Memory

Memory is like a broken record,
each repetition failing,
succeeding, failing,
sketching the outlines
of decaying order.

The record breaks-
spontaneous, creative
static.

Questions for Traditionalists

Check here for an interesting post.

This has lead me to the following musings.
How much of the traditionalist movement is a strictly a middle-class phenomenon? I know that Tareeqah Tijaniyyah is making inroads among the African community, but other than that organization what effect has there been among working class Muslims? I think there is an inherent bias in these salafi vs. traditionalist discussions, one which views things through the eyes of affluent, college educated, and internet connected immigrants and their children and convert-followers (especially among the whites) and not from the perspective of the oppressed black population and working class immigrant communities who, in shere numbers, make up the bulk of the Muslim community in this country. Even when one looks at Tablighi Jamaat, which is the closest thing there is to a traditionalist mass movement and which I respect very much for working so hard to spread the deen, one must ask how many of its members are elite professionals, how many affluent businessmen, and how many, once these first two categories are deducted, are working class people? This skewed class structure will introduce a systematic bias which will effect the formulation of goals, tactics, and criteria of success by the Islamic movement. It will also introduce economic, ethnic, racial, and social divisions which can be exploited to keep this movement fractured and weak. Instead of the oppressed working out their own liberation under the banner of Islam, we will have the affluent, with their own interests and biases skewing their vision, even if unintentionally, dictating what is and is not properly Islamic and thus either splintering the movement or moving it in directions which are ultimately futile. This is not to say that the wealthier brothers and sisters should be dismissed or ignored; but they do need to follow the lead of those who are on the front lines of the struggle, those who are experiencing the zulm of this jahil nation directly: these are the Black Muslims, the increasing number of Latino Muslims, and our working class immigrant brothers and sisters, all of whom are the first to be targetted by the oppressors.

There is also the issue of how to properly categorize some of the Urban
Masajid. Perhaps they are more political than Salafi; they are more flexible on certain fiqh issues due to the influence of the Salafi Dawah, but they are not tied with Saudi Arabia, are not rabidly anti-shi'ite, and are more concerned with community development and political solidarity than with extremely fine points of aqeedah. They pool their resources to help brothers and sisters in dire economic need, to provide social services, or to express solidarity with political prisoners instead of doing so to build the masjid a new parking lot. They are very critical of Zionism even though this is not the PC thing to do. They call attention to inability of this country to face its own racist and imperialist history, policies, and mentality, even though this may turn off some potential white converts. They are willing, in short, to speak the truth even when doing so will not gain them friends among the kuffaar and will perhaps even irritate their more comfortable brothers and sisters. Changes in orientation among the upper economic strata of Muslims in America do not necessarily reflect a deep-seated change in the American Islamic community as a whole. They may simply be an example of a politically quietistic turn among the affluent Muslims (especially given that the change is more towards the Deobandi-Tablighi tradition) which reflects both their alienation from politics and their desire to keep a low profile. This represents a reality of Islam that goes beyond a simplistic Salafi vs. Traditionalist dichotomy.

Saturday January the 27th Anti-War March on the Mall

I apologize for the bluriness and glare in some of these pictures, but I was using a camera phone.




Some crowd shots from the beginning of the protest, when the program of speakers was starting.


Tibetan singing bowls for peace. I wonder what would have happened had the gongs been struck?


Teamsters for peace.




Buddhists marching for peace.


Radical Chearleaders.



"Enough! Give us peace."


The back banner for the ANSWER contingent.



Jewish peace groups marching right behind ANSWER.



Word.



Making the point that the presence of the Louisiana National Guard in Fallujah lead to deaths in New Orleans.




For more information look here. You can also call the No Police State Coalition at (718) 945-5188.




Reporting on the March.


This was a really creative sign; a still photo doesn't do it justice. The oil derrick actually pumped when the operator turned a crank. This resulted in a piece of the sign lowering out of the front of Bush's mouth, giving the appearance of him drooling oil.




Some crowd shots from within the ANSWER Contingent. We had a number of good chants going, mostly pro-Palestinian, and a great deal of energy and spirit.


West Virginians for peace; that's for you, Grandma!


Marching for Justice.


The front banner of the ANSWER Contingent, advertising the upcoming March 17th march at the Pentagon.



The opposition. There were very few of them and they mostly shouted incoherent non-sense. The fundamentalists were not there.



Some protesters engaged in Civil Disobediance.


