Category: Americas, World Affairs Topics: United States Of America Views: 1535
1535
Peace: The Invisible Weapon
Here we go again, as the adage goes. The Media did the drumming, the Congress obliged a debate, and the UN made the deals and US is about to begin the destruction. The stage is set and the drama will begin in the world theater. Amidst this, the spectators are expected to play their role of "quietly" watching the show or else!
Let us this time try to respond in a different way rather than either buying a ticket for the play or holding a protest sign outside the theater.
Many American people I have talked to oppose war. They want peace and they are trying to find it. Let us lead them to the innately peaceful place, our homes and our hearts. Let us break a piece of bread together and learn to be peaceful.
Each one of us must invite our neighbors to explore and recognize the commonalities. Abraham, Moses, Jesus (may God's peace be upon all of them) are not exclusive to any of us but belongs to all of us. They came generations apart but preached the same message of Goodness, Life, Happiness and Peace for all.
Our modern civilization, for whatever that means, claims to have evolved into a new century and a new millennium. Among many great discoveries and greater developments, one is the science of statistics. Numbers do not lie, it is said. Here is a random sample for our reflection:
- US maintains No.1 position among Top 10 Arms Suppliers Worldwide 2000 [1]
- Total Sales Agreements by United States were $18.5 Billion (54% of the world total) and the combined total of other top 9 countries were $16.5 Billion [2]
- Most arms sales by US were to the Middle East and Asia between 1997-2000 [3]
- United States Department of Defense Budget - $371.1 Billion [4]
- United States Department of Education - $47.6 Billion [5]
- Total 2001 Revenues of Wal-Mart Corp - $219.8 Billion [6] (this is more than the total GDP of 100 countries)
- Bangladeshi workers work seven days a week stitching shirts for Wal-Mart, are paid 9 cents to 20 cents an hour
- 10% of all women aged 15 - 18 become pregnant in the US. Unmarried girls conceive 78% of the pregnancies. 56% result in births, the remainder end in miscarriage or abortion [7]
- About half of the students in the United States try drugs before they graduate from high school [8]
- A total of 28,663 people died from firearms in 2000 [9]
- Nearly 20,000 Americans died of drug-induced causes and another 20,000 died of alcohol-induced causes
All of us carry an invisible weapon within ourselves that is pervasive enough to penetrate everything. Let us use this weapon and use it freely and abundantly, regardless of the labels that will be pasted on our foreheads.
Let us offer a simple and sincere prayer from the depths of our heart to the One Creator of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (may God's peace be upon all of them) and all of us.
Our Lord, we pray and we know that You alone can grant us:
- Our intellect and senses back so that we recognize the human dignity and honor
- An understanding of what is truly right and what is wrong
- The courage to proclaim what is good and forbid what is wrong
- Your protection alone and that we look toward no one else for protection
- The wisdom to strive and give of ourselves rather than gaining for ourselves
- The determination to pursue the goal of "peace and justice for all" firmly and with bold steps
- The ardent love in our hearts to find freedom in absolute slavery to You alone
- To remain an awakened witness to the injustices being done to the humanity
- Perseverance to withstand the wrongs being done in our name
[1] Arms Sales Monitor No.46 (Sep 2001)
[2] Arms Sales Monitor No.46 (Sep 2001)
[3] Arms Sales Monitor No.46 (Sep 2001) - It is also an opportune coincidence that all wars post-2000 happened in this region
[4] http://www.kowaldesign.com/budget/budget.html
[5] http://www.kowaldesign.com/budget/budget.html
[6] http://www.fortune.com/lists/F500/index.html
[7] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/
[8] http://www.familywatch.org/library/
[9] National Center for Health Statistics - Final 2000 Mortality Statistics
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Older Comments:
MADMAX FROM MOROCCO said:
Stephan Oscaro I agree with you as you said "Peace can only be achieved when people on both sides want it". Although your comment 7120 is misplaced considering the subject herein, I could not help but help you get some facts.
You see the solution can be quite simple, why don't you start by 1) asking your government to get their military personnel and hardware out of all the Muslim countries first before it's too late. 2) Ask your government not to interfere with others internal affaires. 3) Let others change their own totalitarian regimes (most of them are on the US payroll) to a democratic one. 4) Stop supporting the pariahs that are occupying Palestine and killing our people (if you persist, you just have to accept the consequences now and in the future, and please accept them as real men and not like some spoiled kids). And please stop acting like primadonnas by stating that there is a threat to open and free society and bragging about democracy, you think we don't aspire to freedom and democracy? I have asked the question earlier but receive no answer and I am sure that you will not answer it either; name on single country in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia whose supported by the USA (friendly with Washington) and whose not under a totalitarian regime, name only one. Relations will then be normalized after step 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Ruminate all this at you convenience.
