I must confess I have not been a strong supporter of the Peace Testimony held by most liberal
Quakers. I am a strong supporter of
peace over war. As a Quaker, I cannot
ignore the existence of evil. I also
realize that the carnal weapons of war can only bring
about death and destruction. If a
nation has a strong military and operates on a defensive strategy rather than offensive the likely event of war is less.
No one starts a fight with a stronger opponent and expects to win.
The problem with the military
strength of America is that our government has had an aggressive strategy based
on a false defensive strategy. Going back to the Carter administration, there
has been a policy of aggression towards any country that threatens the economy
of America. To summarize the policy, Any attempt by any outside force to gain
control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital
interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled
by any means necessary, including military force.
Under the pretense of protecting
the America interest, the US government has entered into wars in Iraq, Lybia,
Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria. The
aggression of the US government is not defensive but antagonistic. The US government is involved in 148
countries around the world. The US
government has close to 900 military bases in countries that have their own
military. Countries like Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Turkey, the United Kingdom, Japan, Bahrain, Djibouti, South Korea, Iraq,
Afghanistan and Kuwait. The spread of
the US military around the world is the type
of aggression that is not conducive to a
peaceful nation.
Aggression is arguably the
highest form of terrorism as it invariably includes the frightening of the
target populations and their leaders as well as killing and destruction on a
large scale. The U.S. invasion of Iraq in
2003 proudly announced a “shock and awe” purpose in their opening assault,
clearly designed to instill fear; that is, to terrorize the victim population
along with the target security forces. And millions of Iraqis suffered in this
massive enterprise. What was the real justification
for the Iraqi war? Benjamin Netanyahu
himself defined terrorism as “the deliberate and systematic murder, maiming and
menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends.”
What concerns me about the Quaker
Peace Testimony is they seem only vocal when it is a Republican
administration. Where were the vocal outcries
and protests with the Obama drone policy?
Where are the protect from the “Peace Groups” about the invasion of
Lybia, and Syria? I find it hypocritical
when the “Peace Quakers” can use the Peace Testimony for their political
agenda. Those supporting the actions of
both Obama and Clinton in the present Middle East conflicts are violating the
Peace Testimony they claim to support.
Quakers who continue to support the policy of aggression by supporting
the present administration do not support
the Peace Testimony.
I cannot support the aggression
of the US government in the Middle East regardless of the political party. The word aggression is rarely applied to the US government
involvement in the Middle-East, but it is applied with regularity to the Russian occupation of Crimea
which entailed no casualties and could be
regarded as a defensive response to the U.S.-sponsored February 2014 coup
d’etat in Ukraine. The U.S. invasion of Iraq was surely not defensive and was
rationalized at the time by what
were eventually acknowledged to be plain lies. The same is happening in
Syria.
I am for peace based on a strong defensive military used to defend this
country. Not a military that is used for aggression and terrorism of countries
that do not agree with our economic policies or using the dollar to buy oil.
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