A Prayer for America: on War & Peace

We authorized a response to 9/11, not war without end

• Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
• We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
• We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
• We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.
• We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.
• We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.
• We did not authorize an eye for an eye.
• Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.
• We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere, anyhow it pleases.
• We did not authorize war without end.

America should not be the world’s policeman

The question isn’t whether or not America has the military power for victory in Iraq. The question is whether we destroy something essential in this nation, by asserting that America has the right to do so anytime we well please.

American cannot and should not be the world’s policeman. America cannot and should not try to pick the leaders of other nations. Nor should America and the American people be pressed into service of international oil interests and arms dealers.

We must work to bring Iraq back into the community of nations, not through destruction, but through constructive action worldwide. America, with the international community, can help negotiate a resolution with Iraq which encompasses unfettered inspections, the end of sanctions, and the cessation of the regime-change policy.

No credible evidence for offensive against Iraq

By the way, it’s called the Department of Defense, not the Department of Offense. Unilateral action on the part of the US, or in partnership with Great Britain, would for the first time set our nation on the bloodstained path of aggressive war.