The other day Mustafa posted a link to a report by the CBC about peace spreading around the world. It keeps coming up in my mind over and over. Perhaps it was just bad timing but, over the last week it seems whenever I read about *another* account of terrorism, (from last week's coordinated airplane bombings, this week's subway bombings and the current hostage crisis in a Russian school in North Ossetia) I keep thinking back to that article.
Is it getting better? Is peace really spreading? Sure doesn't seem like it and this week it seems like all the forces in the world are trying to prove those think-tanks wrong.
(Incidentally the Russians have just called upon the security council to legitimate their response to these attacks, they are going so far as to compare it to Sept. 11th and the Afghan invasion)
Back on the soapbox about The Sudan, Jesse Jackson has weighed in.
He's got harsh words for Bush:
"Bush seems simply oblivious to all this. We're killing terrorists in Iraq, he claims, never acknowledging that we are creating many more fanatical enemies than we are slaying. And the victims aren't simply the U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. The victims include the beleaguered children of Darfur whose lives might be saved were the United States free to do good and not shackled to the self-destructive debacle in Iraq."
The whole idea that Bush is not a "do-gooder" should not be lost on this man. I wonder why we continue to be surprised by the fact that the US foreign policy is not more altruistic. They have proven their preference for working unilaterally so why are we so surprised?
I am just tired of that ridiculous argument...
Bah!
In other news it only took me a total of 18 minutes to get my student loan signed today!!! Usually this is a long, drawn out process involving 2-3 hours of standing and waiting in the Butterdome. Kudos to those fine individuals at Administration and SFAIC for your hard work, you guys made my day.
Song Du Jour: Amsterdam ~Guster
3 comments:
The story Mustafa posted used statistical evidence to make its argument that peace is spreading. You're using anecdotal evidence to argue that it might not be. I suspect that it would be quite possible to use statistical evidence to argue against Mustafa's story (statistics generally play both sides, like some kind of New Jersey Governor), but for the time being, the CBC's argument beats you. Though I doubt that this is of much comfort to people who are presently living in war-ravaged territories.
I'm not really arguing anything really, just noticing the irony. It just seems like this week the world is that much *more* violent. Coming on the heels of that story it seems an incongruous thing.
It's like reading a report about, oh I don't know, that there are less red cars on the road, and then all you seem to notice is how many red cars there are.
Perhaps it is just a case of hightened awareness but I found it ironic.
All in all we seem to be, according to the report, making headway and the world is becoming more peaceful, but it sure doesn't seem like it this week.
Personally, I think that article equivocated war with the number of people killed in combat zones. I'm not sure that looking at how many people were killed in combat zones is an adequate representation of the intensity of war or peace. Though I suspect no quantification of war or peace would satisfy me.
- Mustafa
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