Good morning!
It is December 15th at about 7am EST and I have read the news and had some thoughts. The news I was reading to be specific is
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/15/MNGADG892M1.DTL
It’s a Google news link concerning our (Americas) torture policies. It is specifically concerning the "War on Terror".
When I was a kid I did not know that my grandmother was not allowed to "beat" me till I was "black and blue". Often I was told that if I was found in the pantry again that would be the punishment of the day. Although my Grandmother was not a saint, she never beat me. Still the threat was enough to keep me out. Later in life thanks to the "help" of my teachers I was educated as to what a parent could and could not do to a child. At this point I went home and educated the adults in my life. I never had a problem getting in that pantry again.
The first step in winning a game or war or argument or anything is to understand the limitations and strengths of your enemy. Another step is controlling the information so that your enemy can not do the same to you:
"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
Being a veteran I understand a need to insure that we as human beings do not lose our humanity by finding excuses to strip others of their own. I believe most if not all soldiers know and understand that we will give more humanity than we will receive.
However, what I don’t understand is how we can expect to defend our future when we loudly acclaim our limitations to the world. Even if we make the law and we make the rules, and we enforce them amongst ourselves, why give the world yet ANOTHER tool to use against us.
Well...one possible answer is one you will read many times in the future here, or hear many times if you were to b around me. It’s the obvious answer. They really don’t care.
The world is becoming a place of "tolerance" and "understanding". A world if you don't like the laws and you have enough money then you can move to a country that’s a little more your speed. A world where commercial air time costs rise and fall based on death toll. A world where video games teach our young methods of war. A world where our politicians and media would rather insure their own place in history, than make sure we have a history at all.
Our American values are taught to us in a manner that makes us believe that if others do not KNOW we did good, then we might as well not do good. We as Americans need to be public about our lives, but do we need to be public about our limitations?
Like children getting into the pantry sometimes it is the fear of the beating that will stop you.
In the is age of "understanding" nobody seems to be ready to admit that it is human nature to enforce your way of life on others. Your views, your policies will always be a subject to disagree about. The strong will force upon the weak, and the weak will fight back and/or evolve. This is a fact of life that WILL NOT CHANGE. Any event to argue it with me only begins to prove it as true. Up until recently we have been doing the enforcing. How would you or your children feel if the situation were to be reversed? Would you like to be an Iraqi woman right now?
Do you believe in your heart that if the situation were reversed then we would be treated differently? Do you think all will be forgotten? Do you think they will "forget" that anyone not of their beliefs is "the enemy"?
I don’t need an answer here but you need to answer yourself where you are.
Unfortunately the need to keep the people informed is more important than the need to keep the people alive. That seems to be the answer to the question above.
Teach your children tolerance, but don’t take for granted that others are doing the same.
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December 20th 2005
Since writing these thoughts down our President has addressed the nation concerning among other things the issues stated above. He stated how we give our enemies information when we speak publicly about these issues. Specifically sighted how American press releasing the details of our tracking of Usama Bin Laden gave our enemies the information needed to change their methods. In interviews afterwards while the “experts” discussed the statements no one would discuss the security issues problem. I would be interested in the location of any information concerning this subject. If you find any either pro or con please leave that link in the comments here. Thank you.
