Comments on Mali - A Short Life

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A Bit One Sided

I'm neither a war mongerer nor a peacenik.  I won't argue that war isn't a horrible option or that innocent people won't be killed if there is another war with Iraq.  However, as with people on one side or the other I find that your blog is very one sided.  You point out that Mr. Blix may be upset with being misquoted but you don't also mention his belief that Iraq is not cooperating fully as required.  Neither do you mention that he chided Iraq for some of the public opinion ploys that it had conducted in response to inspectors.

I think the question of war with Iraq can be boiled down to an underlying question.  To me, the essence seems to center around whether or not you feel that war can ever be justified.  To dig a little deeper, whether or not violence can ever be justified.  It is very easy to dismiss these types of behaviors as antiquated, neanderthal and having no place in civilized society.  However, things are not always that simple.

Think about yourself or another family member in the following situation.  You've been injured in an accident and hence are mostly helpless in a body cast.  A malicious intruder has entered your home, gathered up your family and brought them all to where you are.  This intruder is a bit of a sociopath who has very different viewpoints on morality and violence.  Every time you attempt to reason with this sociopath one of your family members loses a finger very painfully.  You've opened your mouth twice so far.

Taking advantage of your silence your sociopath informs you that your spouse is going to be horribly violated and abused but that your children will live if you just sit there and not be annoying while this occurs.  When this starts you cannot hold your tongue and another finger is cut off from your childs hand.  It is the same child and the same hand, now horribly mutilated.  The sociopath claims that this is actually your fault because you aren't following the rules as laid out.

A few moments later your spouse has been abused before your eyes and to your disbelief killed.  This brings another outburst and costs your child that last finger.  How can this be happening?  Of course, the sociopath knows you are helpless and then proceeds to murder your children and there is no escape for you during these happenings.  Luckily for you, because surely you would not want to live with this kind of experience, the sociopath thanks you for your cooperation and finishes you off as well.

However, lets change the rules a bit.  If you had a pistol concealed within your reach would you have put a stop to the above sociopath given an appropriate opportunity?  I think there are indeed some things or some evils that overcome our basic considerations of risk and morality.  I can honestly say that once the nature of the intruder in the above scenario become known to me I would not hesitate to protect my hypothetical family at all.

Now, I want to be very clear.  I am not attempting to suggest whether or not we are in such a situation with Iraq at the current time.  I would suggest it may be the opinion of President Bush that an Iraq with weapons of mass destruction represents a threat to the populace of the western world in some manner equivalent to the concocted scenario above.  The question I might ask is this.  Do you believe that President Bush believes that Saddam Hussein would use weapons of mass destruction against innocent populations if he was to be given the chance to do so.

Again, I am not stating my belief or what I think should happen.  I'm simply trying to provide a scenario that might allow a dialogue about when is a war actually justified.  After Septemer 11th the US Administration decided that they would not wait for further attacks in order to take steps to protect the populace.  Whether rightly or wrongly I think this is the issue driving the call to war.  Talking about oil is simply one of those silly things that deflects us from critical important issues.  What does Iraq actually have?  When are civilized countries justified in attacking another country in order to protect their own citizens?  What type of behavior lets you know that you cannot effectively deal with the sociopathic country in question, if any?

These more difficult questions are the ones I'd like to see the warmongers and peaceniks promote.  Instead both sides focus on weak nonsubstantive issues claiming them to be real reasons for war.  How am I to decide what I think I would do if I was in power if the real issues aren't going to be debated?

posted by vroom on February 5, 2003 at 2:47 PM | link to this | reply

What You Can Do, Two

There are also a number of online petitions for you to sign. Here's one.

posted by DamonLeigh on February 3, 2003 at 7:42 AM | link to this | reply

What You Can Do

There are anti-war marches being planned all over the world (see here for a listing) so get yourself on one!

Also, write to your government representatives and turn on the pressure.

And just get the word out onto the web any way you can. I'm working on changing the entire front page of my own site to a 'Stop the War' link (super-imposed) for as long as this takes.

On a personal note I have, for the past few years, been deliberately distant from world affairs with the very few exceptions where I feel I can actually make a difference. This war, though, is different. It's got me wound-up, angry, thinking and talking about it a lot, and stunned that it's gone even this far without some massive outcry. I think that outcry is coming now. I'm seeing journalists putting their own anti-war views very strongly into reports. I'm seeing France and germany taking a stand. The police in London are expecting more on the Feb 15th than the 400,000 who marched for the Countryside Alliance last year.

We can each only do so much, but we need to do it all! There's that quote I keep thinking about, which is along the lines of 'All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing'.

posted by DamonLeigh on February 3, 2003 at 4:48 AM | link to this | reply

What can we do?

Reading this really shook me, and I'm ready to leap into action to stop this war. But wait... what can I possibly do to alter our destructive path? If Bush decides that we are going to war, who can stop him?

posted by Freedom on February 2, 2003 at 3:54 PM | link to this | reply

Thank you for bringing the tragedy of war to life with your heart-rending tale of Mali. We often forget the innocent victims who lose their life in the name of justice and peace. It is incomprehensible how America can think of going to war without it being sanctioned by the UN and the world community.

posted by Yasmeen on February 2, 2003 at 2:01 PM | link to this | reply

Moving

Thank you for this moving piece! John Bailes with the Panting Hart blog

posted by JohnBailes on February 2, 2003 at 11:15 AM | link to this | reply