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Down through the years America has been known for its plain talk, common sense and simple honesty - and for the genuine niceness of its people. "9/11" changed all that. America was caught off guard - appalled - distracted - and ultimately subverted by its own military-industrial establishment into making War on Terrorism. The U.S.Administration became mean spirited, vindictive, retaliatory and ready to fight the whole world if necessary - and not very nice at that. The War on Terrorism evolved - first into the high mountains of Afghanistan to conquer Al Qaeda, bring down the Taliban, and get Bin Laden - then into an unnecessary and unjustifiable War with Iraq to capture weapons of mass destruction that weren’t there, and get Saddam Hussein. The War on Terrorism had become a hydra-headed monster - with the American Hawks waging ambiguous wars against Muslim Extremists all over the world - and neither side willing to deal with the body bags. The Americans had the arrogance to think they had a Super Power Mandate to inflict "regime change" whereever they chose to do so. Reciprocity had become the active determinant, i.e.: "if they hate, we hate - if they kill, we kill. - and when they lie, we lie too" - not exactly a game for good sports to play. Today, not two years and many thousands of body bags later, the United States has dissipated much of the respect and trust that once assured its prominence in world affairs. Its "niceness" has been eroded away by partisan politics, lack of trust, manipulated truth, vindictive mindsets, and a toxic stream of not-so-compassionate conservatism. The dirty business of making war has anesthetized our usually good spirit. WHAT CAN WE DO and HOW CAN WE DO IT? The 2004 Elections were supposed to bring change, but that didn't happen. 1) We must wrest our governance back out the hands of the War Hawks, the Defense Department and the Military-Industrial Complex. Our government (the whole social structure of our country) must be repaired to reflect the basic "goodness" of Americans - knowing that the prize sought by all people is freedom from strife and peace on earth - knowing that peace and freedom gained anywhere at the expense of peace and freedom lost elsewhere is a "Hobson's Choice" - a bad joke. We must reaffirm our "national niceness". As we are the last "Super Power", the "niceness" of our world depends on us. 2) Security measures are needed to preserve the civility of our society - but not by police state methods. The Patriot Act is worrisome. Security systems based on the ubiquitous presence of guns and guards only amplifies our insecurites. No one wants to relinquish their freedoms to checkpoints and armed soldiers on every street corner. The best security we may ever know is what we get from each other - from ever growing networks of friends that we can count on in times of stress. We need to preserve the civil rights and freedom of all people - including the rights and freedom of our adversaries. Guns and guards are no substitute for "Friendship". 3) The Iraq War has brought America to the edge of bankruptcy. Practical financial know-how and fiscal prudence must be used to preserve the economic freedom and the social justice we've come to know. At a cost of more than $1 Billion per day we can’t afford this war - nor can we afford a government that generates such debt. And no matter what else, the military-industrialists (who profit from war) should not be given lavish tax breaks to add to the fortunes they make by means of war. We must be fiscally responsible for the wars we make, and use our own money to pay our own bills - so that our children and grand children don’t start their lives financially burdened by our mistakes. Our children are entitled to their own bright futures. 4) The U.S. must abandon the notion that it has some kind of “Super Power Right” to wage war unilaterally whenever some Soddomite needs his oil and regime changed. Even the so-called “War on Terror” (no matter how right we thought it was) does not give us a “preemptive” right to blast our way around the world on search and destroy missions to root out and kill terrorists whereever they may be. And we must not expect (or bribe) other nations to be accomplice to our military misadventures. 5) The U.S. must rebuild its position of trust in the world. With “9/11” as its excuse, the U.S. Aministration acted unilaterally to wage preemptive war on Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with “9/11”. The Hawks made a do or die issue of it anyway. They took us to war without regard for the widespread dissatisfaction of their homeland constituency and our global community. The U.N. was dissed as though it wasn’t even there, and distrust is the whirlwind reaped. We should make amends for our mistakes, and an honest effort to clean up the mess. The U.N. (as ever before) needs our full, unwavering, moral, financial and operational support. 6) We must “Internationalize” the occupation of Iraq. When we invaded Iraq, we insisted we had no empire building intentions. We promised the Iraqis their right to self determination - asking only that their new government serves their wishes democratically and not be of exclusive benefit to any one particular segment of their population. We must relinquish occupational control to the United Nations and NATO - that the U.N. oversees the reconstruction of Iraq's government, and that NATO oversees the reformation of Iraq’s police force. The U.N. and its Peace Keepers are politically better qualified to deal with Iraq's New Constitution. We're not indifferent to what Iraq does with its human resources and its oil; but we shouldn't tell them how to manage their store and what to do with their resources. Repairs to Iraq and its infrastructure (power and water) should be done by Iraqis for Iraqis. The last thing they need is a bunch of highly paid contractors from Haliburton who send their pay checks back to America. 7) America must abide by the nuclear non-proliferation treaties. If we want the rest of the world to honor those treaties, we must be willing to honor them ourselves - and support the U.N. in its efforts to monitor the distribution of nuclear materials - and demonstrate our faith in the process by dismantling our own weapons of mass destruction on schedule. 8) We must treat all prisoners of war with the same internationally approved State-of-War Protocols which we expect our enemies to use when our troops are captured. This is a "Do unto Others" Issue. If we ever want the friendship of Islam, we must turn the Quantanimo Bay Prisoners over to a properly constituted War Crimes Court with their rights protected by International Law - a World Court which has the statutory support and credence of all the world’s people. The first war crimes trials should include: Al Qaeda for the Skyjack Bombing of the World Trade Center, and Saddam Hussein for genocides committed years ago, and for not having the weapons of mass destruction his ill-advised captors thought he had. 9) We must honor our troops, reward them for their service and bring them home - all of them, soon, as promised - and let history record that we kept our promise. Part of the process that brings them home must be funding for reeducation to prepare them for civilian life, and guidance to help them find peace keeping jobs on America's home front. They must be insulated from prosecution for war crimes in Iraq (10,000± dead) by having the present Government “out” themselves (no more secrets) for their various roles, and accept full responsibility for sending them there. The challenge will be getting our War Department to give up control of Iraq’s Military Bases. 10) War is tragedy - never otherwise. To save its soul the U.S. must bring its “War on Terror” to an end. The War on Terror (if it ever had to be) must become “tomorrow's last war”. We must redirect our super power resources toward conflict resolution and nonviolent peace action - to end the fighting. Kamikaze pilots and suicide bombers need to know that self-murder is a crime against themselves and humanity - subject to legal action in courts of law. America's responsibilities for this ill-advised war can be partially mitigated by full endowment of a “Marshall Plan” for Iraq. The United Nations, the World Court, and the rest of the world’s governments will gladly participate in any truly conscientious peace effort intended to end war. Some day, when sanity prevails, historians will make an effort to determine the true causes of "9/11" - Why they did it? Why they were so angered at America? Was it strictly a religious issue? Why 3,000 civilians? etc.??? and we will know the truth. Hopefully, before then, we will have re-energized our State Department to use the good office diplomacy it was originally set up for. For now, we must "Love our Way through it" and we should remember Lincoln's inspired words: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."
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