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in memoriam: a statement of position
I profoundly appreciate the sacrifices of the United States Armed Forces personnel who have died in the wars of the United States.
And I profoundly disagree with the foreign policy decisions that have caused some of these sacrifices to be made.
I recognize the sacrifices of the US troops that have been wounded in our wars. Exact tallies of the dead are public knowledge, but the living--who may have lost limbs, or their sanity--have had much less recognition, despite the fact that they are the ones who still need our help.
And I sorrow for the sacrifices that have been made of the civilian populations in the countries upon which we have made war--who, also, have much less recognition in the country that is responsible for them. Even in those cases in which I might believe that invasion and war is the best moral choice that our country could make, we still must accept responsibility for the suffering that we cause thereby.
I acknowledge that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who should, in an ideal world, have been removed from power.
And I disagree that removing him has been worth the cost--even had his removal been our avowed goal, which it wasn't--nor can I accept the way in which the decision to do so was made (decision first, a blizzard of justifications later).
I denounce the tactics that some of the suicide bombers in Iraq have used: civilians and non-combatants are not honorable targets, and I hope that the judgement of those that they care about condemns them, for I am sure that they care nothing for mine.
And I recognize that at least some of these bombers, and others of the Iraqi insurgency, believe that they are using the only effective weapons that they have to combat what they see as an intolerable rape of their country's integrity.
I assume that the mistreatment and torture of suspected or captured terrorists or insurgents can sometimes yield intelligence on planned attacks which can save lives.
And I believe that using such tactics makes further such attacks more likely...but more importantly, it fundamentally poisons our culture's identity as a defender of human rights and dignities.
I believe that the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were a profound act of hatred for the United States and its image in the world, and I honor the sacrifices of those that worked to save as many of those present as they could--and most especially the sacrifices of those who made sure that there would be only three suicide plane attacks that day, not four.
And I feel that those responsible must be brought to justice, but I believe that it is more important that the United States must understand this hatred, and work to address its causes, because we can never kill or capture the last terrorist. ("I am a freedom fighter, you are a guerrilla, he is a terrorist.")
I salute the willingness of the United States' troops to place themselves between their country and the war's devastation.
And I want the United States to learn to exercise its great power for good in such a way that our troops are never called upon to satisfy this promise that they have made to us.
Memorial Day, 2005
And I profoundly disagree with the foreign policy decisions that have caused some of these sacrifices to be made.
I recognize the sacrifices of the US troops that have been wounded in our wars. Exact tallies of the dead are public knowledge, but the living--who may have lost limbs, or their sanity--have had much less recognition, despite the fact that they are the ones who still need our help.
And I sorrow for the sacrifices that have been made of the civilian populations in the countries upon which we have made war--who, also, have much less recognition in the country that is responsible for them. Even in those cases in which I might believe that invasion and war is the best moral choice that our country could make, we still must accept responsibility for the suffering that we cause thereby.
I acknowledge that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who should, in an ideal world, have been removed from power.
And I disagree that removing him has been worth the cost--even had his removal been our avowed goal, which it wasn't--nor can I accept the way in which the decision to do so was made (decision first, a blizzard of justifications later).
I denounce the tactics that some of the suicide bombers in Iraq have used: civilians and non-combatants are not honorable targets, and I hope that the judgement of those that they care about condemns them, for I am sure that they care nothing for mine.
And I recognize that at least some of these bombers, and others of the Iraqi insurgency, believe that they are using the only effective weapons that they have to combat what they see as an intolerable rape of their country's integrity.
I assume that the mistreatment and torture of suspected or captured terrorists or insurgents can sometimes yield intelligence on planned attacks which can save lives.
And I believe that using such tactics makes further such attacks more likely...but more importantly, it fundamentally poisons our culture's identity as a defender of human rights and dignities.
I believe that the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were a profound act of hatred for the United States and its image in the world, and I honor the sacrifices of those that worked to save as many of those present as they could--and most especially the sacrifices of those who made sure that there would be only three suicide plane attacks that day, not four.
And I feel that those responsible must be brought to justice, but I believe that it is more important that the United States must understand this hatred, and work to address its causes, because we can never kill or capture the last terrorist. ("I am a freedom fighter, you are a guerrilla, he is a terrorist.")
I salute the willingness of the United States' troops to place themselves between their country and the war's devastation.
And I want the United States to learn to exercise its great power for good in such a way that our troops are never called upon to satisfy this promise that they have made to us.
Memorial Day, 2005