America is in Violation of EVERY 'Just War' Principle
As much as I yearn to join the massive and mostly moonbat rush to blog about Cheney's misadventures in bird hunting.....I will resist and talk about something important.
This is mainly because there is nothing of interest in Cheney's conduct or any of his actions. Elderly men hunting slow-flying, pen-raised game farm birds and doing more driving than walking is normal and logical. I hope I can do even that when I'm 78 years old.
And I sympathize with Cheney in this one thing. It could happen to anybody. I know......when I was 12 my best friend stepped in front of me as I was squeezing off a shot at a ruffed grouse.
I jerked the gun away and missed him by inches. He jumped in because he wanted to shoot the grouse before I could--which he then did--and thought it was funny.......but I was the one who was sick for days thinking about how close I came to killing him.
Cheney, for all his evil, is still human and I'm sure he feels awful about shooting his friend......that, for a hunter, is the ultimate mistake. The big one you dread more than anything. You can never live it down. You can never call back that shot once unleashed. You will have nightmares about it and wake up drenched with sweat.
No, this is a big deal for Cheney and the rest of us should stay out of it.....he will have to deal with it and remember it the rest of his sorry, pathetic life.
I only wish he could care one tenth as much about the victims of the war he and Bush have engineered in Iraq.
The "Just War" principles were drawn up by Christians so that we would have an orderly way to decide whether or not to go to war.
I'll be discussing some "Just War" principles over the next few days.
I want to discuss a real issue rather than join the lynch mob that will be chasing Cheney.
First Just War Principle:
It is clear that America rushed to make war upon Iraq BEFORE we were even close to exhausting all non-violent options.
What about the other side? These "terrorists" that Bush and his media sycophants keep talking about? These "homicide bombers" as Bush and Fox News call them?
Ah, here we have some history.......what have they been up to?
Well, they were asking, begging, pleading with the British to stop forcing Jewish immigrants into Palestine even before World War ONE.
Yes, that's over 100 years ago.....they were asking, begging for peace.
They were begging us to stop meddling in their politics just prior to World War Two as well.
They begged the West to end support for the Zionists and even went to war with the British in 1938.....to no avail. The British (assisted by the growing Zionist militias) crushed them and exiled all their leaders--making Palestine easy prey for the Zionists ten years later.
America and England needed a dependent friend.....a surrogate power in a region where we were hated. The illegitimate state of "Israel" was formed to be exactly that and we poured money and weapons and technology into it to make sure it would survive......and it did.
We also helped the Fascist Shah of Iran to take power in 1941 and keep that power until 1979 through much domestic unrest and a coup that chased him out at one point. We assisted him in taking back his throne. He murdered, tortured and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of his people until they finally had their way and got rid of him.
They too, had begged us to stop meddling in their affairs and finally released their pent-up anger by taking our embassy staff captive and holding them for 444 days to try to send us a message.
We got the message......but ignored it in our arrogance--blaming the victims.
In Lebanon, the French turned over power to the Christian political party in 1943. Of course, civil war soon broke out between Christians and Muslims and the Christians were supported by French and American military might until 1983 when 241 American Marines were killed by a suicide bomber who drove a truck loaded with explosives into their barracks.
The begging had stopped. The Muslims had, by the 1980s, tried everything to get the Western Colonialist Powers to quit murdering, torturing and imprisoning them to facilitate the theft of their oil.
Actually, the patience shown by Muslims was amazing.
They had begged for many years--clearly as long as could be expected or longer.....and exhausted all hope for peace.
The war was on in earnest.....we were on the road to 9/11 and the Twin Towers.
By "Just War" principles......America was wrong--and still is.
By these same Christian principles, the mostly Muslim nations of the Middle East must be judged innocent.....and acting in self-defense.
Shame on America.....and a special shame on the religious people who have sold their souls for oil and hegemony.
Other "Just War" principles to discuss: (Please leave comments on one or more of these.)
And the Muslim nations we have consistently attacked are blameless.....fighting courageously in self-defense only......and with almost NOTHING in the way of modern weaponry.
Shame on America.
And a special shame on the religious.
This is mainly because there is nothing of interest in Cheney's conduct or any of his actions. Elderly men hunting slow-flying, pen-raised game farm birds and doing more driving than walking is normal and logical. I hope I can do even that when I'm 78 years old.
And I sympathize with Cheney in this one thing. It could happen to anybody. I know......when I was 12 my best friend stepped in front of me as I was squeezing off a shot at a ruffed grouse.
