Normally when I read an editorial like the one written by Chris Daniels and Brent Hoeft, I kind of smile and laugh at the predictability of ignorance. I know that the compassionate and intelligent work I do will over ride all ignorance and shortsightedness. However, our generation has never experienced this type of international crisis. We stand on the brink of a major war that could last for years. A war during which many of the liberties and freedoms we say we are fighting for may be stripped away from us. That is why I must take seriously and respond to the comments made by Daniels and Hoeft, and also of those made by the last week’s editorial.

This is not simply a response to their editorial, but a call for intelligent and rational thought on our current situation. As for being a bleeding heart liberal, I am not quite sure what they mean, but if caring for all human beings and not just Americans makes me a bleeding heart liberal than I wear that title with pride.

Whether Osama bin Laden committed this crime or not is really not relevant to the pro-peace movement’s argument. But, in order to arrest them and try them in court as the criminals they are, we will need sufficient evidence to convict them to life in prison. That is what I hope our government is doing now You are right, the average citizen does not have the information of all that our government knows or does. If we did, we would most likely be scared out of our minds. For even if one digs a little deeper than the `average citizen,’ one finds many atrocities that our government has committed, such as the School of the Americas and helping to maintain oppressive dictatorships around the world. But I am not here to attack our government, so enough of that.

Yes, absolutely innocent Afghani women and children will die at the hand of American soldiers whether in the field or in a plane. This is what they mean by “softening the population.” When we were bombing Baghdad in the Gulf War, who do you think we were killing? Thousands are thought to have died, while 560,000 children have died since the Gulf war (UN Commission on Human Rights, 52nd Session Agenda Item 20). This need not be the case, instead of using our less rational “brain” and going in like cowboys we could accomplish this in much more intelligent ways. Yes, soldier’s lives will be lost if we simply go in and arrest the people responsible for this crime, but women and children should not be among them.

What I find most horrendous and shortsighted about both of these testosterone filled editorials is the implication that the Afghani people are somehow responsible for this terror organization or the Afghanistan government. This is a very simple and ignorant viewpoint. It is easy for a privileged American to say this, however, it loses sight of the fact that these people do not live the sort of lives that we take for granted. It is a great privilege that we can debate the policies of our government without being killed or “disappeared.” It is much harder to discuss the ideologies and actions of your oppressor when you are worried about where your next, if any, meal will come from. Or when you worry about your mother or sister going out in public and being stoned to death for showing an inch of skin. Or worrying about your brother, who stole some bread because he hasn’t eaten in a week, getting his hand chopped of in front of thousands of cheering Taliban members. In an atmosphere such as this, one really doesn’t have time or energy to organize enough people to overthrow their government. There has, of course, been a resistance movement in Northern Afghanistan for the past twenty years, but this more of a downtrodden group of people than a viable resistance movement because of the problems mentioned above. They are vastly overspent and are using weapons from the former Soviet Union that are falling apart. These people have been struggling longer against and have suffered at the hands of the Taliban more than we can imagine. Not to mention that we brought many of these extremists to Afghanistan to battle the Russians. In addition, the United States under President Reagan’s direction supported the Mujahideen out of which the Taliban arose during the Russian-Afghanistan war. Read some of the other quotes from the NVCR, whoever they are, and you will see a very interesting quote by then President Ronald Reagan, which by the way does check out.

It is obvious that the authors of this and the previous editorial have caught the “testosterone” bug like 80 to 90 percent of the rest of America. Luckily, for the rest of the world there are a mighty few such as myself, Students for Peace and Barbara Lee of California, who use their rational mind and can see that restraint rather than might is necessary in this situation. This is not “turn the other cheek,” for I advocate arresting those responsible for these horrendous crimes and trying them in an International Court of Law and putting them away for the rest of their lives. This is peace and as Spinoza, said, “Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence and justice.”

I attended and helped to organize the two peace rallies held in Eau Claire over the past week and I will continue to advocate peace. You may have seen me on TV or read my words in the coverage of the campus rally. This voice for peace is not going away and I will continue to advocate peace, even among this machismo attitude in America and even if 99 percent of Americans agree with “W”. The journey is long, but peace is on the horizon. The pro-retaliation movement’s voice is loud and numerous, but I will continue until peace is achieved.