or a military occupation, but meanwhile, killing just keeps on killing.
The People won't take getting their buildings smashed. But the FBI strongly suspects a trusted U.S. military scientist of prodding the People's fear after 9/11. If you think the U.S. was tricked into Afghanistan on 9/11, well, then we're really in trouble. We respect the right of free thinkers to consider that possibility. Consider which major powers in the region benefit from the stabilization of this central asian trade, transportation and energy transmission nexus. The question is, why are we paying for it? Or rather, why are we borrowing for it?
The truth will set us all free. All people must be free to share their view of the truth for the truth to become known. Afghanistan was not free. It was a prisoner of many foreign interests using their peoples' pursuit of God to turn them into soldiers for life. The late twentieth century war (world war 3) was not cold. Was a hot war in Afghanistan, Vietnam and everyone else a necessary evil? Look within the heart and find that no evil is necessary. Love is all you need.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]Another martyr of peace
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/20/asia/afghan.phphttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/3257953/Family-of-murdered-aid-worker-tell-of-anger.html
I think too often, genuinely altruistic Christians are afraid of being preachy, not because they are afraid of retribution, for those who lose their life for Christ receive it back in the future, but they are afraid to preach because of the way the aggressive and hateful politicos of the quasi-Christian religious right come across.
This woman helped disabled children. What did she do to deserve death, even if she did preach the charity and love of Jesus?
The people who killed her, and the Taliban who took credit for this senseless violence deserve not death, but knowledge. They deserve to have their minds and hearts opened by God so they will know themselves and recognize how the shadow of darkness twisted their hearts.
Persevering is the only option for Christians - calm, patient persistence, to lead by example in the way of peace.
Her family asks, what was accomplished by Gayle's death? The Taliban accomplished nothing. They only revealed to the emerging evolution of thought in their nation how backward and despicable they are. They only hurt themselves and their own purpose.
Knowledge is inevitable. Love is inevitable. These are not achieved by the force of our armies, but by people like Gayle Williams.
on the other hand, how do you reconcile
On the other hand, how do you reconcile with people who would stop a civilian bus and execute the women and children inside? This is nuts - it does not make sense why anyone would do such a thing.That's just the problem of war. It makes no sense when the Taliban kill a bus full of civilians, just as it makes no sense when NATO drops a bomb on a house full of civilians. Neither action serves any goal except the perpetuation of conflict.
This is a reflection of a crisis of leadership. Leaders in the United States, Afghanistan's government and the Taliban leadership are all drawn up in this thirst for blood, too concerned with pleasing the various mobs under their tenuous grasp than with doing the right thing to bring an end to bloodshed and embrace a future in which all people can live in harmony. Is this mostly the Taliban's fault, or mostly NATO's fault, or whose? Despite the atrocious mis-aimed bombings of civilians, I would tend to say it's the Taliban's fault.
However, from actions like this, it's clear that the Taliban leadership, who are probably intelligent people in their own way, themselves have little to no control over the groups of psychotic, drugged-out murderers whom they have recruited in the war. These afghan women and children were not involved in the conflict. Their deaths serve no strategic purpose.
If done as a response to the death of Afghan civilians in aerial bomb attacks, it makes even less sense. If your enemy makes a mistake, you do not emulate the mistake in order to prove your superiority. All that proves is common stupidity.
reconciliation is not "surrender"
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has offered a very positive step forward necessary to end the war in Afghanistan, by being open to the idea of reconciliation with the Taliban to stop the conflict.We cannot see everything in black and white, since politics are shades of gray, and war is red. Politicians who pander to people's anger and say that dialog with rivals and enemies is "surrender" are being counter-productive, and lying, since pragmatically they cannot cling to absolutes once they are in office.
In Iraq, "We promoted a reconciliation that involved people we were pretty confident had been shooting at us and killing our soldiers," Gates said. "At the end of the day, that's how most wars end."
Modern wars cannot be won by force. Korea, Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq I, Afghanistan, Iraq II - none of these wars could be won by force. War is not a hockey game. The only victory is political. The only victory is peace, and to achieve peace, everyone has to stop fighting.
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