Mr.Usherwood (Comox Valley Record, Nov.10) seeks to justify militarism and the use of lethal force in Canada’s mission in Afghanistan by denigrating the value of peaceful, non-violence in the face of oppression. Perhaps if the world community was willing to give peace a chance in the first place, we wouldn’t have to face such extremes as he cites. In the words of contemporary Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn whose teachings were formed in the midst of the very real world of the Vietnamese War : “There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”

It has often been said that the first casualty of war is truth. I invoke exemplars such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Lester B. Pearson because they too lived and died for the values I hold most dear. Truth is one of those values and as far as I can see, we need their example more than ever.

When it comes to warfare I look to Chinese sage Sun Tzu whose cryptic writings on the subject of warfare have advised generals throughout the world since before the birth of Christ. His thoughts are many but one I consider most relevant is this: “To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence.”

With regard to contemporary issues, I call attention to the fact that Canadian foreign policy is being formulated within the context of George W. Bush’s “war on terror. Justification for that war in all its various forms is based on the very questionable official government story surrounding 9/11, a story currently under intense worldwide scrutiny in the alternative media and increasingly, in the mainstream media as well.

The cause behind the tragedy of 9/11 is one of the most pivotal socio-political issues of our times. Overwhelming evidence points to the fact that not only the Twin Towers but the associated Building 7 as well, were controlled demolitions. Who performed these demolitions and why is the American government trying to cover it up? Why are the CIA, the Pentagon and the Bush administration all withholding evidence that could bring the light of truth to the 9/11 tragedies?

Is not memory of the burning of the Reichstag by what, in its earliest days, was a democratically-elected Nazi regime reason enough for us to pause as a populace and ask “Could history be repeating itself? “American foreign policy has an increasingly tyrannical demeanor? I, for one, don’t believe it reflects the values shared by most Canadians. Show me the true face of the Canadian military.