Driving home, I just heard a radio commercial — paid for by a political-religious advocacy group — attempting to morally justify their violent military action in one of the Middle East conflicts.
EDITOR'S NOTE: First mistake was listening to the radio.
Most of us are acclimated to our own government's propaganda disseminated through “official” or media channels, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard commercial war propaganda sponsored by a foreign interests group.
“Self,” I thought, “why are they trying so hard to convince me?”
What does this group want?
Mentally following the trail of bright shiny things, I realized they are one of the (prominent) recipients of US foreign aid in the form of money, protection and weapons. The advocacy group is concerned about backlash and losing that aid, hence the radio commercial. Which leads to this universal corollary:
The moral righteousness of violence is inversely related to its propaganda justification.
Like it or not — accept it or not — my government has morally implicated me in the deaths of those involved because my tax dollars are directly fueling this military action between two rival foreign factions, despite its location 6,000 miles outside our national borders.
I’m not writing to choose sides.
I’m asking my government to STOP choosing sides.
Because the act of choosing sides in a conflict not directly our own entangles us in a web of alliances with far reaching implications. We become the enemy of our ally's enemies. And the conflict spreads as more and more nations or political-religious factions choose sides.
Isolationism and non-interventionism are commonly confused but quite different philosophies. Thomas Jefferson elucidated non-interventionism most clearly:
“...peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none."
I've found a parallel between a nation's behavior and each one of us, which sums up like this: If I need to justify my actions, probably I'm wrong.
Also, if someone needs to put an ellaborate name on something, maybe he/she knows it's wrong...and tries to avoid a better word for that. For example: "anticipated defense" = attack.
Posted by: Alexander López | 2009.01.15 at 02:37 PM