We marched from the Mall past the Department of Labor and the Supreme Court and returned to the Mall from the opposite side.

An Inspiring Quote from an Inspiring Man

"I am Salman, the son of Islam from the children of Adam."- Hazrat Salman Al-Farsi (RA)

This adequately sums up my feelings on the subject; Islam is the universal birth right of all humankind. By embracing it one can overcome the jahiliyyah of one's own past and of the past (and ongoing) actions of one's race, ethnicity, or tribe. It offers the conception of the Ummah to stand against all of the petty idols of ethnocentric nationalism and of the unitary, homogenous nation-state. It offers the prospect of liberty from the tyranny of men through obedience to Allah and asserts the true rights which human beings have over one another. Finally, it offers the only real hope for developing a global civilization capable of mastering the challenges which modernity has thrust upon us: wars on a scale hitherto unimaginable, the increasing capacity for surveilance, manipulation, and enslavement which new technologies and techniques offer to governments, the prospect of an ecological catastrophy unique in human history, and, at the root of it all, a crisis of meaning which locks each individual into a near impenetrable shell of indifference and despair. May Allah bless humanity with a revivified Islam and may He cause it to spread across the surface of this earth, like a life-giving shower from the Heavens, from ocean to ocean and pole to pole. Ameen.

Prison Industrial Complex

An excellent post by Taliba on the Prison Industrial Complex can be found here.

What can be done? Organize.
Critical Resistance is a grass-roots organization dedicated to ending the Prison-Industrial Complex. I know from personal experience that these are hard-working, serious sisters and brothers who are dedicated to achieving their goals. They are definately worth supporting.

Reporting on the Protests in Lebanon

"Hezbollah-led protesters target Lebanon"

Notice how protest which started out peacefully and which escalated to stone throwing and barracade building only after government attempts at suppressing "sedition" is qualified as 'violent' throughout the article. The title of the article even implies the Hizbullah is some external force trying to invade the Lebanon, instead of an indigenous, grass roots movement. These protests have been repeatedly described in the media as a 'coup' attempt but this is clearly absurd; Military and Financial elites attempt coups. They are a top-down change in governance. When the masses rise up and the "people on the street," to quote the undersecretary of State, attempt to overthrow a government that's a revolution, not a coup. Interestingly enough, the undersecretary's original remarks have now been edited on reports coming down the wire to ommit his admission that the people protesting were the people on the street. Now they are simply a 'mob.' The economic grievances which are a partial cause of these protests and which have led them to be endorsed by the Unions in Lebanon are either not mentioned or are underplayed. Of course, the anti-Syrian protests which followed the death of Prime Minister Hariri were a 'peaceful revolution' and not the actions of a mob. Neither were the protests leading to the 'Orange Revolution' in Ukraine. But when those who are not Western puppets adopt the same tactics, they become "terrorism" and a "coup attempt" (Samir Geagea).

Islam Awareness Week at George Washington University

Begin Quote:

Come to as many events as you can!

Invite others and spread the word!

All events are free and open to the public.

ISLAM AWARENESS WEEK

Friday, January 26
• JUM'AH: "ISLAMIC ROOTS IN AMERICA"
Speaker: IMAM JOHARI
1:15pm, MC Continental Ballroom
[Chair of Government Relations for the Muslim Alliance in north America, President of the Muslim Society of Washington]

• EID AL-ADHA DINNER
"Hajj Pilgrimage: Uniting the Essence of a People"
6:30pm, MC Continental Ballroom
Speaker: IMAM MAGID
[Imam of ADAMS Center, Vice President of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)]
Also Featuring Photo Exhibit by AASIL AHMAD

Saturday, January 27
• BOWLING FOR A CAUSE
IINTERFAITH Community Service
5pm, MC Hippodrome
Suggested Donation: 3 Canned Goods/Clothing for donation to Miriam's Kitchen

Sunday, January 28
• ISLAM AND BLACK AMERICA
2pm, MC Amphitheatre
Speaker: DR. SHERMAN JACKSON
[Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Visiting Professor of Law, and Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor]
Co Sponsored By NAACP

Monday, January 29
• AN IN DEPTH LOOK: BAN ON THE BURQA
7pm, MC Continental Ballroom
Speaker: MERVE KAVAKCI
[Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, In 1999, Kavakci ran for Parliament and was elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. However, she was prevented from swearing-in due to her headscarf. She is one of Turkey's pioneers in the women's political movement in the early 1990s.]
Co Sponsored By Islamic Alliance for Justice