I jerked the gun away and missed him by inches. He jumped in because he wanted to shoot the grouse before I could--which he then did--and thought it was funny.......but I was the one who was sick for days thinking about how close I came to killing him.
Cheney, for all his evil, is still human and I'm sure he feels awful about shooting his friend......that, for a hunter, is the ultimate mistake. The big one you dread more than anything. You can never live it down. You can never call back that shot once unleashed. You will have nightmares about it and wake up drenched with sweat.
No, this is a big deal for Cheney and the rest of us should stay out of it.....he will have to deal with it and remember it the rest of his sorry, pathetic life.
I only wish he could care one tenth as much about the victims of the war he and Bush have engineered in Iraq.
The "Just War" principles were drawn up by Christians so that we would have an orderly way to decide whether or not to go to war.
I'll be discussing some "Just War" principles over the next few days.
I want to discuss a real issue rather than join the lynch mob that will be chasing Cheney.
First Just War Principle:
The Preeminent criterion for a just war is that it can only be waged as a last resort, with all non-violent options exhausted.
It is clear that America rushed to make war upon Iraq BEFORE we were even close to exhausting all non-violent options.
What about the other side? These "terrorists" that Bush and his media sycophants keep talking about? These "homicide bombers" as Bush and Fox News call them?
Ah, here we have some history.......what have they been up to?
Well, they were asking, begging, pleading with the British to stop forcing Jewish immigrants into Palestine even before World War ONE.
Yes, that's over 100 years ago.....they were asking, begging for peace.
They were begging us to stop meddling in their politics just prior to World War Two as well.
They begged the West to end support for the Zionists and even went to war with the British in 1938.....to no avail. The British (assisted by the growing Zionist militias) crushed them and exiled all their leaders--making Palestine easy prey for the Zionists ten years later.
America and England needed a dependent friend.....a surrogate power in a region where we were hated. The illegitimate state of "Israel" was formed to be exactly that and we poured money and weapons and technology into it to make sure it would survive......and it did.
We also helped the Fascist Shah of Iran to take power in 1941 and keep that power until 1979 through much domestic unrest and a coup that chased him out at one point. We assisted him in taking back his throne. He murdered, tortured and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of his people until they finally had their way and got rid of him.
They too, had begged us to stop meddling in their affairs and finally released their pent-up anger by taking our embassy staff captive and holding them for 444 days to try to send us a message.
We got the message......but ignored it in our arrogance--blaming the victims.
In Lebanon, the French turned over power to the Christian political party in 1943. Of course, civil war soon broke out between Christians and Muslims and the Christians were supported by French and American military might until 1983 when 241 American Marines were killed by a suicide bomber who drove a truck loaded with explosives into their barracks.
The begging had stopped. The Muslims had, by the 1980s, tried everything to get the Western Colonialist Powers to quit murdering, torturing and imprisoning them to facilitate the theft of their oil.
Actually, the patience shown by Muslims was amazing.
They had begged for many years--clearly as long as could be expected or longer.....and exhausted all hope for peace.
The war was on in earnest.....we were on the road to 9/11 and the Twin Towers.
By "Just War" principles......America was wrong--and still is.
By these same Christian principles, the mostly Muslim nations of the Middle East must be judged innocent.....and acting in self-defense.
Shame on America.....and a special shame on the religious people who have sold their souls for oil and hegemony.
Other "Just War" principles to discuss: (Please leave comments on one or more of these.)
Weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants.The shameful reality continues to blare at us: America in violation of every single "Just War" principle.
Violence used in war must be proportional to the injury suffered.
The attackers must have legitimate authority sanctioned by the society they profess to represent.
The peace to be established must be a clear improvement over what exists.
And the Muslim nations we have consistently attacked are blameless.....fighting courageously in self-defense only......and with almost NOTHING in the way of modern weaponry.
Shame on America.
And a special shame on the religious.
posted by Wadena | 7:11 PM
20 Comments:
Excellent post. Made me rethink some of the positions I've beeb drawn to in the past several weeks.
Thanks for a fresh point of view.
Post Script:
Your blog's gone wonky. All your right margin stuff has been slammed to the bottom. This has happened to me, and if you need help trouble-shooting it, drop me an email. I'll be happy to help if I can.
Thank you, Diane, for the kind words.
I think Americans (from birth) are so bombarded with American propaganda that it is almost IMPOSSIBLE for them to see the truth.
Sounds far-fetched.....but I think it is, in fact, merely the way things are.
My wonky blog must have gone back to normal....or at least it shows up ok for me at this point.
Thanks again.
