I believe this is one world. While there are diverse and varied local governments, local customs and local religions and regional languages, it is, in reality, one world.
And there is one human race. We are one people, separated only by those artificial barriers we have created, languages, customs, religions and governments. And fear.
No one person has greater worth than any other. An American life is not somehow greater, more valuable or more sacred than a Sudanese life, or an Iraqi life, or a Korean life.
From time to time we overcome our fears, we reach beyond our borders, we gaze past our religions and customs, and we ask our governments to recognize this universal truth.
December 10, 1948 was one of those rare moments. The destruction of the greater part of the world wrought by two world wars gave us a rare moment of sanity. The United Nations, in a really rare moment of accord, passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's entire text can be found at this link.
But indulge me as I repeat just a few of the rights to be honored by all people and all nations. It's an indulgence because, since December 10, 1948 virtually no nation has been willing to sacrifice its blood and treasure to defend or to assure these rights to others.
Article 1. Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. |
A strong.... no, an overwhelming case, can be made against President Bush's foolish, reckless and disastrous invasion of Iraq and his bungled occupation of the country.
But, regardless of the stupidity that lead the otherwise moral American forces into Iraq, could we please stop and think before we condemn the people of Iraq into a certain political slavery devoid of virtually all of the rights outlines above? Do we just walk out?
The goal of delivering a humiliating defeat to the political enemy here in the United States is not worth the future of Iraq.
If Bush violated many of the rights outlined above, and I believe he did, it simply is twice as wrong to now abandon the fledgling Iraqi state just so we can shackle the errant President.
Do we lack the vision and courage and human dignity to reign in the President without abandoning the Iraqi people?
Do we not have, somewhere in our country, a leader who can reach out to the world and bring safety and peace to a troubled region?
Or is our vision so narrow, so clouded with hatred for the President, we can only walk out on the people we victimized, we defeated, we humiliated, we stripped of pride, munitions, defenses and structures and allow them to fall victim to the strongest swords or most powerful neighbors in the middle east?
Do we not have the moral and ethical obligation to leave Iraq stronger, more free, more stable than we found it?
President Bush may have brought about this destruction, but where is our Roosevelt, our Truman or our Eisenhower who will lead us into a Marshall Plan for Iraq.
Obama? Edwards? Clinton? Giuliani? McCain? It's time for someone to speak up. America and Iraq are crying out for a real leader.
TECHNORATI TAGS: SAVE DARFUR BARACK OBAMA SUDAN IRAQ WOMEN'S RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS DARFUR UNITED NATIONS JOHN McCAIN RUDY GIULIANI HILLARY CLINTON JOHN EDWARDS EARTH FRANCE PRESIDENT BUSH UNIVERSAL RIGHTS
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