Bread, not bombs

On Monday, Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel, spoke at the IU Auditorium. His take-home message stressed that nothing should weaken our resolve and sense of purpose in our mission to defeat terrorists unconditionally. Then he added a more humanitarian dimension -- we must never forget the "poor of the Earth," those suffering with AIDS, those without access to education or basic human needs, those on the other side of the gap in living conditions. For Barak, not only must we fight terrorists, we must develop a "world community" characterized by trust and cooperation and help those who are left behind. \nI whole-heartedly agree with the first part of his message. Terrorism and the mindless killing of innocents (or any human life for that matter) is wrong.\nBut rather than separating the call to remember the poor of the Earth and foster worldwide civility and community as a different task, I believe we need a stronger link between these charges for the world's leading nations.\nPut simply, the best way to fight terrorists is not to "fight" at all.\nBarak repeated war supporters' favorite fear message: If we're not careful, the terrorists will destroy our freedom, liberty and democracy ... they threaten our way of life ... our children and their futures are at risk of perilous danger. But honestly, is the world's richest, most militarily powerful country truly on the brink of disaster or destruction thanks to actions of a handful of extremists in the world? No.\nWe should not simply carry on our business naively thinking terrorists are figments of our imagination. But the true threat to our way of life, democracy, freedom and "the children" is the cycle of violence in which we participate. The side we label "terrorists" are not the only ones committing acts of terror. As long as we perpetuate violence, we will be stuck fighting the so-called war on terror as participants in the terror.\nRather than responding with violence, what if we responded with compassion? What if, as Barak said, we were willing to lift up other people's children as we lift up our own? That would be a radical switch from treating other nations' dead children as "collateral damage" in the struggle for freedom and democracy. What if instead of training the young minds of our armed forces to see the "other" people as evil things to be eradicated at any cost, we taught them to value life and to cultivate hope and trust through humanitarian missions?\nBuilding schools and hospitals, not destroying vital infrastructure. Feeding the hungry, not terrorizing communities with raids and bombs. What better way to subvert violent dictators, terrorists and unfavorable regimes than with such compassion and benevolence?\nUndoubtedly, we'd persuade more people to the side of justice and freedom if we didn't simply claim the title of "good guys," but we acted like the "good guys," like stewards of good will and trust rather than veiled terrorists behind the mask of democracy.