Harbor Review Article

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--- Forwarded mail from Jim Walsh <http://www.leadinspection.com/~jimwalsh>

Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 17:36:19 -0700
From: Jim Walsh <http://www.leadinspection.com/~jimwalsh>

<bigger>For the Harbor Review

<bigger>September 11, 2001

Then, Now, And The Future</bigger>

Jim Walsh

This is written on the day after President Bush gave what must be the
finest speech of his life.  His questionable victory last Fall has
receded.  That was then.  This is now.  I'm not sure what he plans to
do or when.  Because we are a vibrant democracy, there will be
discussion of ways and means.  He has surrounded himself with men of
intelligence and experience, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick
Cheney among them.  They have the task of taking executive leadership
of a struggle which is as yet not fully defined.  Because our
democratic form of government consists of three parts, our legislators
must fulfill their role of discussing and debating the laws upon which
executive action must rest.  From time to time lawyers and judges will
interpret those laws when controversy arises.  I was particularly
struck by the President underlining again that Americans may be Arab or
Pakistani; Hindu, Muslim or Sikh;, black, red or yellow and that
no group can or should be held responsible for the atrocious acts of
individuals who may share nothing more than the pigment of their skin
and the clothing of their culture.

But as I sit here on a rainy Friday afternoon in the apparent safety of
my small New England town, I have concerns which need to be expressed
and made part of the ongoing discussions and debates.

First, we know that thousands of innocent people died in New York but ,
to my mind, it is more instructive to think of them as "thousands more"
innocent people.  Policies we follow in the future should not replicate
the destruction of innocents from which have so recently recoiled. 

Second, we must have limits on whatever we do.  President Bush seems to
have reconsidered some of his early statements about a struggle between
good and evil throughout the world.  It is one thing to stand on a
pulpit and vow to root out evil from the souls of men and quite another
to do so wearing the cap of the Commander-in-Chief, sitting in the
Situation Room of the White House.  A crime has been committed and
others are undoubtedly planned.  We should punish the one and thwart
the others.  The initial choice of "Infinite Justice" as the name of
the operation was an unfortunate one.  Infinite justice does not exist
in this world.  Our becoming fanatics will not bring balance to the
situation.  On the contrary, it will contribute further to imbalance
and could lead to a disaster of our own making.  The combination of
religious conviction and state power has always been a dangerous one. 
Upon reflection, I hope and believe that President Bush and his top
advisors will understand that fact.  

Third, we have to reexamine our relationship with Muslims around the
world.  In thought and deed we must make certain that  we offer respect
which is proper while gently and firmly holding on to our own
principles.  On a more difficult note, we have to ask ourselves if we
have been hijacked by a minority extremist group of Israeli settlers
who believe God has given them the deed to certain real estate holdings
on the West Bank and in Gaza.  We are accurately perceived and
constantly portrayed in the Muslim world as supporting and condoning
actions against Muslims which, if taken against others we would
condemn.  When I saw the devastation in lower Manhattan it reminded me
most of Beirut after then General Sharon shelled it and bombed it
without restraint or remorse and then his agents went on to massacre
refugees in their camps.. Uncompromising Israeli zealots share the
blame for this.  People like Sharon and Netanyahu who think that they 
"win" by tearing up olive trees, blowing up buildings, sending tanks
and jets against a people who pretty much want no more than what the
Israelis have, a land of %Ã
P%:Änot saying t%	Äthings in the Middle East are not complicated
enough for lots of different kinds of blame to be spread around.  Yet
it does seem to me that the fuse for the explosions of September 11,
2001, was lit in places like Hebron and fanned by the Israeli Defense
Force and those governments, very much including our own, which have
not forcefully supported a settlement in the West Bank which would be
seen as just by a majority of Palestinians. Arafat looked like a man
who had once again seen a chance to find a negotiated peace smashed. 
If the middle  in the Middle East cannot find answers, the fringes will
seek their own.  

Fourth, we can hope that this terrible event has shown the President
the true value of multilaterialism.  As we seek the aid and cooperation
of others on this matter, they will have a right to expect that we will
do no less on other matters.  That doesn't mean that we should sell out
our principles, only that we have a decent respect for the opinions of
mankind.  We started out that way and we should continue.

Finally, we should take a moment to remember and reflect that blood
hatred took the life of a decent and generous man right here in Nahant.
 It was a terrorist who took the life of Orhan Gundez who lived on
Summer Street.  The Armenian terrorist who thought that justice was
done that day was deceived by his hatred and we were deprived of a
neighbor.  On the day after the events in New York and Washington I
received an email from Istanbul, from a man who had guided Judy and me
through  magnificent mosques and explained the rituals of Islam with
both seriousness and good humor.  He was worried about his friends in
America.  Me too.</bigger>


--- End of forwarded message from Jim Walsh <http://www.leadinspection.com/~jimwalsh>