Tuesday, January 30
• ART EXHIBIT
"Reflections of Identity"
11am-5pm, MC Great Hall

• LOYALTY TO GOD AND COUNTRY: MORAL OBLIGATIONS OF CITIZENSHIP
7pm, Continental Ballroom
Speaker: DR. LOUAY SAFI
[VP of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists, President of the Center for Balanced Development, Founding Member and Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy]
Co Sponsored By GW Democrats

Wednesday, January 31
• The Spiritual Expression of Arabic Calligraphy
1pm-4pm, MC 301
LECTURE AND CALLIGRAPHY WORKSHOP

• ESPIONAGE AT GUANTANAMO?
7pm, Grand Ballroom
Speaker: FR. CHAPLAIN JAMES YEE
[After being offically recognized twice for outstanding performance as a Guantanamo chaplain, Ch. Yee was arrested and imprisoned in an Naval brig for 76 days while being falsely accused of spying and espioage. Chaplain Yee's gripping account of his Guantanamo experience has been published and is entitled For God And Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire]
Co Sponsored By College Democrats, Asian Student Alliance, Sigur Center for Asian Studies (Elliott School of International Affairs)

Thursday, February 1
• MOVIE SCREENING: Islam Empire of Faith
11am and 2pm showings, MC 101

• MUHAMMAD AND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE BIBLICAL PROPHECY
7pm, MC Amphitheatre
Speaker: HISHAM MAHMOUD
[Professor of Advanced Arabic Studies at Princeton U and Ph.D. candidate in Islamic Studies at UCLA]

Friday, February 2
• COFFEE NIGHT
7pm, MC Continental Ballroom
Featuring Comedian MO AMER
ALLAH MADE ME FUNNY TOUR
------------------------------------------


Other Cosponsors for the week include Multicultural Student Services Center (MSSC), GW Dining Services Commisson, Colonial Nightcap, and Arab Student Association

End Quote

Third Resurrection

Coolness.

A New Blog

Some colleagues and I have started a new blog to deal with some of the questions raised in my earlier post on the need to challenge the hegemonic discourse of science.

It can be found here and on the side bar.

Near Death Experience

It looks like this out there.




Not a blizzard to be certain; deceptively safe, in fact. I ended up spinning out twice this evening while picking up my mom's dog from Petsmart. Both times I did a 180 and ended up on the opposite side of the road. It first happened on Rte. 100 and, after narrowly avoiding a collision with another car, I ended up off the road stuck in a ditch; alhamdulillah, a kind soul stopped and helped me get out. The second time I was on my way back, driving like a turtle down mountain road. Without any warning whatsoever, the car began to spin until I ended up facing the opposite direction in the opposite lane. After a couple of minutes, I resumed my journey, driving like a snail the whole way home. What is really frustrating about this is that I was driving slowly and carefully, especially on the way back. I suppose I should take this as a reminder that we could leave this world at any moment, so we should always remember Allah (SWT).

Islamic Law in the West: Theory, Doctrine, and Practice

A conference on Islamic Law is being held at American University on Friday, February 2nd and Saturday February 3rd. Dr. 'Umar Faruq 'Abdullah and Dr. Azizah al-Hibri are scheduled to speak. It looks to be very educational and inshaa'Allah, I will be attending.

Free Imam Jamil

SIDDIQUN: Free Imam Jamil—An Evening at Masjid Al-Islam
We need to stand by our leaders when they need our help, even if others would prefer to look away. Even giving a little could help alot, if it gets us closer to freeing one of our brothers in the sijin.

An excellent analysis of the Situation in Somalia

INFIDEL & KAFIR WATCH: Surprise! They bombed, but 'Al Qaeda' escaped

Some Considerations and Questions Arising from the ALIM Program

As Muslims and as human beings we must oppose the hegemonic discourse of science. By hegemonic discourse, I mean a way of thinking, of proceeding in an inquiry, and of framing a debate that uncritically assumes the dominance and universal applicability of the tools, concepts, and methodologies of one field of study over all other fields. In the case of science, the tacit assumption is that scientific truth trumps all other conceptions of truth, scientific truth claims have precedence over non-scientific ones, and the methodology of science is a paradigmatic example of proper inquiry which ought to be emulated. As a result, the insights and truths, not only of religion, but of Literature, History, non-reductionistic accounts of History, Cultural Studies, in short, the whole of the Humanities, are either discounted or trivialized. Philosophy, too, is marginalized except to the extent that it can be pressed into service advancing the case for eliminative materialism.

