Jul 27, 2006- Is Peace Possible
HON. MARCY KAPTUR
OF OHIO
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2006
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to tell a little story.
This week, a wonderful family from my district in Ohiobrought to Washingtona little sketch that they left with me. It is a scene from inside a home, and alittle boy is standing at a window holding what looks like a prayer book. He islooking out this window into a sunlit day, and outside the window are thesebeautiful, beautiful apple trees.
You do not realize as you are looking at this child, who may be 4 years oldor so, looking outside his window, you do not realize that what is walking byhis window are bayonets pointed straight up, because in the way the artist hasdrawn the picture, the gun butts parallel the trunks of the apple trees.
You look at this picture and it causes you to pause, and in the distance inthe sky, you see a small bird flying, a bird of peace.
As I watch what is happening in the Middle Eastand the carnage that comes over our television screens every evening, I cannothelp but ask myself, what is wrong with humankind that we cannot stop thekilling? Is the UnitedStates of America so strong militarily thatit also cannot be strong morally and stand up and say to those involved, Ceasefire? Cease fire on all sides, now, now. Would the world not stand with us? Whyshould the United Statesnot just be silent but step away, step away for all the thousands and thousandsand thousands of young people whose futures are being destroyed, whosecountries are being leveled?
In the Palestinian Authority, in Israel, in Lebanon, I say to myself, whatis it about human nature that makes us as creatures so marauding and so hatefuland apparently so incapable of saying drop the bayonets, just for a day, justto see if peace is possible?
I am just appalled at what is happening. I look at our world, I look at allof its leaders, I look at all of our material wealth, all of the arms, thebunker-buster bombs that are on their way, and I say to myself, I thought the20th century was the century of utter destruction and that we had finallycontained those forces in the world that were so harmful to human life, andthat when we turned the new page on the new millennium, we would usher in amillennium of peace, and now this.
I would urge the President of the United States to not just look atthe military side of the equation but to deeply consider both political anddiplomatic efforts, initially through back channels. No country should beisolated, whether it is Lebanonor Syria, or Jordan or Iran. Because out of isolation,even in a marriage, comes an icy standoff and no resolution. It is no differentwith countries. You cannot have that kind of icy standoff and think the worldwill be at peace.
I can tell you that the southern part of Lebanon that is the object of theinvasion right now is an area where development was not allowed to occur, wherethe west literally backed away and allowed the forces of Hezbollah to gaingreater and greater footing. And we are yielding the policies of isolation thatallowed this to occur.
So I would say to my colleagues, I would say to people of good conscienceeverywhere, now is the time to stand up to stop the killing on all sides in apart of the world where the soils are blood drenched from Bethlehem to Gaza tonorthern Israel, and Haifa now, to southern Lebanon again. Haven't we hadenough of killing one another?
I would urge the Secretary of State, the President of the United States, theMembers of this Congress who are going to be leaving Washington tomorrow inthis House and I guess next week in the other body, to devote your August tothinking how we can all be voices to stop the killing and to call for aceasefire on all sides for the sake of the world. Surely we are destroying apart of the earth that will take generations to restore, and we every day arewatching young people and innocence killed by the hundreds and thousands. Can'tthe world do better than this?
I think about the drawing of the little boy looking out the window at abeautiful sky and apple trees with the bayonets walking by.