i hope you don’t mind while i think out loud as i try to make sense of what is going on in afghanistan right now. thank you, aaron and rose, for your responses to my previous post–you guys keep me honest.

considering that he is living in a world of practical politics, i think that bush has done an admirable job of building wide international support for his actions. he is dropping food as well as bombs. he is putting incredible pressure on israel and palestine to solve the problems between them. he is working hard to not turn this conflagration into a polarized ideological war between islam and the west:

the united states of america is a friend to the afghan people, and we are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who practice the islamic faith.

the united states of america is an enemy of those who aid terrorists and of the barbaric criminals who profane a great religion by committing murder in its name

at the same time, i know that these actions will produce more terrorists at the same time the u.s. is trying to eradicate the threat of terrorism. with every cruise missile that lands in kandahar or kabul, new anger is born and the flames of old hatred are fanned. as soon as it is known that the feet of american soldiers have touched the mountainous terrain of afghanistan, we will see a stronger response from those who already feel oppressed by the west.

i have to agree with aaron–the cause of justice would be best served if a third party dispensed it. it is easy for us and our closest allies to feel that what we are doing is just and that we have full authority to launch punitive strikes against the taliban and the qaeda network. but many will simply see the strong bullying arm of america in action once again.

we’ve got a mixed track record. even if we’ve supported a lot of just causes in the past, we’ve also deposed of democratically-elected governments and propped up ruthless dictators who were friendly to america. we’ve armed iran, iraq, and even the taliban.

here is iraq’s official response to yesterday’s attacks:

what america did today is that it had targeted a country and people who are among the poorest in the world. anybody would condemn this attack, not because it’s coming from america or because it’s against muslims and a muslim country — but because it was done outside the framework of international law…

i know i’m not winning a lot of sympathizers by quoting an iraqi government source, but i have to agree with the statement that the u.s. is working outside of the framework of international law. it is hypocritical of the iraqi government to say this, but i think that they are technically true. but we’re used to (making, then) breaking international law. the united states of america was the world’s greatest violator of international law during the 1980s (i believe the soviet union was #2). we’re used to making and playing by our own rules.

i’m not trying to be anti-american. i love the principles for which america stands, and i want america to live up to the same standards that they expect the rest of the world to adhere to. i want justice for the friends and families of those who lost loved ones in the vicious, brutal attacks on the world trade center and on the pentagon and above pennsylvania on september 11. i want the justice to be fairly dispensed and for that fairness to be indisputable and to come from a source recognized by most of the world to be an instrument of justice.

please forgive my late night/early morning ramblings. i have mixed feelings about hitting the ‘post’ button right now…thank you for your patience with me as i try to work things out during this emotionally trying time. i love peace, and i want peace for my children and grandchildren, and not just for me. i have learned from personal experience and from history that, for the most part, violence begets violence::