Amen. Thank you, Archbishop Tutu.I am deeply, deeply disturbed at the suggestion in “A Court to Vet Kill Lists” (news analysis, front page, Feb. 9) that possible judicial review of President Obama’s decisions to approve the targeted killing of suspected terrorists might be limited to the killings of American citizens.Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.I used to say of apartheid that it dehumanized its perpetrators as much as, if not more than, its victims. Your response as a society to Osama bin Laden and his followers threatens to undermine your moral standards and your humanity.DESMOND M. TUTU
Aboard MV Explorer, near Hong Kong Feb. 11, 2013
The writer, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town.
H/T to Kurt Wiesner at The Lead.
How mortifying, Mimi. Without Bishop Tutu's letter, I would not have noticed what we were doing in this regard. Thank you for exposing what we try to hide, even from ourselves.
ReplyDeleteRoberta, haven't you heard about the drone attacks? Terrorists are targeted, but innocents, including women and children, are sometimes killed. The president authorizes the attacks.
DeleteI find the whole idea repugnant. For anyone to find out he has been before a court when the predator destroys him is morally wrong.
ReplyDeleteSt. Augustine defined a just war as including combat which gave the other at least the opportunity to defend himself. We fail that test by design. We are wrong. That a progressive I voted to elect is making this choice is horrible.
FWIW
jimB
Jim, I hate the drone war. Perhaps terrorists have been killed by the missiles, but, as you say, to pursue war in this manner fails the test of just war.
DeleteYou go, Tutu! Now that is speaking truth to power.
ReplyDeleteBut why has no other churchman anywhere - as far as I know - and especially in this country, said a word about it yet?
Why?
Russ, I don't know why. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has spoken out on gun violence and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but I can't find a reference from her to the drone attacks. Tutu is so often at the head of the line in speaking out against injustice.
DeletePS - By odd coincidence, I just found this highly pertinent New Yorker article:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/02/torture-and-obamas-drone-program.html
My copy of the magazine is late in arriving, so I have not seen the article. Reading long articles online is hard on the eyes, so I'll wait till the magazine comes. Thanks for pointing it out. Jane Meyer always writes well.
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ReplyDeleteSic transeunt oculi mundi. I have actually heard a young person of college age say that he finds it difficult to read anything in a book and much prefers to do all reading online. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so I just said nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe skill of reading a book seems to be passing away. Alas, I'm of the old school; give me a book any day.
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