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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Suma who wrote (50797)	10/10/2002 1:43:27 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

<<...Through our own violence, we sow the seeds of a violence that will come back to us...>> Author Susan Griffin speaks out... [Susan Griffin is author of "A Chorus of Stones: The Private Life of War" and "The Book of the Courtesans: A Catalogue of their Virtues."] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Baltimore Sun Since World War I, civilians have increasingly become a major target, if not the major target, of warfare. One of the reasons that 9/11 was so horrifying is that it was against civilians. That is true of many acts of terrorism. But it is also true that conventional warfare in the last century has claimed many civilian lives. That we label such deaths as "collateral damage" does not alter the fact that aerial bombing terrorizes, kills and injures countless innocent, unarmed people. Civilians all over the world need to begin to assert that it is a human right to be free of violent attack. As the most powerful country in the world, we could set a moral example by our actions. Yet if we declare a "pre-emptive" war on Iraq, not only will we set a precedent for unprovoked aggression between nations, but we will also be targeting civilians once more. We should be sending the opposite message: That it is morally unconscionable to attack unarmed civilians under any circumstance. Our country could take the lead in an international movement which asserts the rights of civilians to be free from attack of any kind. If we did this, we would certainly have a moral and political victory over terrorism. By an unprovoked attack against another nation, a war that will lead to massive civilian casualites, we are creating a far more volatile violent atmosphere and exposing our own citizens to danger. Through our own violence, we sow the seeds of a violence that will come back to us. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun sunspot.net