16
October 7, 2014
commentary
The Valley Catholic
MaKING a DIFFERENCE
‘answering violence and war,
with more violence and war,
is always part of the problem,
not part of the solution.’
Bombing Islamic State is fueling the violence
By tony Magliano
We n e e d t o do
something!
With the barbaric
Islamic State now controlling large portions
of Iraq and Syria, and
inflicting rape, torture and even beheading on those who do not conform
to their fundamentalist interpretation
of Islam, it is imperative that they must
be stopped.
So yes, we need to do something.
But that “something” is not more
violence and war. Answering violence
and war, with more violence and war,
is always part of the problem, not part
of the solution.
Shortly after the start of the first
Gulf War in 1991, St. Pope John Paul
II wrote: “No, never again, war, which
destroys the lives of innocent people,
teaches how to kill, throws into upheaval even the lives of those who do
the killing and leaves behind a trail of
resentment and hatred, thus making
it all the more difficult to find a just
solution to the very problems which
provoked the war.”
There is a collective amnesia that
continues to block government and
society’s memory that we have been
there, and done that, many times before. Therefore, the war machine keeps
rolling on with the encouragement of
hawkish politicians, pundits and the
military-industrial-complex.
During a “Democracy Now” interview with Rami Khouri, director
of the Issam Fares Institute for Public
Policy and International Affairs at the
American University of Beirut, Khouri
said the major problems that lead to
the formation and growth of militant
Islamic groups like the Islamic State,
are brutal dictators – often backed by
the United States – who rule much of
the Arab-Islamic world, and a foreign
military presence like the U.S. in Muslim majority countries.
Khouri said American led military
action in the Islamic world is the best
recruiting tool for al-Qaeda and the
Islamic State.
And it stands to reason. Imagine
how most people would react – including many Christians – to a foreign
power bombing and killing their
loved ones.
So, what would be a Gospel-based
way of responding to this violent
crisis?
The Gospel calls us to mount an
active response to suffering based on
love and nonviolence.
This means no bombs, no drones,
no missiles.
The U.S. and other arms supplying nations need to stop flooding the
Middle East (and world) with weapons. A total multilateral arms embargo
is needed.
And the diplomatic tool must be
vigorously pursued.
Yes, negotiations with the Islamic
State are highly unlikely. But negotiating just settlements to the grievances
of hurting populations in Iraq and
Syria will dry up support for the Islamic State and other militant groups.
The U.S. and other wealthy nations
need to provide adequate resources
for the quick evacuation of Christians
and other minorities who are in harm’s
way.
And funds and supplies need to be
massively increased to assist nations –
like Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey – that
are being overwhelmed by Iraqi and
Syrian refugees.
Finally, the U.S. and other industrial nations need to do their fair share
in offering emergency asylum to these
poor, frightened refugees.
Please email and call (Capitol
switchboard: 202-224-3121) your two
U.S. senators and representative, and
President Obama (202-456-1111) urging
them to stop the bombing and start the
nonviolent actions mentioned above.
It would do us all well to seriously
reflect on the words of Pope Francis:
“War is never a necessity, nor is it inevitable. Another way can always be
found: the way of dialogue, encounter
and the sincere search for truth.”
• Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace
columnist.
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