While President Bush was reconciling with French and German leaders, George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton were wrapping up a three-day tour of the countries terrorized by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Bush Sr., looking into the eyes of a small girl whose parents were stolen from her, said “you are almost in tears, when you see this little girl here. It gets way beyond politics.”

Of course, how much the United States contributes to help tsunami survivors put their lives back together is a very political decision, one that speaks volumes about our values and priorities as a nation. For example, the latest $80 billion tax bill for Iraq and Afghanistan would cover far more than the $4 billion Bush Sr. and Clinton were helping to raise from private sources to pay for remaining tsunami-related health and rebuilding needs; it would also fund the worldwide AIDS prevention and treatment program, all current global anti-hunger efforts, and provide immunizations for every child on Earth (www.costofwar.com).

Redirecting resources from the Iraq occupation and the bloated military budget to confront worldwide poverty and suffering would go a long way toward winning back the “hearts and minds” of the people we need on our side. A shift in global opinion of U.S. foreign policy – particularly in the Middle East -- would help dry up the ground upon which violent extremists have been feeding and growing.

If, instead, the Bush Administration resumes business as usual through prolonged occupation of Iraq and/or invasion of Syria or Iran a tremendous opportunity will be lost. Recent history provides ample evidence to fear this direction. After all, George Bush has made the War on Terrorism the centerpiece of his Administration, and he won re-election campaigning as the “war president”. Little is said or done that is not filtered through the “new realities” facing us in our post 9-11 world. Like the Cold War, the War on Terrorism is used to justify unlimited military adventures and expenditures without constraint.

Even if one believes the Bush Administration’s rationale for fighting terrorism with war, the truth is that we can’t afford it – financially or morally. As former President Eisenhower said during his first term in office, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

The Bush Administration is now routinely racking up $500 billion annual deficits, not counting the costs of war, permanent tax cuts or private accounts for social security. This ongoing deficit financing is only possible because Chinese and Japanese central bankers have been buying increasing percentages of U.S. debt (treasury bonds). In turn, we keep shipping jobs overseas to help our “bankers” stockpile enough dollars to lend back to us for our wars and tax cuts. It’s a vicious downward spiral, and if our bankers ever stop lending, we are up a creek without a proverbial paddle.

The relentless insurgency in Iraq, continuing threats of global terrorism and unsustainable budget deficits require us to end the war on terrorism as we know it. The wreckage of history shows us that you can’t stop violence with violence. As Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” Middle East wars lead to World Trade Center bombings lead to attacks on Iraq lead to armed resistance lead to assaults on Fallujah leads to insurgent car bombings leads to more crackdowns and assaults.

Staying the course means that we could be locked in the nebulous “war on terror” for the decades, and generations of young people will be pulled into battles that could have been avoided by more skillful means. Programs to help people at home and abroad will be cut further, adding to misery and to conditions that foster terrorism.

The United States should shift from being a superpower resented in many quarters for reckless use of overwhelming military force to become a superpower of compassion. The U.S. military, stretched beyond its limits despite astronomical funding, would have a vital role to play in this new paradigm.

Thousands of tsunami victims on the verge of death were helped to survive by the airlifting of food, water and medicine by US troops in the region. They were cheered locally and internationally. And the troops involved in the effort felt good about what they were doing. As one soldier was quoted as saying in an AP story, “I’d rather be doing this than fighting a war.” Of all the things that were uttered in the wake of the tragedy, that one simple statement stands out as a glimpse of what a different world could look like.

President John F. Kennedy, giving an American University commencement address in June, 1963 at the height of the cold war said “let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.”

To resolve differences and achieve peace in our time we will need to reject the enemy-creating war on terrorism, and replace it a friend-making strategy of cooperation with allies, respect for global institutions created to prevent war and compassionate intervention to make the world a healthier and safer place for all.

John Friedrich (cleanwateractor@yahoo.com) recently directed the Paul Johnson for Congress campaign in Iowa, and before that was Iowa Director of the Dennis Kucinich for President campaign.

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