Writing under a full moon, I feel the silent waters that have been violently disturbed. Occasionally there is a period in our lives when we wonder why so much energy is dedicated to warfare and its technologies and not enough put into wondering about this moon and how it effects each and everything.
While I take in the moon's glow, I am weighted down with the idea of "fighting terrorism all across this world."
To fight terrorism all across this globe, we must address and struggle against all forms of terrorism whether in the Middle East or in our own front and backyards.
We have to continuously speak out against all individuals, groups or nations whose actions pour terror across people's lives. This is one of the reasons that is moving people to fill the streets for a peace protest. Society has been terrorized for too long. We need a rest.
The U.S. government will go to war and the majority of U.S. citizens will support this war in "honor" of revenge, freedom and other recipes. We even carelessly justify the act of mass killing using the concept of good versus evil, civilization versus primitivism and other social-Darwinist "theories."
If we are to fight terrorism all across this globe, we have to work with everyone across this globe and ensure that we are more conscious of world politics, and the conditions we live in. We have to make sure the prime minister of Pakistan has been filled in with the details directly linking the Taliban to this action, just as we did for England's Tony Blair.
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According to a recent CNN interview, the prime minister has not yet received these details but still has been requested to convert his country into a military launchpad.
The main issue is not if we should catch and punish those who committed this act, which we definitely should, but how we are going about it. If we are against terrorism inflicted on civilians then we must question whether we truly support reducing ground troops and bombing "Afghanistan to the Stone Age." Another point of concern rests on the fact that politicians, military personal and other officials are quick to talk war, but not as quick to stress international cooperation and jurisdiction in this global fight against terrorism.
All of a sudden, there is incredible unity across this country, starting from the winds set by Congress, causing tidal waves of flags across this land. What is amazing is that we have not even criticized the fact that it takes an ensuing World War III to become this incredibly unified.
Are we predestined to only unify in the face of mass death and not in the face of human beauty? An author in Wednesday's Albuquerque Journal has finally found the strength of diversity and the source of his Latino tough-man pride as we are buckling up for war.
And what greater tough man to lead us into battle than President Bush, whose wartime facial expressions are reminiscent of the actor John Wayne. I am consistently mesmerized by his sustained smirk that edges on a smile as he reminds us that we represent the lasting frontier of freedom and democracy.
I am also completely overwhelmed because I have not finished mourning, I am fearful of what is to come, and yet I am made to feel that war is necessary to solve terrorism.
With this in mind, I dedicate this as a reminder to those that have fallen victim to terror, both in this country and abroad. It is with their memory that I am reminded how sacred humanity is.
I also recognize that history has shown many examples of how genocidal actions have always been justified by dehumanizing others, starting with our country and ourselves. It is with this heavy heart, weighted down by the history of warfare in this country, that I try to engage in the present in order to make peace, equal rights and dignity an everyday reality.
Maceo Carrillo Martinet
Daily Lobo Columnist
Questions, comments or suggestions can be sent to Maceo Carrillo Martinet at conuco8@unm.edu.
