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> > >ACKNOWLEDGING DESPAIR >Ian Urbina and Desmond Tutu, AlterNet >A first step to personal healing is to acknowledge the depth of the >devastation that many of us feel because of this war. >http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15441 > >Acknowledging Despair > >Ian Urbina and Desmond Tutu, AlterNet >March 21, 2003 > >Viewed on March 21, 2003 > >JACKSONVILLE, FLA., AND WASHINGTON -- It is difficult not to feel >despair and powerlessness at this awful juncture. Millions in the >world fought with all their hearts and minds to avoid violence in >Iraq. Inevitably, when bombs fall, there is a deep and emotional >void that is opened. > >Many will pray. Others will simply reflect. Countless numbers will >continue to take to the streets. But all will worry over the extent >of destruction to come and the scope of its repercussions. > >We have seen dark moments before. Slavery, the holocaust, the >Vietnam War -- man's inhumanity to man is not to be underestimated. > >In the fight against apartheid, we saw times that seemed the world >had come to an end. The nation wept in 1993 with the assassination >of Chris Hani, the widely popular leader who many thought would >succeed Nelson Mandela as head of the African National Congress >(ANC). Violence clenched South Africa. The constitutional >negotiations between the ANC and the whites-only National Party were >broken nearly beyond repair. > >This was the lowest point of our struggle. But faith prevailed, as >did the moral fortitude of average people to do what is right. With >it, apartheid ended. > >In today's moment of deep anguish over the war, it is important to >recognize the reasons for hope and pride, both in the United States >and across the globe. > >Never in history has there been such an outpouring of resistance >from average people all around the world before a war had even >begun. Millions took a stand. This doctrine of moral and popular >preemption must be sustained. > >Countless nations, many of them quite impoverished, listened to the >majority voices of their own citizens opposing the war. These >governments opted not to take the huge sums offered to support the >military effort, but instead chose to heed the sentiments of their >citizens. In these contexts, this was a considerable step forward >for democracy. > >A first step to personal healing is to acknowledge the depth of the >devastation that many of us feel. We should not pretend it does not >exist. > >But, we must also look forward. The energies mobilized recently must >not dissipate. They should be channeled and broadened. > >This is the beginning, not the end, of heightened vigilance. With >war, domestic civil liberties face their greatest threat. We must >not squelch the right to protest under the pressures of patriotism. > >World attention has in the past months fixated on the desire for a >diplomatic and United Nations solution. If we want lasting peace and >security in the Middle East, if we want international law to hold >any meaning, we must begin to require that UN resolutions are >applied uniformly across all countries. We must begin to focus our >energies in that direction. > >In Iraq, we must watch to see that the promises for a truly >functioning democracy are honored, that the long-term and expensive >commitment for rebuilding is provided. > >Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a scholar in residence at the University of >North Florida, won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for leading nonviolent >protest of apartheid in South Africa. Ian Urbina is associate editor >of the Middle East Research and Information Project in Washington. > > >"When you learn, teach. When you get, give." > -- Maya Angelou > >"99% of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses." > -- George Washington Carver -- Alison Croggon Editor Masthead Online http://au.geocities.com/masthead_2/ Home page http://www.users.bigpond.com/acroggon/