I sent the following email to President Barack Obama. Does it matter? I don't know.
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President Barack Obama,
How I wish there were words that I could write that would sing to you like trumpets played in Heaven--words that could fill your heart and mind with reason and compassion enough to say "No more" to the bloody madness of fomenting war in Afghanistan. Words to reveal the inanity of a policy that insists we can somehow control and steer the various peoples of Afghanistan through state-sponsored violence.
You have inherited much as our President, but you have done so willingly. In a sense I don't ask that you listen to the better angels of your character, but that you take a larger, bolder step and embody the better angel of our nation's soul.
I wish the words of peace and justice would sing to you, and that you would hear the song above all the calls for war, the so-called "serious and sober" cries for the exportation of despair to a fractured nation whose injuries have never healed, and may never heal.
If you have already decided upon your course, so be it. The temptation to use the largest military in the world to maintain hegemony must be a strong one, but you can resist the devil's bargain: turn the spigot of blood off! It really is you who can do this: the moment is here.
Have you ever doubted that the hand that stays the sword is more powerful than the one that would wield it needlessly? Be the strong hand that stays the sword! Be our Daniel at the lions' den! Hear these words I have written--hear them as soundings from an eternal trumpet!
I guess this note I send along is a bit like a prayer, but I am not praying: I am hoping.
Good luck, and peace be to you and to all you would lead and protect, and to all who would learn from your wisdom!
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President Barack Obama,
How I wish there were words that I could write that would sing to you like trumpets played in Heaven--words that could fill your heart and mind with reason and compassion enough to say "No more" to the bloody madness of fomenting war in Afghanistan. Words to reveal the inanity of a policy that insists we can somehow control and steer the various peoples of Afghanistan through state-sponsored violence.
You have inherited much as our President, but you have done so willingly. In a sense I don't ask that you listen to the better angels of your character, but that you take a larger, bolder step and embody the better angel of our nation's soul.
I wish the words of peace and justice would sing to you, and that you would hear the song above all the calls for war, the so-called "serious and sober" cries for the exportation of despair to a fractured nation whose injuries have never healed, and may never heal.
If you have already decided upon your course, so be it. The temptation to use the largest military in the world to maintain hegemony must be a strong one, but you can resist the devil's bargain: turn the spigot of blood off! It really is you who can do this: the moment is here.
Have you ever doubted that the hand that stays the sword is more powerful than the one that would wield it needlessly? Be the strong hand that stays the sword! Be our Daniel at the lions' den! Hear these words I have written--hear them as soundings from an eternal trumpet!
I guess this note I send along is a bit like a prayer, but I am not praying: I am hoping.
Good luck, and peace be to you and to all you would lead and protect, and to all who would learn from your wisdom!
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Comments
--Oscar