Know your history, don't repeat mistakes

Neither violence nor military aggressions have ever solved problems

(5-1-2002)

by Matt Kapko
Community editor, The Lumberjack

It is important that we know our history. It may very well be the only available tool to keep us from repeating mistakes of the past.

History will show that neither violence nor military aggression has ever truly solved problems or conflicts in the world. At best, they delay the inevitable.

Large-scale military operations have yet to prove successful in combating terrorism. Yet this seems to be the strategy for the global war on terror.

Israel and the United States should be learning from their failures in Palestine and Afghanistan respectively.

It has been almost a month since the Israeli military began its incursion into the West Bank and little, if anything, has been accomplished.

Entire Palestinian neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. But the life of an Israeli citizen is no more secure or safe than it was before the invasion.

On another front, the United States has admitted to only capturing one senior al-Qaeda member since it began bombing in Afghanistan more than six months ago.

Afghanistan is being molded into a U.S. colony. Oil companies' chances of building an oil pipeline there, were impossible with the Taliban in power. They have much to profit from the blood that has been spilt.

Let us hope that the United States does not repeat its mistakes of the past in Afghanistan.

Need we be reminded of our past involvement in Afghanistan?

During the early Reagan years, the Central Intelligence Agency funded and trained Islamic militants to fight the Soviets. This group of militants later became known as al-Qaeda.

After the Soviets withdrew, so did U.S. support and overall interest in Afghanistan. By stranding those who were promised aid, the United States left behind an environment in which a new enemy would flourish.

At that time, America's enemy was the Soviet Union -- not terrorism.

I borrow from Howard Zinn, who had this to say at a lecture that he gave earlier this month: "If you don't know history, it's as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, you may believe anything that someone in authority tells you."

If I believed what authority was telling me, I would be proud of the bombing of Afghanistan. I would be relieved to know that Israel is taking a stand against terrorism, and I would be overjoyed to hear that Iraq is next on America's hit list.

The current state of affairs tells me otherwise.

The bombing of Afghanistan has done nothing to eliminate or even reduce terrorism. It was a lost cause from the start.

Israel may have beaten the Palestinians into submission for now, but it will be short-lived. Every personal account of life in Palestine that I've come across has been described with words such as terror and despair.

When a U.N. fact-finding team is refused access to Jenin -- an alleged site of massacres -- Israel only further damages its credibility abroad.

The desire to topple Saddam Hussein's regime is an admission of the failure of the decade-long sanctions on Iraq. Top U.S. officials have shown no remorse over the fact that one million Iraqi children alone have died as a result of the sanctions.

Any invasion of Iraq would likely cause more strife in the region.

The bombs constantly being dropped on Iraq by the United States and its partner-in-crime, the United Kingdom, have provided for no peace and symbolize an ignorant and brutal act of power.

Our recent history is becoming further plagued with events of genocide and war.

The world is well overdue for changing its ways. It is the responsibility of all nations with power and wealth to achieve basic human rights for all.

In looking for times of progress and hope, the Commune of Paris in 1871 is an inspiration. Workers, intellectuals and citizens united to form a commune -- a collective energy of the people.

The commune represented the interests of the poor; hence, it could never last in a world of greed and tyranny. The commune was crushed; in all 30,000 people were killed.

I am not a dreamer for demanding an end to hunger, or a humble, peaceful way of life for all people. If governments decided to make these "dreams" their own, they would come true in a heartbeat.

Matt Kapko is The Lumberjack Community editor.