Do scientific methodologies establish the universal truth of scientific theories or do they only support the predictive validity of those theories and testify to their usefulness in organizing scientific thought at a given historical instant? Is there something beyond the capacity for accurate prediction which can establish the truth of scientific theories, or, following Von Fraasen, is predictive validity the most that can be advanced for any scientific theory. Does it make sense to say that theories give accurate predictions because they are true? Or is this mere grand standing? How do refutations of reductionism, materialism, and the correspondence theory of truth undermine the case for scientistic supremacy?

This has grave implications for Muslims; as Imam Muneer Fareed has pointed out, Muslims in the physical sciences accept that “matter can be neither created nor destroyed, despite the fact that this is complete kufr.” This statement predicates unique attributes of Allah (SWT) of created beings. This is clearly unacceptable from an Islamic point of view. Can it be properly qualified so that we can still derive the benefit in terms of accurate prediction but avoid the theological difficulties?

Pentagon official apologizes for remarks

What I find disturbing about this is what's not being said. For one thing, they've watered down his remarks which were, fortunately, broadcast on today's edition of Democracy Now. He didn't say 'suspected' terrorists. He said that the detainees were terrorists without qualification. While I am happy that the response to these remarks was swift and strong, it focused almost entirely on the due-process aspect of this case, on the need for the all defendents to have competent representation. It did not focus, to my knowledge, on the fact that the US Government official who is in charge of the detainees has publically declared them to be guilty before a trial (or 'military tribunal') has been conducted. If this attitude is indicative of the general biases of those officers who will be conducting the tribunals, God help the poor souls in Guantanamo. How can anyone maintain themselves in the illusion that this is a just, impartial government when the government itself doesn't bother to maintain its facade anymore? Ya Allah, give the political prisoners sabr to withstand their trials and grant them release from their ordeals. Ameen.

"Pakistan army destroys al-Qaida hideouts"

Read it here.

More likely, they killed some Afghan brothers just trying to get by. I trust the people that live there and know whether their fellow tribesmen or brothers in Islam have been killed much more than a beaurocrat or a spokesman for the force which did the killing. But,hey, they have to prove that Pakistan is doing its part in "The War on Terror." Americans won't question it because of the widespread belief that all Muslims (and brown people in general) are guilty until proven innocent. If they are cleared, most Americans will still "think the price is worth it" in order to 'defend freedom.'

So much for 'Free Speech.'

A report on the recent shut down of four radio stations in Somalia.

Funny, how the ICU never shut them down...

Jan. 27th March on Washington

Be there.

America Reopens an Old Front in the War on Islam

At last the Puppet Masters reveal themselves. After having destroyed much of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti, the US government has turned its eye to another front in its War on People of Color: Somalia. It has been funding and putting its political (and now military) weight behind an 'interim government' composed of the warlords who have wrecked Somalia for the past decade and a half. This was done in an attempt to undermine the resurgent forces of Islam which were steadily retaking the country for the Somali people. Not content to fight a proxy war using the Ethiopian military, undoing the substantial good that the Islamic Courts Union has done for the country in the process, they have now stepped in to complete the carnage. Thirty one innocent people were killed in this assault and for what? To attack a supposed al-Qa'eda base? Will there ever be any independent examination of the evidence indicating that al-Qa'eda has a base at this location? Or will the US military maintain its ability to kill with impunity?

My Essay for ALIM Winter Program

I wrote the following essay for my application to the ALIM Winter 2007 program. Insha'Allah I will be attending; the subjects and line up of teachers are very exciting.

The current generation of Muslims is beset by a technique of propagating the deen which is heavily influenced by modernity. This new type of dawah gravitates around slogans instead of substance and promises a utopian return to the past in exchange for political power. We are inundated by pamphlets about ‘Women’s Place in Islam’, ‘The Concept of God in Islam,’ and ‘Jesus in Islam’; none of these can do true justice to their subject because of the complexity of the theoretical and legal issues involved. For example, there is no one authoritative narrative concerning women in Islam; instead we have a variety of legal traditions each of which attempt to do justice to gender relations in the light of their own methodology.

