Hilary Moon Murphy

Taking Action

Just when I was beginning to think that no one was reading this journal anymore, I got two lovely e-mails about my Pax Americana and Still Struggling entries. The messages were so beautiful that I am going to quote them both at length. Sorry, you don't get my words this time, but theirs.

The first came from Bret. Bret has been something of a guardian angel for this site. He helped me demoronise my web pages, and provided last minute troubleshooting for a number of HTML problems that arose from my sloppy coding. He is also an insightful correspondent.

I'm quoting the whole of his letter here, because he raises many valid points that I overlooked when talking about our "War on Terrorism."

I recently read your latest journal entry. It sounds as if you think that only pacifists are against our 'war' in Afghanistan.

Since 9-11, I've been telling people that there were better ways to handle the problem. The one I liked best was to treat it as a criminal situation, proving what had occured and seeking a trial against those to planned the crime. Get help from Interpol and other international police groups and then present the proof before the world.

I still haven't seen much evidence showing how Osama Bin Ladin planned the attack. I would really like to see it, just to know that there is some basis in fact for these attacks.

We didn't try to operate within the international political arena through the UN because current US policy is to not take part in anything like a world court. One of the reasons is that Chile and Argentina want to question Kissinger about certain things that happened while he was Secretary of State. With a world court, we would have to play by the same rules as any other nation.

I've also been GREATLY annoyed by the people showing what I consider to be false patriotism. They aren't interested in justice, fairness, or anything like that. Many of them are just sheep following where the media leads them.

The U.S. is based on the principle of free speech and democratically determined policy. The president is not supposed to be able to unilaterally declare war, and congress has not to my knowledge signed a declaration of war. It is also wrong to try and hush someone who disagrees with a policy. Let them speak, presenting their points in a clear and thoughtful manner.

We are not wiping out all terrorist training camps. From what I can determine, The School of the Americas is still operating. The U.S. government uses it to 'train foreign nationals', including some of the S. American death squads that used to be in the news. Our freedom fighters, another country's terrorists.

I'm not happy with what I perceive to be hypocrisy in our government policies. I'm even less happy with some of the abuses of civil rights which are going on.

In any case, regardless of what damage our military may do to Afghanistan, the only way I see the situation being improved is to adopt some sort of Marshall Plan for the country. Build an infrastructure and a government that attempts to protect its people's interests.

My understanding is that most of the Al Qaeda aren't Afghans. They are Arabs who are upset with the manipulating that the U.S. has done in their homelands. Even if we get Osama Bin Laden, it is likely that another terrorist recruiter will pop up to continue the cycle of violence. We are acting like bullies, using our military to force another country to do what we want rather than make an honest attempt at working with them to resolve it.

I don't believe this situation could be handled without violence. I just disagree with the way we have applied that violence.

I quoted Bret's letter because it talked about this war in a very different way than I do -- rationally, without falling back on a filter of religion or pacifistic ideology. He's right about how this war represents an essential breakdown in many of the democratic principles set forth in our constitution. He also brought up many issues that I had failed to discuss, like our hypocrisy in allowing the School of Americas to continue. Letters like his give me hope.

My second letter came from fellow web journalist Karina. I'm not quoting all of it, just the last few paragraphs:

I also know that there are a great many people dying there right now, if not from bombs then from hunger or illness or any of the other horrible effects of this "War on Terrorism." (Thousands of people, far, far more than died in America, deaths that here will go largely unnoticed and unknown. "Collateral Damage.") And I do not, in any way, support that. I do not support the bombings, or this insane hunt for a man, or the deaths or the propaganda--none of it. I hate this war and, more than that, I hate our world--the type of society and culture that we live in right now--that allows this sort of thing to develop. Because, like you said, this is not coming from out of the blue, but rather is the result of the developed world's systematic economic and cultural rape of most of the world's population.

Saying that is one thing. Doing something about it...

I don't know what I can do, or you can do, or anyone. Even thinking about it, it's easy to get caught up in the hopelessness, the sheer vastness, of the situation. Or rather, of the many interconnected situations, businesses, lifestyles, peoples, etc., etc., that create these problems.

Writing is, of course, one answer--and, in some ways, the easy answer. I funneled a lot of my anger and confusion at the insanity that is war into "Loving the Bomb," and am planning more stories in that universe. [...] And there's more to writing than fiction. Essays, letters, articles, even journal entries--maybe they're all doing something, in some little way.

More than that ... I don't know. I guess I'm with you there. Stuck. But I'd very much like to know what you decide. And I think (and I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, or like I'm just stating the obvious) that you don't have to make one decision. There doesn't need to be The One Thing that you do. If you truly feel like this is something that you've been called to, then I think you could very well spend the rest of your life looking for ways to answer that question, "What can I do?" Because there's no one answer, or correct path. I believe that, just as I believe that there is no One True anything.

Karina made me realize that I've already started to act on my pacifist beliefs. Now it is time to take Ganpati-Baba's advice to heart and do a few more small things to make this world better. Big steps can come later, as I learn more about this leading that I have been given. The important thing is to start acting now. I'm sending off a check to Friends for a Non-Violent World to support their actions. And I'm going to start writing letters of protest to every politician I can about the sheer waste and horror of this war.

It is time to speak truth to power.

God bless you all,
Hmm

PS For those of you who are wondering how Andy and I are doing, we are doing okay. At least, for now. Andy has an interview on Tuesday for a job that he really wants. I've prepared sample interview questions and recruited several friends to give mock interviews to prepare him for the experience as well as we can. Wish him luck, okay?