Local libertarians discuss alternatives to war

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, people are just beginning to piece their lives back together. The next step and part of the healing process for some is finding a way to help prevent terrorism in the future.\nIn a discussion entitled "What Path to Peace?" a panel of professors, a Unitarian minister, an expert on international affairs and a Buddhist monk came together Friday at the Monroe County Library to share their opinions of what the correct "path to peace" is.\nThe IU College Libertarian Party sponsored the discussion. \nThe entire panel agreed in order to find a strategy to bring peace, the United States must first find out why terrorists targeted our country. \n"The planes didn't come out of the clear blue sky," said Bill Breeden, a Universalist Unitarian minister. "I was shocked, but not surprised...I was surprised it didn't happen before."\nBreeden said he believes the United States is a rich and free country, and its citizens cannot begin to comprehend how other parts of the world exist. \nThe mostly leftist panel agreed that terrorism is a result of poverty and injustice. \nFor people in poverty-stricken countries, "to die in a suicide bombing is better than to die in life's daily frustrations," said Jeffrey Miller, a billed expert on international affairs. "The freedoms we enjoy cause jealousy."\nThe terrorist attacks had a social goal, as opposed to a military one, said Brad Klopenstein, the executive director for the Indiana Libertarian Party. \nThe panel members said they thought the next step in fighting terrorism is not with war, disagreeing with what President George W. Bush is doing. Bush's actions were not looked upon favorably by the panel. \nThe panel staked out a position at odds with the mainstream American public. A recent Gallup poll found that 90 percent of the American public supports military retaliation. And President George W. Bush, who has pledged to stamp out terrorism internationally with military force, enjoys the highest approval ratings in Gallup history, according to a Sept. 24 poll. \nThey criticized military actions in general because many of the casualties would be innocent civilians, they said. \n"Each individual has inalienable rights which can't be forfeited, including the right to life," said Purnima Bose, an English professor. \nThe general consensus was that violence causes more violence, and in the end nothing good can truly come of it. \nPeter Drake of the Indiana Green Party quoted Mahatma Gandi in making his case: "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." \nProfessor Bose urged that the United States not descend to the level of the terrorists. \n"We must take the initiative and stop bombing around the world," Breeden said. "We must recognize the reality that war equals terrorism, the only difference is that war has a flag." \nInstead, the panelists touted peace as the solution.\nWhat the United States must do is respond to this with "genuine compassion, love and patience," said Venerable Tenzin Jam Yang, a Buddhist monk. \nPeople must realize the person creating the problem is in a state of ignorance and will suffer, he said. He also said it would be difficult to respond in the manner he advocates, but "it is not impossible." \n"America has to extend compassion and make peace through reducing suffering and enacting justice," said distinguished professor of English Scott Sanders.\nBy immediately taking violent action, some feared the United States is walking into a trap set by Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the terrorism attacks. \n"We don't know what bin Laden has," Breeden said. "It is a total fraud when we have paid $50 trillion for defense when the towers went down in an half an hour. Let's start putting our money toward peace, the only path that will work." \nThe United States must address the root causes of terrorism and realize this is "supra-national and not supernatural," Miller said.\n"We must supplement all views world-wide to help all relationships," he said. "We are all citizens of a planet." \nThe panelists called for an end to terrorism through world-wide cooperation and peace. \nIn the meantime, Klopenstein urged people to keep going on with their lives and not to let terrorism take over. \n"If we change the core of America-freedom -- we have already lost," he said. "We must not be willing to trade it for security. We must remember what makes us great. Freedom is the prize we have always been fighting for"