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Michael says...  War... and Peace

September 11 was a sad and tragic day. If any good came out of it, it had to be in some of the values it brought many of us back to:
a renewed sense of the importance of family, and of friends; increased respect for police, firefighters and other emergency workers; recognition of our own vulnerability, individually and as a nation, and the need to protect ourselves from assault; patriotism, pride in our nation's strength and ability to react appropriately; and for most, at least for a time, a spirituality much different than just before.

So, we warn nations and individuals that terrorism will not be tolerated, and that to provide safe harbor for terrorists is to BE a terrorist. The Taliban leaders of Afghanistan about told us, "Dare you... double dare you..."  Last Sunday we began our attack on sites used for terrorist training purposes, and on government facilities and the homes of terrorists.

On an online forum / bulletin board I read, a few individuals, bemoan the fact we may kill innocent people in this war, and repeat the mantra We are smarter and better than that... one post, for example:
watching the news
well Over 100 innocent civilians have been killed in Afghanistan...
shakes head....
*sighs

My response was
Yeah, and many thousands of innocent civilians were recently killed in the U.S.;
the ones in Afghanistan were casualties in the effort to prevent thousands more here.
those killed here... explain to me why?

Although there is warmongering rhetoric from some, just as there have been hate crimes in this country lately against U.S. citizens of middle eastern descent, the overwhelming majority want peace, not vengeance.  Oh, how wonderful, if we could win a war without casualties. It is, in fact, quite amazing that the casualties have been kept so low, particularly in light of the placement of weapons by terrorists and the Taliban government (I do not say the Afghan government; the Taliban are not recognized by the U.N. as the legitimate government of that nation).  There are side issues about who we've supported in the region over time, but these have no bearing on the fact that terrorism must be stopped.

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posted October 12 - November 5, 2001