Take Me To Post Comment Form As I watched another tree ceremony honoring the deceased Warriors from the 3rd ID and heard rumors that yet another deployment was slated to continue the "military mission" in Iraq, I recalled an essay I wrote some time ago, before the "SURGE" was initiated to quell the violence in Baghdad wherein I attempted to consider avenues to peace and a possible solution to the Middle East Crisis. As I recently read news reports conveying President Bush inflamatory threats in regards to Iran's obstinance with a nuclear energy plant (most likely a weapons facility!) that "all options are on the table" (we all know what that means and that language is not focusing on sanctions!) I began to really believe that a "military solution" to the Middle East Crisis does not exist! Can we actually be at war with Iran, as well as at war with the Iraqi insurgents and all "terror" elements in the Middle East not to mention sustain such military intervention for any length of time? If we continue on this war path, will a peaceable solution ever be reached or will generations of terroristic insurgents continue in a battle of wills? I continue to ponder avenues to solutions to find a peaceful resolution to this quagmire that the United States finds itself in. My inquiry has led me back to my essay written in February of 2007 with no further answers:

BEZANSON
Column 31

Another news alert from Iraq, "45 people killed and 150 injured in 2 bombs detonated in Baghdad," when will it all end?
I have been struggling to understand what it is we are actually battling in the Middle East, as I am confident many others are, and further, “How can this battle be won?
I started not with how the war started, but where we as a nation are today. The gist, I am told, is we are facing radical fundamental Jihad warriors hell-bent on chaos and destruction in an effort to kill all infidels to achieve supreme world domination in the name of Islam to the determent of all others. That was a mouth full!
How did this radical fascist movement birth itself?
To answer that question, one has to go to the source, The Koran. I spent countless hours pouring over in detail the verses and passages and did indeed find the root ideology at the heart of this now ever-expanding global conflict. Let me elaborate further…
According to The Harvard Classics 1910 edition, "Sacred Writings: Buddhist, Hindu, Mohammedan" (leather bound, so it must be imperatively important) we find the following passage from the section entitled, "The Chapter of Women:"
"Why are ye two parties about the hypocrites, when God hath overturned them what they earned? Do ye wish to guide those whom God hath led astray? Whoso God hath led astray ye shall not surely find for him a path. They would fain that ye misbelieve as they misbelieve, that ye might be alike; take ye not patrons from among them until they too flee in God’s way; but if they turn their backs, then seize them and kill them wheresoever ye find them, and take from them neither patron nor help, --- save those who reach a people betwixt whom and you is an alliance --- or who come to you while their bosoms prevent them from fighting you or fighting their own people."
In black and white, these scriptural words direct its faithful followers to destroy all "misbelievers." What is meant by "misbelievers" is of course entirely a purely speculative matter. Let us just assume that it is literally interpreted to take aim at all who are not ardent followers of Islam a.k.a. "infidels," although at least 90% our nation’s population is a "believer" in God, the Creator of all mankind. "God" is "God," is it not?
According to the Islamic prophet Mohammed, God sent his Angel to him in a "vision" while wandering "a desolate mountain" (sound familiar?) to proclaim His word to others in the year of our Lord, 611AD. To elucidate upon a "vision" is most definitely in the realm of "The Mysteries," nowhere I tread with arrogant skepticism. I must gleam however, from the "Introductory Note" contained in the Harvard Classics edition a modest amount of skepticism, as the author states that Mohammed from "youth … had suffered from a kind of hysteria, and this vision seems to have increased his tendency to hallucinations and ecstasy."
It is almost ironic that the 1910 passage describes Mohammed’s mental state as a form of perplexing "hysteria," which is exactly what I would ascribe to the current affairs in the Middle East!
It is currently unknown exactly how many "believers" Mohammed has enlisted in his religious legion, but according to the figure stated in this edition, 170 million devotees had pledged their "undying" loyalty to this "Prophet" in 1910. The number now, nearly 100 years later, must be too staggering to fully comprehend.
Fanaticism has reared its ugly head every now and then throughout our history; yet, I do not recall such longevity as the radical ideology of the enthusiastic, radical Islamic fundamentalists under the influence of the Koran’s literal dictates.
"How can we ever defeat such a foe?" This question seems too large for my small brain to wrap its sinewy tentacles around; nonetheless, I will give it a stab! I can not possible do worse than the best minds in Washington resolutely "staying the course," mired down in abominable and mounting causalities, both civilians and our beloved soldiers.
Again, I looked to the Koran for answers. To fight religious ideology, one must use its own fanatical tenets against itself and the “believers who follow these precepts. Of course I turned to the section entitled, "The Chapter of Misbelievers" to gleam this absolute jewel of wisdom:
"In the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
Say, ‘O ye misbelievers! I do not serve what ye serve; nor will ye
serve what I serve; nor will I serve what ye serve; nor will ye serve
what I serve; --- ye have your religion, and I have my religion!’"
Seems clear enough to me --- religious toleration of diversity as a solution proves to be an obvious solution. I am unconvinced that one passage will end all the bloodshed, so I dug further for more compelling verses to persuade those engaged in mortal combat to end this "Holy War."
Incredulously, I found what I was searching for back in "The Chapter of Women" where all this seems to have started: "But had God pleased He would have given you dominion over them [misbelievers], and they would surely have fought you. But if they retire from you and do not fight you, and offer you peace, --- then God hath given you no way against them."
So according to the Koran, an offering of peace is all that it would take to solve the entire Middle East crisis. Surely the followers of the Koran know this and must follow the dictates contained therein literally. The only prerequisite to ending the "war of all wars" is a simple "peace offering?" Diplomacy should do the job, is my official conclusion based on this new found "rational" course in the Iraqi quagmire.
The next question will be: "How do you offer peace to those who will not listen?" If not through words, then maybe by our actions should settle that inquiry. After all, "actions do speak louder than words."
If some kind of peaceful solution is not arrived at toute suite, we may be rebuilding a nation on a "wasteland," such as the infamous Mary McLeod Bethune was tasked to do in 1904. On pure faith alone, she built the Bethune-Cookman College literally out of a garbage dump. If such can accomplish something as miraculous as that monumental feat, so we too can overcome the bitter divisiveness and religious intoleration humanity founders in.
The solution lies with the beginning of a peace offering. The rest will follow naturally, as the unrest becomes restful once again.
"When in doubt, reach out!" is a personal credo that I follow when confusion and chaos descends. Maybe those in Washington can ponder that new transition of thought to change course in Iraq to save future lives from annihilation and a nation from total destruction.

Nancy J. Bezanson
2/13/07 3:08:56