Don't Brawl in the Presence of Evil

The white-haired gentleman was upset. A speaker had just challenged the wisdom of a U.S. attack on Iraq. "You don't understand the world we live in," said the aging vet. "What about Hitler? If we had followed your reasoning in the 1940s, you wouldn't have the freedom to stand here before us today. There's evil out there. You are naïve!"

How to respond to evil? We are under attack by people intent on gravely wounding us. Destroying the bad guys seems to offer the obvious answer.

History suggests other possibilities. We armed ourselves to the teeth against the Soviets, yet never fought them. The Soviet system destroyed itself from within, victim of its own incompetency, waste, greed, and alienated citizens. Containment brought a better result than attack ever could have.

Military attack on the "bad guys" often makes things worse. In its aggressive campaigns to eliminate Tamil Tiger terrorists, the Sri Lankan military in the 1980s killed thousands and uprooted tens of thousands. But the war brought neither victory nor peace and turned many against the government.

"We made a big mistake," conceded a government spokesman recently. After years of suffering, the Sri Lanka government declared a ceasefire last year and initiated a promising peace process with the Tamil Tigers.

The Israeli government is notorious for metal-fisted response to terrorism. But rather than reduce terrorism, these tactics have multiplied Israel's enemies. "That beating got me awake and active," recalls a Palestinian activist who was pulled off the streets of Jerusalem and beaten with metal bars as an innocent 16- year-old by Israeli soldiers searching for terrorists.

Korea's recent response to the loose words of American leaders last year shows that the mere threat of military attack often stirs irrational and extremely dangerous responses.

A simplistic philosophy of "destroy evil before it destroys you" under-estimates evil. Imagine we walk through a vast marketplace crowded with people. A handful of thugs set upon us. We are bigger and stronger, but by the time we recover from our shock they have dispersed into dark allies.

Many in the crowds consider us friends and lament the violence of the thugs. But their homes ring the market. Families and possessions will be endangered by a big fight. They will be angry if we escalate things by retaliating. Many also believe we have been bullies ourselves and share the resentments of the thugs against us, even while they reject their violence. These may join the fray against us if we go on the attack.

Could we wipe out some bad guys? Sure. But at the price of multiplying our enemies? At the risk of turning the marketplace into a permanent battleground?

2003 is not 1940. Hitler belonged to Germany, and no one else shared the resentments he used to arouse Germans to war. Those directing terror at us today come from communities around the globe, and millions share their resentments. Fortunately for us, even most of their sympathizers reject the violence of the terrorists. But we lose ground every day that we ignore legitimate concerns at the grassroots and act in ways that endanger or seem to humiliate others.

The truth is that the thugs point to some legitimate complaints against us. We have indeed allowed thirst for oil to drive us into close partnerships with brutal dictators. We have indeed been blatantly one-side in an ancient, complex conflict while the other side has lived homeless for 50 years in refugee camps. We have indeed flaunted our materialism and self-preoccupation in Hollywood debaucheries piped daily to TVs around the globe, while offering small crumbs to those who suffer. Our know-it-all posturing regarding Saddam has within 18 months reversed a global outpouring of sympathy after 9/11.

Perhaps the most alarming change of the last 60 years is that today the marketplace bristles with weapons of mass destruction. If things go differently than we planned, we could ignite a battle that would destroy the whole village. Evil is so enmeshed in the circumstances that brawling with a thug -- even this murderous one - is irresponsible.

Overcoming this evil will be long and complex. It will require that we get beyond attacking symptoms, to underlying causes, which are many. Along with others, we play a part in those causes. We must begin by drawing on our deepest moral and spiritual traditions and examining our own unclean hands and impure heart. Only then might we find others willing to do the same.

If we begin with modesty and openness, we stand a chance of engaging the wisdom and support of moderate voices worldwide in removing those things that stir fringe groups to violence.

America still holds a wondrous grip on the hearts of many. Friends on every hand would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us if we acted as true partners. But we'll have to leave the cowboy act behind.