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  • Escrito por Cesáreo hace 18 años y 11 meses (21 Jul 2005 21:07)
Can be a circle a square? Reflections after three years of Iraq war by Cesáreo García Rodicio

Terrorism, War, Violence. It seems to be that we have to live with them in our times.

"The attacks were the most lethal terrorist act ever carried out in the United States. At least 2,985 people were killed in total." as said Wikipedia about Sep 11th, 2001 attacks in New York

"The 11 March 2004 attacks consisted of a series of ten explosions that occurred at the height of the Madrid rush hour aboard four commuter trains. 192 people died", CNN said about terrorism acts in Madrid, Mar 11th 2004

"On July 7, 2005, London came under attack, a series of bomb bloats becoming the most devastating attack ever on British soil. The bombs claimed the lives of more than 50 people", said Guardian Unlimited about London attacks in July 7th 2005

"More then 20.000 civils died in Iraq war, since the beginning of war" said by Iraq Body Count (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/)

"A U.S. tank fired on a Baghdad hotel packed with foreign journalists on Tuesday, killing two cameramen, one from Reuters, the other from Spanish television." as said by Reuters in April 8, 2003

"Eye for eye, tooth for tooth". An eye for an eye: Punishment in which the offender suffers what the victim has suffered, exact retribution. Popular expression taken for The Bible.

But all people wants to be in peace and making efforts in solve our problems

"Most protests were on Saturday, but up to 250,000 people took part in a final event in San Francisco on Sunday (Feb 16th, 2003)" as BBC News said.

"What had been happened if Bush did forgive NYC attacks" a work colleage in Bogota, Colombia, at the time of 9/11.

"Not to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to disbelieve in the Godliness of human nature", epigram from Mahatma Ghandi, that, astonishingly, was never awarded with Nobel Peace Prize

"Peoples everywhere wish and long for peace and freedom in their simplest and clearest connotations: an end to armed conflict and to the suppression of the inalienable rights of man. In a single generation, the peoples of the world have suffered the profound anguish of two catastrophic wars; they have had enough of war", was said by Ralph Bunche's Nobel Lecture, delivered December 11, 1950. Yes, he said this in 1950.

By, July 2005, "The War in Iraq Costs the United States $182,255,613,133. Instead, we could have fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 7 years" as said in Cost of War ( http://www.costofwar.com/ ).

Can be a circle a square?

Firstly, I don't want to be a populist. I wouldn't like to be a politician or a militar guy that would have to take decissions using violence. I know it is difficult. But, as you, I don't like war.
In all our history, aka human history, we have been trying to arrange our conflicts. All ages have had wars. There has not been year without a conflict in some part of the world. Perhaps is something inherent to our human being. This way of solve conflicts through the use of violence is in our life. Most people are against the use of violence, but all of we have been used some kind of it in our lives. Try to remember your relations as Parent/Son, Couple, Boss/employee, Neighbor, Student, etc and perhaps you find some examples. We are humans and have conflicts so we need tools to solve them.

Sometimes, we need how to change a circle in a square.

It is very easy a position against the use of violence if you are with satisfied stomach, heart or soul. But it is no easy if you don't have hope, dreams, food, justice, peace. Now, we have huge conflicts (more than 100 in the last 20 years) in our world and not only Iraq. Some forgotten conflicts like those from Sudan, Somalia, Colombia, remains for most than ten years. It is clear to me that the sources of violence are poverty, lack of justice and lack of human rights. but it is clear to me that there are flagrant abuses of human rights that need an action. It is difficult to know when and how act in extremely circunstances.

Sometimes, we need know how to change a square in a circle.

And it is not easy. It has been a mathematic issue in our history and it seems not to be posible. For a square be a circle must loose their edges, round them little by little and by this way become a circle. It is the same if you think in circle-to-square transformation. We must trade off to solve our conflicts, doing sustaintable agreements and, if not, using ways of doing strong actions to avoid more violence.

It is difficult but we have to reframe ourselves and know that it could be: a square can be a circle.

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