Peace.
You see the solution can be quite simple, why don't you start by 1) asking your government to get their military personnel and hardware out of all the Muslim countries first before it's too late. 2) Ask your government not to interfere with others internal affaires. 3) Let others change their own totalitarian regimes (most of them are on the US payroll) to a democratic one. 4) Stop supporting the pariahs that are occupying Palestine and killing our people (if you persist, you just have to accept the consequences now and in the future, and please accept them as real men and not like some spoiled kids). And please stop acting like primadonnas by stating that there is a threat to open and free society and bragging about democracy, you think we don't aspire to freedom and democracy? I have asked the question earlier but receive no answer and I am sure that you will not answer it either; name on single country in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia whose supported by the USA (friendly with Washington) and whose not under a totalitarian regime, name only one. Relations will then be normalized after step 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Ruminate all this at you convenience.
Peace.
2002-10-15
AHMAD FROM U.S. said:
Salaam Alaikum.
Enjoin good, forbid evil on October 26 at 11 AM. Show your opposition to war against Iraqi people.
http://www.internationalanswer.org
Enjoin good, forbid evil on October 26 at 11 AM. Show your opposition to war against Iraqi people.
http://www.internationalanswer.org
2002-10-14
ESTHER FROM USA said:
You are right Stephan Oscaro.
2002-10-14
STEPHAN OSCARO FROM USA said:
Americans respond when threatened. Sept 11 was quite a serious thing. The idea that they Americans can have peace has been shattered by wicked evil people. Unfortunately these acts have been committed by people who say they are Muslims. Now the attack against Australians and others in Bali, so this is not just about Americans - it's a threat to anyone with a free and open society. What if those criminals there are Muslims, too? What does that say about this faith? The world is scared of Islam now. We can talk all we want about peace but we must first find and eliminate the absolute evil that is in Islam today. Can that be done or will we all be victims? Peace can only be achieved when people on both sides want it.
2002-10-14
SAEED KHAN FROM USA said:
TOTALLY AWESOME!
2002-10-14
HANNAHZARAH AVARRASCHILD FROM U.S.A. said:
I agree with the writer of this article. There is a spiritual side of the current crisi that is not being acknowledged--the struggle between good and evil and that is not as simple as G. Bush would have us to believe with God on one side or the other. The prayer at the end of the article, in my opinion, states it correctly. We have forgotten God's clear commandments in this struggle. For myself God's command boils down to simple play nice with the other kids. Somehow we haven't been able to live to that simplicity.
2002-10-14
HOPE FROM USA said:
instead of bickering about the injustices against the muslim people and blaming American pollitics use your voice to educate Americans about what you think is going on. Instead of promoting destruction to which Americans scratch thier head in confusion to, let them know that they are being lied to. If you know the truth that you are all claiming to know, send an e-mail campaign, write to the papers and the news. I am a regular christian American and I have never heard any of this stuff before. Where do you get your information. I was under the impession that we were outing Saddam to protect ourselves from nuclear war. I don't know anyone who has heard the side of the Palestinians because all we hear is that they are terrorists. Knowledge is power, if you feel so strongly you should educate us!
2002-10-14
BRENNA FROM U.S.A. said:
I think that was a beautiful prayer. I agree that God is there for all of us and that he desires us to get along peacefully. I am so saddened at the state of the world right now and all done in the name of God, or Allah, same thing. I will pray this prayer for peace. Thank You
2002-10-14
GRENDIZER FROM UK said:
Poor K2, you've simply got it all wrong. Dead wrong.
Lets see...yeah the Saudi royal family is corrupt, but who has kept them in power all these decades ? Who prevents the peoples of the Middle East from determining who their leaders will be ? Who has rigged truly democratic elections and overthrown heads of state eg-Iran and Algeria ?
Who is financing a racist nuclear colonial usurper state in the Middle East ?
You know the answer, so drop your fake pretensions about whats happening in that part of the world and what should be done about it.
You want the oil, and you're willing to kill anyone who gets in your way, like the people of Iraq who have been through 12 years of genocidal sanctions. Your greed could not be anymore transparent.
Bottom line is, you're the ones who need to look in the mirror, but vampires do not cast a reflection or so I'm told.