OK – first things first. I understand your stance on the shooting incident. I know it’s possible for accidents to happen. But he’s the VP. That means he set aside his right to privacy for those years he occupies the White House. He, or one of his senior staff should have come out and explained what happened from the get go. By letting everyone speculate, by handling the incident as if there were something to hide, it gives the impression that something truly was rotten in Denmark. Since this administration now has a deserved reputation for making it up as they go along; for breaking laws with impunity – it is only natural that Cheney’s hush, hush behavior would be looked at sideways by a whole lot of people – me included. To then compound their mistakes by implying the victim was responsible for his own injuries and suffering no ill affects (both proven to be lies) again just makes the whole thing stink like last weeks fish.
Now, as to the rest of your post. I am not and have never been a fan of any organized religion. In fact, I think it has done more harm and less good than just about any other institution conceived of by man. My view of the whole Israel/Palestinian crises has changed somewhat since Hamas turned a legitimate beef with Israel over co-existence into a religious clash that has no end game other than death. Both Israel and Palestine, in my opinion have a right to exist. If you reach far enough into the past, you can find claims to legitimize either side. The current atmosphere of hatred is horrific. There can be no winner here. It has morphed into Judeo/Christianity vs. Muslim extremism. Bang, bang – everyone loses.
Thanks for the long post. I must say that the "Mostly Moonbat" statement didn't include people like yourself.
I saw a blogger on t.v. last night who was seriously trying to say that Cheney's situation was honestly analogous to Chappaquiddick--and that particular comparison falls apart at the initial examination.
Yes, they were slow and used a little spin. That's about the extent of it. Perhaps some of us are showing an unappealing eagerness to nail an admittedly ugly person.
You know, even if BUSH instead of Cheney had done this it would be far less important than Clinton's zipper issues. I'm not sure anybody actually lied in this one as Clinton did and certainly, Cheney didn't.
Inconsequential incident politically....crushing and tragic personally. We should show restraint.
Middle East: Yes, religion has done a lot of harm, and that harm has been highly visible.
Religion does a lot of good as well, and that good tends to be far less visible or appreciated.
You say:
"""If you reach far enough into the past, you can find claims to legitimize either side."""
No. If you are somehow implying that reaching 2000 years into the past justifies stealing a country--I disagree.
The Jews virtually disappeared from Palestine for 1500 years and then (sponsored by England) simply moved back and took over.
They purchased only about 2 percent of the land they currently occupy and stole the rest at the point of a gun with the help of England's military might.
Even purchasing land does not give you the right to set up your own government and declare yourself a nation.
That was ALL farcical nonsense along with the Western Colonialist's act of "Declaring" that certain lands suddenly "Belonged" to the Jews (as though some pompous-assed white guys in wigs had the right to declare such a thing through the power of artillery and machine guns).
If you read the history of Lawrence of Arabia and other accounts of that era.....the arrogance of the British jumps out and slaps you right in the face. Their actions and attitudes were selfish and callous and inexcusable....and totally indifferent to the needs and human rights of the indigenous people.
Religion played a part here, but the bottom line is that we have two competing Semitic peoples who have ancient rivalries.....and one of these has been adopted by the Western Colonialist powers because it suits the need of those powers.....the other group is expendable.
I think I agree on Cheney, must as I despise him, unless there is more than is being reported.
Hunting accidents happen. I do wish everyone had been a little more forthcoming though. Secrecy almost makes me wonder what really went on. It's human nature to suspect coverup, especially with this Administration.
I have always wondered about the wisdom of shoving one group of people out of the way to make room for another. I'd wonder no matter which group of people it happened to.
That's probably an oversimplification but that's the way I am.
Sometimes if your post is a little wide, the side bar is a little narrow because two things can't occupy the same space at the same time except on Star Trek.
An online friend fixed mine. It slid on some computers and not on others. Some of it turned out to be the difference between Mozilla and IE too. I switched over to Mozilla. Don't understand it a bit.
The issue is about pixels, lets say you have 600 acroos, and your sidebar is 200, post 400. If you accidentally put a long link or something in the sidebar over the 200 pixels, they both cannot fit in the 600 space. So one gets pushed down. Now IE handles spacing differently than firefox, so it looks ok to a person and all along their blog looks like crap to everyone else!
On the other:
One of my groups held forums on this very topic, Just War Theory and we are going to have another on Pacifism. It was attended by hundreds with a panel of speakers from many religious persuasions each presenting THEIR view on Just War. Remember that Just War criteria differs from one rleigion to another, what is Just War in the Catholic Faith is very different than the Quaker view. There is not ONE singular Just War perspective, thats like saying there is ONE type of apple. While true, an apple is an apple, you have to consider that this body of thought has diversity.
