There was a remarkable front page article in the Washington Post this last Sunday:
A Daughter’s Dream Lives at Scene of Her Death
by Jon Jeter; February 18, 2001; Page A01
Eight years ago, a 26 year old white American girl named Amy Biehl was killed by black South African protesters during the civil unrest that precipitated the fall of Apartheid. Now her parents have journeyed to the very village where she was slain and are working in the community to improve the living conditions of those who still live there. When the four young men who were convicted of killing Amy appeared before South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission four years ago, Peter Biehl publicly supported their plea for amnesty. As the parents see it, they are honoring their daughter’s life by carrying on her work.
It is a moving tale of redemption, transformation, and forgiveness. Were I in the same situation, I cannot say with certainty that I would comport myself with such civility.
I am also sickened with the irony of contemplating the likely outcome of such an event in this country. If four black men chased down a white girl here, and kicked and stoned and stabbed her to death in a barbaric fit of political outrage, would we even care if her parents supported amnesty for the killers?
I am not going to defend the acts of killers; it is a complex political situation that I cannot even hope to fathom from the comfort of my own privileged life.
Instead, I simply want to posit this: if ordinary people thrust into excruciating circumstances can react with such extraordinary charity and humanity, why should we not ask the same of our nation’s leaders?
I was thinking of this as I listened to “President” Bush huffing and puffing at Saddam Hussein last week after ordering missile strikes against Baghdad . Critics contend that he wants to “finish the job” that his father started ten years ago, though few world leaders view Iraq to be a serious world threat anymore. A decade of deprivation in the wake of economic sanctions continue to punish Iraq’s already disenfranchised population and remain a pathetic substitute for sound policy. So here is my proposition for the new “President”, a unique and, as far as I know, heretofore unspoken proposal for dealing with Saddam Hussein.
Forgive him.
Yep, call a press conference and publicly pronounce: “Saddam, I forgive you!”. This will fit right in with your new policy of Christian charity and will demonstrate to the country that you are so secure in your masculinity that you do not need to demonstrate it by raining missiles down on occupied cities in Islamic nations. As the son of the President who successfully organized the coalition to push the Iraqi army back over its own border, you are in a unique situation to close that circle with dignity and compassion (remember compassion?). You should immediately urge the U.N. to lift the economic sanctions and start rolling out trucks of food and clothing for impoverished Iraqis. The world will applaud you for your boldness and the Iraqi people, once fed, may remember who is their actual enemy. Also, we might get some good deals on cheap oil.
Oh. Right. I forgot … you and Dick Cheney would rather drill for oil domestically.
Hmm… you don’t have any vested financial interest in the domestic cigar industry, do you? Maybe you could give Fidel Castro a call…