Among Friends (a Debate on War) Dear W. Thank you for expressing your disagreement in the context of friendship. It is a friendship I value and will preserve, recognizing that disagreement is the stuff of politics and that we need not be afraid of it. It is, of course, in our nature, having grown up in democratic societies, to take for granted that our government wants the best for us, has our best interests at heart, and will wisely represent us on the world's stage. And it is uncomfortable indeed, to contemplate the task of righting any wrongs that the existing democratic process fails to address. There is a part of us that needs to believe what government tells us, lest the usual course of our lives be subverted. But we who are endowed by our Creator with the eyes of the body, are also endowed with the eyes of the heart. As such, we are equipped, nay compelled, to look beneath the surface of things, probing beyond the obvious, unearthing Truth from her grave of facile opinion. And does not the heart counsel us to be extremely wary of anyone who uses God as his badge of merit, rather than acting out of humble and godly conviction? The Lord's way hangs on two commandments: to love Him, and to love our neighbor. Might that not prompt us to imagine the sufferings of those at the receiving end of U.S. actions and sanctions? Do you not wonder at the anguish of men rotting in prison in Guantanamo at our behest, without charge or trial, maybe for the rest of their natural lives if they cannot achieve suicide, many of whom just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? My own take on current events has been deeply informed by news sources beyond the oligopoly of four megacorporations that have a stranglehold on the airwaves in the U.S. -- corporations that trade unquestioning communication of government messages in return for sympathetic favors from the executive branch and legislators. A truer picture can only be gleaned from public television (notably Bill Moyer's exemplary NOW program (Fridays at 9pm on Channel 13)), overseas news services, Internet sources, and a few well-researched and reasoned books. For the path of Truth is narrow, thorny, and steep, and few find it, while the road to Hell is broad and easy. All of which leads me to ask what pool of information you are drawing your viewpoint from. When you are being habitually lied to by the powers-that-be, and these lies of word are spawning atrocities of action, complacency in knowledge can only imperil us. It is a foundation built on sand, and the storms of history-to-come will wash it away. February 2003 The poems on this website are protected by U.S. copyright law and registered with the U.S. Library of Congress. Please direct any requests for publication, in whatever form or medium, to the author, Ian Reed, at tango_poet@hotmail.com (212) 841-0341.