The Price of War
Wednesday, November 14th, 2001 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flwydI just wrote this letter to the editor in response to an article reprinted on Salon. (It'd be nice if Salon Premium would support my debit card. I need to get around to sending them a check.) I thought you might like to hear what I have to say.
Christopher Hitchens seems to miss the point of what "the left" is saying about the bombings. The peace movement isn't primarily about saying "military action will not work," but "at what cost?" Many Kabul residents may be celebrating the Taliban's departure, but the civilians who lost their families, friends, and homes by stray bombs are not celebrating the campaign.
Mr. Hitchens's claim that "It was obvious... that the United States had no alternative but to do what it has done" is also less than certain. The Taliban offered to try Bin Laden in an impartial country, a move that would have caused no accidental civilian casualties nor great expense to the U.S., but U.S. leaders seemed unwilling to practice diplomacy.
The bombing campaign helped many Afghans obtain freedom from the Taliban, but also gave an unacceptable number of Afghans the ultimate freedom -- freedom from all of life's worries.
Christopher Hitchens seems to miss the point of what "the left" is saying about the bombings. The peace movement isn't primarily about saying "military action will not work," but "at what cost?" Many Kabul residents may be celebrating the Taliban's departure, but the civilians who lost their families, friends, and homes by stray bombs are not celebrating the campaign.
Mr. Hitchens's claim that "It was obvious... that the United States had no alternative but to do what it has done" is also less than certain. The Taliban offered to try Bin Laden in an impartial country, a move that would have caused no accidental civilian casualties nor great expense to the U.S., but U.S. leaders seemed unwilling to practice diplomacy.
The bombing campaign helped many Afghans obtain freedom from the Taliban, but also gave an unacceptable number of Afghans the ultimate freedom -- freedom from all of life's worries.
