Life
columnist: an existentialist

Topic: Foreign Policy
How To Solve a Problem

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Fight fire with fire, you say?

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by an existentialist
(Libertarian)
Thursday, March 27, 2008

How often have you heard someone say, "You gotta fight fire with fire!"? We have all heard it plenty enough times, I'm sure. But let's look at that logic, shall we?

Let's ask the local fire department to use that kind of reasoning. The next time a house is burning, don't use water. Water can't put a fire out. You gotta fight fire with fire, remember? So hey, grab your torches, bring some wood and gasoline, and come on baby, light my fire!

What is the result? Is the house going to be safe? Will the fire die down? Only if you're stupid. Obviously throwing more wood doused in gasoline is not going to put out a house fire. It's only going to create a larger fire. It's only going to contribute to a larger problem, not solve it.

And yet, that is exactly how people treat war. If we can just prove to the other nation how "hot" we are, well, by golly, they gotta give up!

Right?

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Nope. It is only going to make the other nation oppose us more, fight us more, hate us more, destroy us more. It will never back down.

Now sure, you can say, "Ah, but when the flames die down, there is nothing left." You are correct. Both sides are burnt out, meaning not only them, but us as well.

We as Americans need to realize the fine line, although well-defined fine line, between justice and revenge. We as Americans need to realize wehave crossed that line. And we as Americans need to realize that what we are doing now is not helping the situation. It is only making it worse, and worse, and worse.

I believe that war is a viable, and sometimes necessary, tool to mete out justice. I realize this fact, just as much as our Founding Fathers did. But, they also realized, as history so faithfully taught them, that war can andoften hasbecome senseless and cruel. The Iraq War is just such a war. War with Iran would be just such a war.

The American people, as much as the Iraqi people, have suffered long enough. We must start rebuilding an honest and peaceful relationship with each other if there is to be any progress in the direction towards peace and prosperity. We as the American people need to start writing to our representatives in both the state and national Congresses to end this unjust war. We need to petition loudly, boldly, and honestly. Let the powers that be know we demand peace. If not now, when? If not us, who?

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2008 an existentialist, all rights reserved.
Published: Thursday, March 27, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, March 27, 2008

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