Lets see...yeah the Saudi royal family is corrupt, but who has kept them in power all these decades ? Who prevents the peoples of the Middle East from determining who their leaders will be ? Who has rigged truly democratic elections and overthrown heads of state eg-Iran and Algeria ?
Who is financing a racist nuclear colonial usurper state in the Middle East ?
You know the answer, so drop your fake pretensions about whats happening in that part of the world and what should be done about it.
You want the oil, and you're willing to kill anyone who gets in your way, like the people of Iraq who have been through 12 years of genocidal sanctions. Your greed could not be anymore transparent.
Bottom line is, you're the ones who need to look in the mirror, but vampires do not cast a reflection or so I'm told.
2002-10-13
K2 FROM USA said:
Knee jerk Muslim reaction to accuse America instead of looking in the mirror. What about statistics of the percentage of money Saudia Arabia spends on their royal _____ instead of spending it to help their poor Muslim neighbors? We Muslims seem to have become blind to all the wrongs in the Muslim world. If the Muslim world doesn't have the courage to confront a deranged man like Saddam then step aside and let the USA take care of the situation.
2002-10-12
SAIF FROM ENGLAND said:
What the US President Wants Us To Forget:
Sections Published on Wednesday, October 9, 2002 by the Independent/UK
Forget the 14 Palestinians, including the 12-year-old child, killed by Israel a few hours before Mr Bush spoke, forget that when his aircraft killed nine Palestinian children in July, along with one militant, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon - a "man of peace" in Mr Bush's words - described the slaughter as "a great success". Israel is on our side.
We absolutely must forget that President Ronald Reagan dispatched a special envoy to meet Saddam Hussein in December 1983. Firstly, because the awful Saddam was already using gas against the Iranians - which is one of the reasons we are now supposed to go to war with him. Secondly, because the envoy was sent to Iraq to arrange the re-opening of the US embassy - in order to secure better trade and economic relations with the Butcher of Baghdad. Thirdly, because the envoy was - wait for it - Donald Rumsfeld.
We must forget, too, that in 1988, as Saddam destroyed the people of Halabja with gas, along with tens of thousands of other Kurds - when he "used gas against his own people" in the words of Messrs Bush/Cheney/Blair/Cook/Straw et al - President Bush senior provided him with $500m in US government subsidies to buy American farm products. We must forget that in the following year, after Saddam's genocide was complete, President Bush senior doubled this subsidy to $1bn, along with germ seed for anthrax, helicopters, and the notorious "dual-use" material that could be used for chemical and biological weapons.
We must forget how the Americans promised Pakistan and Afghanistan a new era of hope after the defeat of the Soviet army in 1980 - and did nothing.
And of course, we must forget about oil. Indeed, oil is the one commodity - and one of the few things which George Bush junior knows something about, along with his ex-oil cronies Cheney and Rice and countless others in the admin
Sections Published on Wednesday, October 9, 2002 by the Independent/UK
Forget the 14 Palestinians, including the 12-year-old child, killed by Israel a few hours before Mr Bush spoke, forget that when his aircraft killed nine Palestinian children in July, along with one militant, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon - a "man of peace" in Mr Bush's words - described the slaughter as "a great success". Israel is on our side.
We absolutely must forget that President Ronald Reagan dispatched a special envoy to meet Saddam Hussein in December 1983. Firstly, because the awful Saddam was already using gas against the Iranians - which is one of the reasons we are now supposed to go to war with him. Secondly, because the envoy was sent to Iraq to arrange the re-opening of the US embassy - in order to secure better trade and economic relations with the Butcher of Baghdad. Thirdly, because the envoy was - wait for it - Donald Rumsfeld.
We must forget, too, that in 1988, as Saddam destroyed the people of Halabja with gas, along with tens of thousands of other Kurds - when he "used gas against his own people" in the words of Messrs Bush/Cheney/Blair/Cook/Straw et al - President Bush senior provided him with $500m in US government subsidies to buy American farm products. We must forget that in the following year, after Saddam's genocide was complete, President Bush senior doubled this subsidy to $1bn, along with germ seed for anthrax, helicopters, and the notorious "dual-use" material that could be used for chemical and biological weapons.
We must forget how the Americans promised Pakistan and Afghanistan a new era of hope after the defeat of the Soviet army in 1980 - and did nothing.
And of course, we must forget about oil. Indeed, oil is the one commodity - and one of the few things which George Bush junior knows something about, along with his ex-oil cronies Cheney and Rice and countless others in the admin
2002-10-12
