Sunday, October 25, 2009

Who is the Real Cause of the Problem?

Senator J William Fulbright in "The Price of Empire", page 172:
"It is understandably difficult... to get off to a good start with a new revolutionary regime when you plot to kill its leaders. If we plan to assassinate leaders we don't like, as the CIA is believed to have done with Castro, you are only asking for trouble. It's self-defeating. It is against our interests. I don't think it ever succeeds. It gives others an excuse to engage in terrorism, to kill our ambassadors or citizens travelling abroad[or at home]. You start a process of terrorism that has far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. There is a good case to be be made that we initiated it. We and some of our friends have initiated some of the worst aspects of modern terrorism."

Sometimes, we thought the problem is out there. But often, upon reflection, the problem begins in-house; in the heart, in the mind and in the supposedly benevolent action. Can we blame terrorism totally on one party? Who actually 'created' them? It's really no use pointing the finger now. I read with much sadness news about lives that are innocently lost in senseless bombings. A week ago it was Pakistan, today it was 90 lives and more in Baghdad. We have not heed the full extent of the phrase "You reap what you sow", especially when it comes to using force and violence as a problem solver - it never truly solves any problem.

Not too long ago, a man stood on stage and in a reflective tone spoke about the problem of 'rice christians' and 'christian workers with shallow roots' in an asean nation. Were the local people the problem? Who 'created' these different 'types' of christians? He concluded by saying, "We(the foreign force) are the cause of it". Let us not repeat the mistakes we have learned the hard way.

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