In a paper on this, I plotted views along a spectrum, ranging from stnadards of defense to standards of exploitive imperialism. Then there are groups that do not favor war as a solution at all.
Hmmmm.....I use Firefox and everything here looks fine to me.
Maybe it's the people on IE who find that it's messed up?
Can't be TOO many people still using IE, can there? Hasn't it been declared obsolete or dead or something?
If the blog looks bad....I don't know it, so tell me more.
As far as the "Just War" stuff goes.....I doubt that America is in compliance with ANY version.....unless the Nazis have invented some that allow war crimes.
Firefox displays correctly. One would think everyone would be using firefox but actually there are stats on blogs that indicate 75% or more still using IE! Then there are five people in America using Safari. Two using Opera...I test my template changes in all of them now, learned my lesson hopefully! Hopefully.
Thanks, Lily....I hope you're feeling better.
Maybe Blogspot/Blogger is a plot by Mozilla to force more people to use Firefox.
I have had almost zero spyware, adware, popups, etc. since I switched to Firefox.
The only bad-looking blog I've seen is that poor guy at "Peace on This."
I mentioned it to him and he said he was going to try to fix it.....but he still has problems.
I suppose I look just as bad to the 75%.....oh well.
Oops....that bad looking blog was "Peace on That."
I don't know why that particular one would be the only one that looks bad to me.
Every time he puts in a large picture he skews his text.
I put a warning at the beginning of my "About me" section.
If anybody sees something that's particularly hard to read, let me know and I can change the text color.
Such user friendly service, Wadena. You truly aim to please. Apparently, I aim to cause boycotts over censorship or my failure to fix people's problems in a timely manner.
Maybe there is a time to say:
"If you don't like my colors, keep surfing"??
If I do not help you within your time frame, find another helper?
If I cannot accommodate the preferences of the blogosphere by request, does this make me evil?
Have a good weekend Wadena.
Lil? Has someone been picking on you?
Let me make it clear that you've been a huge help to me almost ever since I started here.
Have you been taking whiners seriously? Laugh them off.
I'm going to take a nice long weekend, but I'll probably spend most of it here.
:)
Well, I guess I have been taking whiners seriously, because I try to do the right things and like everyone else, am not perfect. But the requests to delete people and their comments at my blog was surprising to me, as are the comments about my indifference about feelings and all the suffering I have unknowingly caused because I supposedly let trolls be 'mean'. Because I value free speech, exchange, different views- does that somehow make me responsible? I don;t think so. Hey, now I AM WHINING!
The beauty of bloggery is that there are always other blogs and people can move on to what suits their purposes.
I have a fever. I'm rambling again, cat.
Ah, don't worry about it....I'd favor going very slowly with deleting people.....they do put some time and effort into the writing, after all.
I deleted one after he kept breaking my rather generous rules.
Sometimes good ideas come out of spirited exchanges.....at least on the topics that haven't been beaten to death already.
Your fevered ramblings are more intelligent than most can muster on a good day.
:)
Good morning Wadena,
I fear I am one of those irascible IE users. Question: if I switch to Firefox, can I still use my Outlook? What about my windows-based gadgets ... pda, phone, etc.?
But far more importantly, this was an excellent post. I tend to agree with both you and Granny on the shooting incident, particularly in terms of the man being "a person" with "feelings" ... feels strange to write that ... but so be it. It's not, however, an incident to be set aside as in "these things happen" ... perhaps if it had been handled more forthrightly they would have avoided all of the ensuing chaos. I saw Bay Buchanan and Christina van den Heuvul (excuse my spelling) on Paula Zahn. I totally disagreed with Bay's opinion that it was a "human interest story" and nothing else.
Oh, and now I know what you mean by your statement on my blog that you "know cats" !!!
Onward and upward with catblogging, right?
Hi Anita,
Thanks for stopping by.
You can keep IE waiting in the wings if you want to change back (forever or for a while).
Firefox only replaces IE, not Windows.
Maybe you should ask a more technically skilled person like Lily, but I simply downloaded it and followed the prompts and I came out fine (it looks very much like IE and the changeover was painless).
I'm making a new post about Cheney.....I've been pushed as far as I can stand reading some of the stuff that has been said.
(Cheshire smile)
OOPS.....I intended to leave a Firefox link.....
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
Thanks again for stopping by.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home