With friends like that who needs enemies?

Syria and Libya are on similar paths, although Libya is a few months further ahead. Both are flirting with death. With each bullet fired, chaos wins and peace dies. The frustration with those that continue to increase violence fuels the desire to let war reach its pinnacle as soon as possible. Of course these desires should be restrained.

 Living in a country that has a leader which is not to be trusted is very difficult. No amount of goodwill can be built, you always feel a gun pointed at you, discussion seems useless and the system corrupt. When life gets to such a state violence quickly becomes the only way a person can feel they have done something to express their disgust.

You see, that is what people need. People need to voice their displeasures. There has to be an outlet for the pressure of emotions. There has to be an option for a way out. People can not live in hopelessness. People will fight, kill and accept death themselves if there is no hope. Hope is needed so much that we have created religions so that people have something to hold on to when life is seen as pointless. To some degree this has backfired and now we have people fighting about which religion is the best one to believe in. Pure insanity.

A leader that lacks credibility yet holds the larger share of physical force is a leader that will use fear and violence to retain power. Such a leader knows they do not have the intelligence, compassion or right to stay in power. The only way to keep their power is to use fear and violence. These leaders do not have to be rulers of countries, they can be warlords, gang leaders, religious leaders or anyone. How many families are forced to live in terror because of such a person?

Within Syria we have many such people. No matter what they call themselves, whether it be the Syrian National Council, Friends of Syria or the Revolutionary Syrian Freedom Front. These groups show their true character in the continually call for increased weapon support. No amount of weapons will solve this because no weapon can work without a person to operate it.

As I mentioned above there is the point when a person can no longer live in restraint. That point is a reality, yet it is all too often used for the weak minded. We are seeing the weak minded come together in the Friends of Syria coalition. We are seeing the weak minded in Libya that are still fighting.

Peace takes great courage. We need more courage in Syria and Libya. We need the voices of peace not only for the people within these countries, also for the regional countries. Leaders that are peaceful and are trusted to be so, have opposition yet the opposition understands there is no need for violence. Again I must state the stupidity of those that counter with the fact that a peaceful person leaves themselves open to violence. That line of thought is a reality but we are trying to build a world where such violence is obsolete, are we not? With friends that have such a mentality, who needs enemies?

Biased Media or Lazy Readers?

Going about my day I was reading stories about the countries that are experiencing the Jasmine Revolution ripple effect/Arab Spring. I hit upon a few news items that discussed the number of countries impacted. As I looked at this list I began to feel information overload, it is quite a list of countries. Then I thought of the great equalizer of quick information, Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring#Others

Take a look at that.  Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria are the most often referred to but somehow Yemen has stayed off the watch list. So has a Bahrain and I recall protests in China as well. After a bit more searching I came across one opinion for the lack of information on all the other protests. It was biased media.

http://rt.com/news/bahrain-iran-double-standards-us-319/

The two links above provide information as do the websites of the United Nations, Alertnet, ReliefWeb, and others.

Now I have been very harsh towards the media and sometimes I am overly critical. As I search, there are reports from each country that are experiencing protests. The media is doing their job. Here in Canada I would have to say that few know we have imposed sanctions on Syria. My point here is that the media needs our help to dig for information as well.  

I do wish there was a one site for all news but there is not. Multiple sites have to be searched. This is no different than the fact that any large city usually has three or more daily newspapers. Each has its own identity or bias and with each you should delve into that understanding of the world.

There is a great deal of life going on in the world and no one news outlet can handle all of it. This is very much a case of the individual having the intelligence to seek out all the sources they can. The capability to do that is exactly why technology has been pushed on us. The crazy part is that we are still too lazy to do the work.

Imagine the person that only gets their news from one source? Now imagine having a conversation about world events with that person. Is it the of fault media for not presenting more information to its readers? There was a time when I would have given a large yes to that question. Now I am a great deal more understanding because doing such a thing is near impossible. However I am sure that each news outlet will defend their balanced news reporting.

On another point, the media is not just newspapers and websites. There are academic papers, documentaries, government websites and of course the blogs.  There is a wide spectrum of thought out there, some insane, some perplexing, some compelling and others you just wonder who even needs to know such things. Happy news searching.

Talk or Shoot?

One of the great sources of frustration in the minds of peace activists is the fact that every violent conflict ends with a negotiated settlement. For example, during the early stages of the Afghanistan war Canada sought a strategy of communication with locals and Taliban forces. This strategy was soundly rejected as futile. Almost ten years later that very strategy is now being used even though the situation in Afghanistan is no better than it was ten years ago.

Another example is in Syria. The people of Syria asked for a democratic method of governance. That request was met with bullets and here we are today. Alas, the government of Syria has set 26 Feb as a day of referendum. This vote will seek to change the constitution of Syria.

Now in both examples why was the communication efforts denied at those early stages? Okay, I know that such a question solves nothing and really only cements hatred because the past is unchangeable. We can do nothing about those decisions even if we had answers. However, what we can do is focus on the efforts now. The past is something we must learn from and those answers must be viewed as positives to peace not crutches to death. Although I am deeply sorry for the lives lost because of the missed opportunity to negotiate peace rather than kill for it.

The referendum in Syria is to be held on 26 Feb. That is eleven days away. To be honest I have no idea how anyone can accomplish that feat, even in a peaceful country. Polling stations need to be organized, ballots printed, questions formulated, debate, voter registration compiled and then distribution of information and resources to hold the referendum. To me this is not possible in such a short time, unless the entire event is a smoke screen.

As a person that operates within a peaceful mindset, I have seen such ploys before. A person that is willing to talk will always be trusted and therefore seen as easy prey. This is a reality of peaceful existence. The peaceful person is often brought into an ambush under such a smoke screen. These are very difficult moments for a peaceful person. If they stand up and say that the offer of peace is just a ploy/ambush they are branded as being uncooperative. If they go along they risk being killed. What do you do in such a situation?

For the peaceful person they realize that the current situation has already killed them. The offer is agreed to but with a great deal of trepidation. International media must be allowed in as well as any other observer forces that are willing to monitor, document and witness the entire event. With that can anyone see such a situation taking place in Syria?

When dealing with such a situation the only thing you can trust is the fact that someday you will die and today might be that day.

Going back to the situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban are in the stages of opening a political office so that negotiation can take place. This was a similar tactic used by the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Fein. Such a step needs to take place for discussions because those that employ such tactics need to be at least one step removed from the battle field.

In the case of Syria who will lead the opposition? There have been a wide range of religious groups tied to the opposition as well as economic alliances. To me, both of these connections should take their ideology and shove it. The religious groups in this area have only prolonged the torture and the economic groups will be happy with anything as long as the attention is gone. In my mind neither the religious or economic groups are interested in peace. They are more interested in power and control.

As the event unfolds we are going to hear more about which religious group is seeking to rule, which economic group is backing who and all the while people will die as the cities are destroyed. For what? All because a bunch of stubborn idiots. Well is that not what religion and politics has been all about? My way is better than your way and to prove that I will kill every last one of you. And they preach peace. What a pile of dog shit.

As the violent situation continues the people will fight until enough are dead. Finally, as the grave yards fill someone will  make a connection with the other side who has a great idea, Why not stop shooting each other, sit down and find a way to co-exist? I guess that is just too difficult for some at this moment. Shooting is the only option because talking will only lull you to death.