The Day We Invaded Iraq
{the second time}.
The Day we set in motion
the forces that have created ISIS, and the “widening
gyre”* of violence in the Middle East.
We’ve just past March 19
again and the date should give us all pause, the day we launched an undeniably
unjust war in 2003, a preemptive war, a war of greed and power that we all have
some share in—because we did not prevent it, our taxes pay for it, our oil
consumption economy demands it, and we allow its continuation in drone strikes,
weapons support, special forces, and mini-occupations throughout the Middle
East.
Yemen is the latest
manifestation of the futility of our “preemptive limited wars” policy. “U.N. Says Yemen Conflict Could Become 'Iraq-Libya-Syria' Scenario”
[my boldface] reports the 3-21-15 New York Times, echoing a term that makes
countries we’ve helped take the fight to, synonymous with failed-state
disaster. Yemen
has completely fallen apart as we attempted to use its Arab Spring as a
drones springboard in our long distance fight against Al Qaeda, now morphing towards
the even more dreaded ISIS. [See
references below, and my
article 2 weeks ago—could do search on webpage for previous Libya and Syria articles also]
A national examination of
conscience is needed. We are not
exceptional, but are called as are all people, to be merciful as the Lord is
merciful, to put away the sword, to not eat of the fruit of the bad tree.
The tree of weapons has
been cultivated by us too long, much longer than the three years the Lord gave
the fig tree. Are we forever doomed to
repeat the horrible mistake of war, killing brother and sister enemy, so they
can attempt to justify the same? It has
never worked, but always contains the evil seed of the next war. The only Gospel solution is to uproot, disassemble, create of nonviolent love, plant something new.
The Tree of Life. The sculpture was made by four Mozambican artists: Cristovao Canhavato (Kester), Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos and Adelino Serafim Mate. It is a product of the Transforming Arms into Tools (TAE) project and is made from decommissioned weapons.
A good day for reflection
and action on our relationship with terror and war, comes just after Easter,
and Divine Mercy, Sundays this year—April 15th. Can we begin to convert our war
tax dollars into peacemaking tax dollars?
REFERENCES
* “The
Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' Lk 13:7
The more complete article with all the dysfunctional
players [except for ex-ruler Saleh, who now fights Hadi also – see next ref] in
this failed state. Includes a sentence
to our part, now eclipsed by the more chaotic violence. – “The
deteriorating situation led U.S. troops to evacuate a southern air base crucial
to the drone program targeting al-Qaida militants.” This is
why we’ve been meddling in Yemen politics, and now, with a bomb blast killing
many at a Shiite Houthi mosque, ISIS appears in Yemen.
Saleh vs. Hadi - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/world/middleeast/yemen-aden-airport-battle.html?ref=world&_r=0
And now ISIS in Yemen - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/world/middleeast/suicide-attacks-at-shiite-mosques-in-yemen.html?ref=world&_r=0
The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
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