“Darkness cannot drive out darkness;only light can do that.Hate cannot drive out hate;only love can do that.Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence,and toughness multiplies toughnessin a descending spiral of destruction.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr.,“Strength to Love,” 1963
6 comments:
I'm not sure what you were focused on when you posted this, but it makes me wonder about our approach to fighting terror. If you believe what is said here, then it would seem that our approach to fighting terrorism is backwards.
That was precisely the context I had in mind, Timothy. Problem is, what do we do when the two major candidates both say that, given what they know now, they would have taken the same actions?
Also, while I do believe what Dr. King said, I wonder whether we shouldn't value defense (including self-defense) to some degree.
I don't accept the premise that the two, Bush and Kerry, would do essentially the same thing in/with Iraq.
I think it is reductionistic to interpret Kerry that way. Why? Because the nuances of his position matter. I think the subtle differences would be huge gains for both peace and added security, in the long-term, for the U.S.
More than most historical wars, I think the War on Terror demands that we lean slightly more towards fighting it smartly than fighting it forcefully. The shoot first, ask questions later stance of this administration is digging holes that we won't soon escape.
We must be smarter about this; while its easy to gloss over the nuanced differences of Kerry's position, I think we do so at our own peril.
Regarding self-defense...I don't see self-defense as a conflict to what Dr. King states in this quote. But, I also don't see self-defense as an adequate justification to our actions in Iraq; where was the imminent threat?
I do think the case can be made that Afghanistan was self-defense
Martin Luther King's comments are nice a good but are simplistic. Sometimes light does not reach the darkest corners. Sometimes love does not conquer hate. Sometimes toughness and violence is the only way to conquer toughness and violence. We don't live in an ideal world.
Based on the information we had, we did feel a imminent threat from Saddam Hussein. The nature and intent of Saddam Hussein was a threat that we needed to defend ourselves from.
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