Week in Review
August 31, 2006
(Archive
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And Mark “comes out” with the surprising secret to his many “vacations”.
They were not vacations at all, in fact. But a ten-year pursuit of justice.
Justice that has finally been obtained.
And news of the week, including:
A discussion of why “redeployment” of troops from Iraq is NOT “cut and run,” but vitally necessary to our national security.
The ultimate question of when is war just or necessary?
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Vicky September 5, 2006 8:16 am
Mark,
I contacted you privately by email regarding the news you shared with us about your sister’s death but I think that because you shared it with us in this public forum, I want to acknowledge it publicly as well.
You and your family have not only my heartfelt sympathies but my admiration as well for your bravery in sticking with this over these past ten years and bringing this murderer to justice. I pray it helps bring closure to each of you.
Thank you for the links you shared with me concerning your sister’s story. I’ve been reading the reports from the past and hope you will keep us updated on any new items. Your sister was a very beautiful and talented young woman.
Skip August 31, 2006 8:12 pm
Change the word Hezbollah to Iraq (above), and we have a neocon’s justification for America’s war in Iraq. The “people of conscience” reminds me of John Dean’s new book; Conservatives without Conscience. It also reminds me of Gulf War 1 when Peter Arnet was reporting from Iraq. I was having lunch at a deli during one of his reports. He was describing the devastation of an apartment complex that was leveled by a cruise missile. An Iraqi woman was screaming into the camera in sorrow. What did the people in the deli do? They laughed. That reaction spoke volumes about our so called conscience.
Apocalypse Soon August 31, 2006 1:46 pm
War has been necessary–but never just–and the necessity of war is soon becoming obsolete in the face of possible extinction of the human race–the face-off of antagonists with nuclear weapons is a looming future and restraint may be the only tool left to save man from himself
Mark Levine August 31, 2006 1:19 pm
Blulady,
I hope you call in today to discuss this philosophy with me. The Ghandi and Martin Luther King approaches are wonderful, preferred ways of resolving conflicts. If the Palestinians, for example, had ever tried it in the past, they would have had an independent state long ago (and if they’ll try disciplined, non-violent protest in the future, I am confident they will have independence in the future).
But shame only works against a people with a conscience (such is Israelis, Americans, and British), and this is unfortunately more true in a mature democracy than in a mass of people fueled into seething rage by demagoguery.
I do not believe that Hezbollah, the Nazis, Al Quaeda, Kim Jong Il, or other genocidiares and totalitarian regimes can be “shamed” by peaceful protest.
The Tibetan Buddhists practiced Ghandian/King-like restraint, and all they got was the loss of their independence and freedom. 99% of the Jews of the Holocaust practiced restraint all the way up until they marched into the gas chambers.
Sometimes war is necessary. And when necessary, it is just. The Bible has always been read by both Jews and Christians to justify killing in self-defense. Therefore, the proper translation of the Sixth Commandment is “Thou Shalt Not Murder.”
Blulady August 31, 2006 12:57 pm
You ask should you bomb a 100 civilians to kill the terrorists?
No.
Your own holy book gives the answer:
THOU SHALT NOT KILL.
You see, SOMEONE has GOT to STOP THE MADNESS.
KILLING FOR ANY REASON IS OBSCENE AND SINFUL.
If one side of a long standing fued STOPS
the other side is SHAMED into stopping too.
I am referring to the Ghandi approach.