July 19, 2004

Terror is not something to fight

You can't wage war on terror. Terror doesn't exist "out there." It's an emotion. If you want to wage war on it, go to your local shrink, or say more prayers to calm your inner being and make peace with death because it comes to all of us from many different directions, and we never know when or how it will come.

Yes, there are those who wish to inspire terror in others. But they are real and human people, not an abstract concept that can be destroyed by our willing it.

Most of them are not insane. They are unhappy, angry, in a huge amount of pain. I'm wagering that they have also probably decided that others are responsible for their pain and suffering. They have had the experience that talking about their pain doesn't get them anywhere, shouting about their pain hasn't worked, so they are madder than hell and determined to get attention. They want others to know what their suffering is and they want to get even. They want a chance to be somebody important, and to serve their communities.

A recent PBS show interviewed three Palestinian suicide bombers who for one reason or another were unable to carry out their missions. One of the young men decided to turn his back on the deed at the last minute when he realized that some of the people he might kill were children. The young men talked about the futility they felt in their lives and how little opportunity they had to find work to support their families and loved ones. Listening to them I was reminded of the extremity of my own emotions during my teens and early 20s. I could understand how they could be used by others and tempted by the glories of martyrdom and the rewards they would attain in heaven.

I am the first to confess that the subject is much more complicated in how the different roles are played out. However, I deeply believe that the source of all conflict is basically not so complex or hard to understand. One group of people, in a lot of pain, feels forced by desperation to confront another group of people which has failed to understand how it's privileges and power impact those with less privilege and power.

In contrast, with most of the billions in this world, we in the United States possess unfathomable wealth, fortune and power. We are notoriously unconscious, and seemingly uncaring about how our actions. We grab land at our convenience and despoil environments with mining, oil drilling and logging rainforests, all of which impoverish many indigenous groups.

Don't be fooled by the call to wage war on terror. It is an unwinnable war because we can't stop a horrible feeling by dropping bombs and building war toys. We will never make ourselves safe by creating terror for others. It is impossible.

We stop terror by waging peace, by risking the discomfort of deeply listening to the pain of those who are under our very big shoe. We stop terror by risking the loss of a few things we hold dear, by sharing more of our wealth and fighting for a world where no one is hungry or cold or left unloved.

Renounce the so called "war on terror." Demand that our elected officials establish a cabinet level department for waging peace. We cannot isolate America in privilege while others remain in poverty. It is time to enact the changes that reflect this truth and honor the one world we share.

Diane Taudvin
Ashland