Last night President Obama announced the primary troop pull out of Iraq. Of course there was a goodly amount of political posturing in the process and then the usual debate on both sides of the "war" issue. Such machinations are expected but it is disturbing to go through the process. Some of the greatest criticism came from the left as Obama tried to acknowledge the "good intentions and patriotism" of then President Bush. This attempt to take a higher road is a problem for President Obama. My confidence in him remains unchanged but I am concerned about his "political" future as he doesn't seem to be pleasing enough people in his own chosen party and the results are all about numbers. In one of the liberal pundents program there is a reference to the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes in which there is a dispute between Calvin and Hobbes about the fair distribution of proceeds of a project. They end up with a compromise but Calvin comments that " A good compromise leaves everybody mad". I believe maybe we need something beyond the idea of compromise as a methodology for finding a beneficial path to a goal. I fear that such a movement is entering into the "transformational" spirit world and will be a very difficult achievement coming from a historical and mind centered posture. That is the reason for the picture above. The Giraffe's seem to be relating much more effectively from a "heart" level than a "head" level. Obviously even if we are able to relate at a heart level, action of necessity will need to come also from the mind. So there does need to be a Co-Operation of the two. Or at least an agreement between the two to work together rather than make it an adversarial conflict. I don't always agree with the writing of Jim Wallis of Sojourners. His column is titled "Hearts & Minds" which seems to be just what I'm referring too above. And I do agree with his latest article "Time to End This War". It is referring to a substantial reframing of our presence in that part of the world, a whole new approach. I agree and will close this post with a couple of excerpts from that article.
"How might we reduce and defeat the causes of terrorism in the first place? Nonmilitary strategies should lead the way, with the focus on humanitarian assistance, sustainable economic development, and international policing. It should be led by civilian nongovernmental organizations, both faith-based and secular, that have been in the region for years, are locally rooted, and are more trusted by the people than the U.S. government using aid as an adjunct to military operations.....Effective development needs security. We should start in areas that are secure and then grow to additional parts of the country, providing only the security necessary to protect the rebuilding (think international here, my words). That kind of peacekeeping would be more likely to gain the international support we need in Afghanistan, from Europe and even from Arab and Muslim countries.
The current strategy will only lead to more casualties--U.S. and Afghan--while strengthening popular support for the Taliban as an anti-occupation force. It is a strategy of endless war that is ultimately doomed to failure." Success in that area of the world will come only with co-operation not occupation! Pax Christi! RV
