Reply #9: It's smug attitudes like that that keep wars going! There is only one war I know of

[Peace Patriot]

in the modern era, that qualifies for such a black and white attitude--and that is the war against Hitler, and possibly the war against Japan. Every other war that I know of, in our era, is a fuzzy situation with two sides that have justifications for fighting. Often it is one with the most fire power that has the least justification--I'm thinking mainly of the U.S. war on Vietnam, and the two U.S. wars on Iraq, especially the second, and of course the many "dirty wars" that the U.S. has unjustly fought--against Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chile, Argentina and others, and the horror we are involved in--with $6 BILLION in U.S. military aid, and U.S.military personnel, and Blackwater--in Colombia right now; as well as the dirty rotten attempted fascist junta this last September in Bolivia, run out of the U.S. (Bushwhack) embassy.

There are two sides in Colombia. According to Amnesty International, 92% of the murders of union leaders in Colombia are committed by the Colombian military (about half) and its closely tied rightwing death squads (the other half), with only 2% committed by the FARC, the armed leftist guerrillas (and the rest are common crimes). These stats hold up for the deaths of political leftists, human rights workers and others as well. And the death toll includes peasant farmers and youths whom the Colombian military or rightwing death squads kill and dress up as FARC, to up their 'body count,' to impress U.S. senators. There are "two sides" but one of them has $6 BILLION in U.S. military aid, and is held up as a paragon of democratic virtue--when nothing could be further from the truth--and the other is demonized as "terrorists." The FARC kidnap; they kill some people--though far fewer than the fascists. To end the 40+ year Colombian civil war, these two sides have to be brought together. Both sides have to be listened to. The injuries that both sides have inflicted, and suffered, need to be put aside, so that peace can occur. If one side keeps getting propped up with billions in military aid, it will never end.

The situation in Bolivia in September was rather different. The Bolivian government did not fire one shot. It was the injured party. U.S.-funded and organized rioters tore down government and NGO buildings, beat up indigenous, blew up a gas pipeline, and machine-gunned some 30 unarmed peasants. Still, for the sake of peace--after President Morales threw the U.S. ambassador and the DEA out of Bolivia, the new South American Common Market--UNASUR--unanimously ralled to his support, and was able to bring the parties together, to prevent a split up of Bolivia (the fascists are white separatists and wanted to secede, in their eastern provinces, and take Bolivia's main gas/oil reserves with them), and to enable a peaceful vote on Bolivia's new Constitution (which allows the provinces and indigenous tribes some autonomy).

Talking and putting aside phrases like "idiotic terrorism" is necessary for peace. The white separatists posed a mortal threat to Bolivia, yet the Bolivian government sought detente and an end to the violence, and the chance for the sides to work together for the greater good. The white separatists were trying to create exactly what you describe--"an eliminationist quasi-government" not just on Bolivia's doorstep, but within Bolivia. This insurrection was aimed at destroying the Morales government and Bolivia's democracy, by absconding with its main natural resources.

To make peace you have to end war. There is no other way. And I'm afraid that the situation of Israel/Palestine is similar to Colombia--a more than 40+ year, seemingly insoluable conflict, with both sides feeling greatly aggrieved, both sides having reasonable arguments about the security and welfare of their people, and reasons for fighting, for a very long time, and for wanting to eliminate the other. The Colombian rightwing feels that they are in a "real struggle" to cope with an armed leftist guerrilla army. The rightwing's drug trafficking, corruption and death squads aside, they--or rather the people they represent--have a point: their lack of safety and security. And the FARC guerrillas--and many non-armed leftists in Colombia--also have a point: the social injustice in Colombia, and the greater brutality of the Colombian military, with its U.S.-funded fire power.

How do you stop this war? How do you create peace for everyone? If you want peace, you have to end war. You have to stop demonizing the other side, as if they were not human. And if you have superior fire power and go the way of crushing an insurgency with legitimate grievances, you will end up like Colombia, with such disastrous carnage all over the landscape and such vast corruption, that you invite your own demise--which is what I fear Israel is doing.

You do Israel no favor by asserting that the Palestinians don't want justice, and are engaged in "idiotic terrorism." You contribute to the illusion of Israel's rightwing that Israel can exist as an armed medieval fortress, in the midst of hostile neighbors, and not crumble from within, or lose all U.S. support, due to its injustice (or our bankruptcy), or be ultimately defeated. How can Israel achieve peace--and healthy, honest relations with its neighbors? It has to be done--so, how can it be done?