the last, best hope for peace
During the 1990s, there was a sci-fi show called Babylon 5. Recently, AOL has decided to show a few episodes each month for free. The basic premise is that after a bloody war with an alien race, humans decided to build a space station in neutral territory where all aliens could meet to trade and engage in diplomatic negotiations. Even though the first four versions of this space station were destroyed or disappeared shortly after opening, humans (with some financial support from other alien races) still built a fifth one--Babylon 5. The introduction calls this the galaxy's "last, best hope for peace."
I don't know if there can ever be peace if we lose hope, and it frightens me that members of our administration apparently no longer have hope.
And here is the New York Times quote that inspired this post:
But in a tense, sometimes stormy debate that went on for nearly an hour, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dug in, and prevailed.Later, she defended the United States’ refusal to call for an immediate cease-fire, saying: “It doesn’t do anyone any good to raise false hopes about something that’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. I did say to the group, ‘When will we learn?’ The fields of the Middle East are littered with broken cease-fires.” Full article found here.
Yes, cease-fires have failed. However, believing that ALL cease fires will fail implies that peace is impossible (or that peace will only come when one side completely destroys the other).
I choose to hope.
I don't know if there can ever be peace if we lose hope, and it frightens me that members of our administration apparently no longer have hope.
And here is the New York Times quote that inspired this post:
But in a tense, sometimes stormy debate that went on for nearly an hour, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dug in, and prevailed.Later, she defended the United States’ refusal to call for an immediate cease-fire, saying: “It doesn’t do anyone any good to raise false hopes about something that’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen. I did say to the group, ‘When will we learn?’ The fields of the Middle East are littered with broken cease-fires.” Full article found here.
Yes, cease-fires have failed. However, believing that ALL cease fires will fail implies that peace is impossible (or that peace will only come when one side completely destroys the other).
I choose to hope.