I realize that for external Dawah, summaries are necessary; when it comes to the self-education of the Muslim, however, a more exhaustive study must be undertaken. This is not what is being done. Instead of an analysis of the historical experience of Muslims as reflected in their varied traditions of jurisprudence, we are given pep-talks about the need to return to kitab wa sunnah. Instead of a critical investigation into the formation of the accepted creeds of ahl-us-sunnah, we are reduced to the most extreme forms of bi-laa-kayfa evasion. If the ummah is to prosper as an independent civilization, its members must develop the critical faculties necessary to analyze its history and traditions. These traditions include the juridical systems developed by the Ottomans, the Mughals, the Soto Caliphate, and the Malikis of al-Andalus. Adherence to literalistic interpretations of as-sihah as-sittah can never replace a dynamic engagement with the systems of self-governance which this ummah has evolved over the past 1400 years. This engagement can only be achieved by undertaking a broad and comprehensive study of the development of Islamic thought.

Note: This should not be taken as an attack upon any particular ideological orientation within the Ummah; specifically, it is not an attack on my salafi brothers and sisters. There are salafi scholars who are engaged in just the sort of critical analysis which I recommend and there are 'traditionalist' movements which engage in the type of sloganeering which I condemn.

" I Dream of Revolution"

Phoenix Reborn: The Fire of Truth: I Dream of Revolution

A good dream from a friend of mine.

Da Arab MCs

DAM has a new website which can be found here.
Their new album "Dedication"(Ahdaa') can is available for purchase at the Palestine Online Store.
Their music is excellent and they speak the truth, so they're definately worth supporting.

An Aphorism

My advice to you,
o Muslim,
is to become notched
like Zulfiqar.
Make what is taken from you
the source of your strength.

Remember that where
there is absence there is Presence
and where there is presence
there is Absence.

Somali, Ethiopian troops prepare assault - Yahoo! News

Somali, Ethiopian troops prepare assault - Yahoo! News

This is utterly disgusting; the 'transitional' government is, with foreign aid and encouragement, going to slaughter the one force which has actually shown itself competent to rule the country. Unsurprisingly, the US is complicit in this. The success of the ICU government in uniting the country, putting an end to piracy, and re-establishing services such as the air and sea ports were no doubt an embarrasment to an administration which has shown itself incapable of doing any of those things in Iraq. The message is clear: the Muslim world has the choice between being ruled by Western puppets or living in a perpetual state of chaos. No dynamic, popular Islamic alternative will be allowed to take power.

Men Erhabe? (Who's the Terrorist?)

A Sad Anniversary

On this day 515 years ago, according to the Gregorian calendar, Grenada, the last outpost of Islam in Spain, fell to Ferdinand and Isabella. The sublime al-Hambra Masjid was converted, crudely, into a church. May Allah give us the strength and the patience to overcome adversity and to build a new future for the Ummah.

Ameen

In Secret Reverie

In secret reverie
I pipe away,
bouncing, raucous music
in sharp keys.

Nubile youths dance,
forgetting that
they, too, are mortal.

The music draws me out
and now it seems that
I am the audience
to a song from a world
a shadow away.

It stops- I stop,
listening attentively
as it reverberates through
my memory, passes,
and is gone.

A Short Essay on the Right of Criticism

What right have I to criticize an 'imperfect democracy,' one which grants me the exercise of an assortment of civil liberties which are denied to a large section of humanity? First and foremost I criticize in order to retain the very right to criticize; it is by exercising this right to air my views and seek redress that all of my rights are made more secure. The proposition that the second amendment makes the others secure is incorrect; access to weaponry can just as easily be a hindrance to the enjoyment of civil rights as a guarantee of them (this was the case throughout most of the south and no doubt still is in many areas). It is the exercise of free criticism in the face of both government pressure and the violence of extremist groups that forms the foundation of the practical enjoyment of human rights. It exposes the means that various parties use to control the public discourse, to manipulate the social conscience, and to exploit the disadvantaged. Its persistent application in the face of violent retribution and social ostracism carves out a solid niche of liberty in which to exercise our other freedoms.

As to the choice of the object of criticism (why should I criticize the US or the West when there are worse regimes on the world stage?), there are several reasons. No one needs the critics to recognize a violent, oppressive regime; its crimes are writ large. To expose the misdeeds of the several Western Governments often takes time and expertise. This is because the governments in the west are at least in theory answerable to their people; any unpalatable action will be either covered up or 'spun.'

