Peace

Don't look for current news about peace. It's depressing.

Top story: Peace Corp is scaling back its presence in Central America because it's too dangerous for the volunteers. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are ravaged by lawlessness. Peace Corp is withdrawing from Honduras and scaling back in El Salvador and Guatemala. Drug cartels have all but overpowered the governments in Central America in order to control the region. Why? Cocaine is produced in South America and consumed in North America. Central America is the highway for delivery to the US. Where have we seen violence explode over the protection of illegal drug production and delivery channels before? Oh yeah, the US. Prohibition. Anyway....

Also high on the list: Peace talks with the Taliban have come to a halt. The deal on the table was that the Taliban renounces terrorism and formally severs links with terrorist groups, they get to establish themselves as a political party and they receive five Guatanamo prisoners they are responsible for keeping under house arrest. Afghan President Karzai balked at the deal and talks are off. The US just doesn't pick puppet politicians the way they used to. (Tongue in cheek there; it's a complicated situation and there isn't going to be any "good" end in Afghanistan. It defeated Alexander the Great. It's an extremely complex society for which there are no simple solutions.) Peace talks are off, that's the short version.

Nicest bit of news I found: The head of Southern Sudan's (read: militarized opposition party) National Democratic Front acknowledged the Africa Peace Prize award to Southern Sudan's President Kiir. For those not following along, [source, source, source] Sudan experienced a prolonged civil war between the primarily but not exclusively Arab, Islamic north and the primarily but not exclusively black, Christian & Animist south. This ended in 2005 with the recognition by the government of Southern Sudan as an independent state. In 2011, Jimmy Carter was present as an observer when both parts of Sudan voted to allow Southern Sudan to formally secede.

President Kiir formed the first formal, completely independent government in August 2011. Kiir is chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. In 2010 he offered amnesty to all rebels against the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). That "primarily but not exclusively" bit proved problematic as the government of the newly formed country came together. Kiir has so far been able, though, to embrace governance with 20+ interested political and social organizations getting a voice. The National Democratic Front is a para-military and political organization that won't rule out re-shaping the society by force if needed, but so far has been able to work with Kiir, especially since 2010. It's a feat that deserves a Peace award. Kudos.

In a discussion with a friend yesterday, I suggested that the US look around and see what the US is the best at in the world, and keep that. And look around and see what other countries are doing better, and adopt that, in order to "fix" the US. The ability to take seriously and work with multiple points of view is one of the things the US doesn't do particularly well. American society tends to see things in black and white, as illustrated by my friend responding with, "Fix the US? Like Sharia? Is that better?" Which is odd because we'd been talking about Western Europe, not about any Islamic countries. But it illustrates the mindset that paralyzes politics in the US: "Yes it's terrible that the US has an infant mortality rate double that of other first-world countries, but it can't be fixed because the only alternative is a communist state. Is that what you want?" Those are not the exact words of any of my American friends, but an accurate composite of the statements of many of them. How did that idea get instilled in Americans, that you can't embrace any part of any non-American system currently working in the rest of the world because that means the total destruction of all that is American? My parents had that idea as well, so it's nothing that can be blamed on any current political players.

And so I wish for my American friends Peace, beginning with the recognition that the following statement is true: There are more alternatives in the world than broken or totalitarianism.