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Anti-War Thinking:
Acknowledge Despair, Highlight
Progress on Moral Preemption
by Desmond Tutu and
Ian Urbina
April 07, 2003
It is difficult not to
feel despair and powerlessness
at this awful juncture.
Millions in the world
fought with all their
hearts and minds to avoid
violence in Iraq. Inevitably,
when bombs fall, there
is a deep and emotional
void that is opened.
Many will pray. Others
will simply reflect. Countless
numbers will continue
to take to the streets.
But all will worry over
the extent of destruction
to come and the scope
of its repercussions.
We have seen dark moments
before. Slavery, the holocaust,
the Vietnam War - man's
inhumanity to man is not
to be underestimated.
In the fight against
apartheid, we saw times
that seemed the world
had come to an end. The
nation wept in 1993 with
the assassination of Chris
Hani, the widely popular
leader who many thought
would succeed Nelson Mandela
as head of the African
National Congress (ANC).
Violence clenched South
Africa. The constitutional
negotiations between the
ANC and the whites-only
National Party were broken
nearly beyond repair.
This was the lowest point
of our struggle. But faith
prevailed, as did the
moral fortitude of average
people to do what is right.
With it, apartheid ended.
In today's moment of
deep anguish over the
war, it is important to
recognize the reasons
for hope and pride, both
in the United States and
across the globe.
Never in history has
there been such an outpouring
of resistance from average
people all around the
world before a war had
even begun. Millions took
a stand. This doctrine
of moral and popular preemption
must be sustained.
Countless nations, many
of them quite impoverished,
listened to the majority
voices of their own citizens
opposing the war. These
governments opted not
to take the huge sums
offered to support the
military effort, but instead
chose to heed the sentiments
of their citizens. In
these contexts, this was
a considerable step forward
for democracy.
A first step to personal
healing is to acknowledge
the depth of the devastation
that many of us feel.
We should not pretend
it does not exist.
But, we must also look
forward. The energies
mobilized recently must
not dissipate. They should
be channeled and broadened.
This is the beginning,
not the end, of heightened
vigilance. With war, domestic
civil liberties face their
greatest threat. We must
not squelch the right
to protest under the pressures
of patriotism.
World attention has in
the past months fixated
on the desire for a diplomatic
and United Nations solution.
If we want lasting peace
and security in the Middle
East, if we want international
law to hold any meaning,
we must begin to require
that UN resolutions are
applied uniformly across
all countries. We must
begin to focus our energies
in that direction.
In Iraq, we must watch
to see that the promises
for a truly functioning
democracy are honored,
that the long-term and
expensive commitment for
rebuilding is provided.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
won the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1984. Ian Urbina is
associate editor at the
Middle East Research and
Information Project.
###
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