This leads to the second reason: criticism has a realistic chance of influencing policy. I can criticize North Korea all I want but it won't change anything. Widespread criticism and protest against, say, the US has played a role in decision making and influenced the choice of tactics and strategies in foreign policy and in armed conflict (Chomsky’s comments in "For Reasons of State" are particularly cogent). Another reason is that democracies are heir to a degree of moral legitimacy much higher than that of a dictatorship. If a dictator acts like a dictator we condemn the action but are not shocked by it. When an elected government acts in a morally obnoxious manner the matter is more serious; these actions do not reflect only upon a small elite, they reflect upon the nation as a whole.

Criticism is essential if one wishes to maintain a sense of integrity. It is worse to allow a democracy to become corrupted than to allow a dictatorship to remain a dictatorship. The implication that either one is a 'good guy' or one is as bad as Hitler betrays a lack of moral insight. Rulers (whether democratic or dictatorial) form an entire moral spectrum as do systems of government. It is possible to have a bad system of government with a fairly good (or conscientious) ruler and a good system of government with a corrupt ruler. Simplistic assertions that someone (whether Bush or Ahmedinejad) is 'as bad as Hitler' do little to help us deal with the problems of foreign policy and are useful only as a tool for political mobilization (in support of a war, for instance). The questions we need to tackle are those which deal with the effects of policy, whether they cause more suffering than they prevent, not whether we happen to like the guy who is promoting them. This war against Iraq has caused massive suffering and the deaths of over 100,000 Iraqi civilians. This was predictable (and predicted) before hand. The administration chose to go to war anyway. The only way such a large amount of suffering could be justified is to prevent more suffering; it hardly seems reasonable to believe that this war has prevented any suffering. On the contrary, the fallout of the conflict could result in more harm than if we had simply let Hussein's regime stay in power (for however long it may have lasted). The deaths in Iraq are not simply collateral damage justified by the achievement of some great goal; there is no goal to achieve at this point, other than simply stopping the cycle of violence which the US government initiated.

A word about 'collateral damage.' First it should be noted that Western Governments have, in the quite recent past, targeted civilian populations in order to achieve political goals (a standard definition of terrorism). This was quite frequent during World War II and Vietnam and was at least one goal of the bombing of Belgrade during the Kosovo conflict and the "Shock and Awe" campaign against Baghdad. In addition, a number of civilian targets were attacked (TV and radio stations, water treatment plants, etc,). On the other hand, many groups which are generally defined as "terrorist" do not have the commission of such acts as their primary raison d'etre. Hamas is a notable example of this: it is better defined as a social movement with political and military wings (the latter of which engages in some acts which can be reasonable defined as terrorist). Acts of terrorism are not the reason for its existence nor do they comprise the majority of its activities. It is also not the sole tactic of its military wing, which also engages in "legitimate" military operations such as the attack on the border outpost in southern Gaza. The common denominator is a willingness to use violence which will almost certainly result in civilian casualties as a means to further political objectives (whether regime change or an end to occupation). In shear numbers, the use of '"legitimate" military force has without a doubt resulted in a much larger death toll then that resulting from acts of terrorism. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict provides a clear example of this, where at least five Palestinians have been killed for every Israeli over the past six years. Certainly the people of the global South have more to fear from western 'Smart bombs' then westerners have to fear from the crude munitions cobbled together by “terrorists.”

I point this out not to legitimate “terrorism” but to delegitimate military violence as an acceptable instrument of foreign (or internal) policy. The acceptance of military violence as not only necessary but virtuous leads us to mourn one group of victims by creating a much larger number of victims who more often than not had nothing to do with the original crime. We grow sensitive to the deaths of a thousand but numb to the deaths of a hundred thousand. This may be criticized as ‘excessive body counting’ but it remains to be seen if there is any other way for us to gauge the ethical worth of actions of such power and magnitude. Certainly, the ideals that ‘we’ are supposedly fighting for cannot be used to legitimate the use of large-scale violence if there is no evidence that such violence is either effective in their defense or useful in transplanting them to other societies. The Bush administration has invaded three countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti) and overthrown three regimes, including an elected one (Aristide). In none of these countries has a government cognizant of and respectful towards civil liberties arisen. Violence tends to beget more violence, resulting in a culture increasingly accustomed to solving conflicts (including domestic ones) with the use of force. This necessarily results in an erosion of civil liberties. In addition, these civil liberties are often purposefully curtailed in an attempt to deal with the ‘blowback’ from military campaigns abroad. It would seem as if the ‘body count’ is the accurate measure of our foreign policy.