Whether you call it freedom fighting or terrorism, no matter how noble or just the cause (which in itself is often subjective), those two terms hold no distinctions for me if innocent lives are lost in the process. There are ways to be an activist and to have your voice be heard without having to resort to violence, and I stand firmly on that point.
Though I find it commendable that you are a conscious objector, I do not think that it is a viable alternate, except for a few within each society, otherwise the power-hungry among us, will take dreadful advantage of what I consider a weakness, you have to be willing to fight, kill or be killed for the BIG things in life; should the American colonists not have issued the Declaration of Independence?
is the US Constitution worth dying for?
faced with Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao, or Pol Pot, would you have taken up the gun?
Witness the Jews during WWII, they did not fight until the end, by then too late, 6 million dead, they found another mass grave in the Ukraine recently. most Jews who fought were under the flags of US, the British Empire & the USSR
Many armies do not respect non-combatant status, but will use it to their advantage, too many examples to mention
See Warsaw Ghetto uprising:
Starting in 1940, the Nazis began concentrating Poland's population of over 3 million Jews in a number of extremely overcrowded ghettos in various Polish cities. The largest of these, the Warsaw Ghetto, held 380,000 people in a densely-packed area in the middle of the city. Thousands of Jews died due to rampant disease or starvation even before the Nazis began massive deportations of the Jews from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. In the 52 days before September 12, 1942, about 300,000 Ghetto residents were sent to the extermination camps and killed.
At the start of the deportations, members of the Jewish resistance movement met, but decided not to fight, believing that the Jews were really being sent to labor camps rather than to their death. By the end of 1942, it was clear that the deportations were to death camps, and many of the remaining Jews decided to fight.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
That being said, I'm sure I'll have just as strong of an opinion in the near future about the way this case is being handled by government officials and whether these men are even given a just or fair trial.
I think the Hmong need to get more politically active, make sure they are heard with one voice, every Hmong should become a citizen, vote & make their choices known, get courted by the dems & reps, anti-Castro forces get away with crimes regularly, see current example below:
See the following 2 articles on Luis Posada Carriles, trained by the CIA: USA TODAY
Cuba, Venezuela protest pending release of anti-communist
HAVANA (AP) — Tearful relatives of those killed in bombings blamed on Luis Posada Carriles lashed out at Washington on Wednesday, outraged that the jailed former U.S. operative could soon be released on bond. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-11-cuban-millitant_N.htm
By IAN JAMES Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela Apr 22, 2007 (AP)
President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela will lodge a protest with the United Nations after the U.S. released a Cuban militant on bond, accusing Washington of letting a terrorist go free.
Venezuela had asked the U.S. to extradite 79-year-old former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles on charges that he plotted the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane, in which 73 people died. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3066478
There is a general paternalistic attitude toward the Hmong that is reflected in the news as well in many of the posts and comments I've seen that also concerns me, but that just opens another can of worms that's probably better left closed for now.
as to can of worms, 4 thoughts; 1) That could be because the Hmong have not gotten used to dealing with the Western power structures yet, that should be changing soon, I think that General Vang Pao's arrest will lead to many changes, I saw several hundred Hmong gathered yesterday to protest his arrest, Mao said, "that political power comes from the barrel of a gun", if you look at the current American example its, "that political power comes from the barrels of money & a block of votes to get your bidding done".
2) the struggle for cultural identity when being pulled by 2 competing cultures, do you lean more to one side or the other, or blend into a harmonious whole? How do you do that, should your children be identified as Asian-Americans, SE Asians, Hmong-Americans or Americans? That choice (or multiplicity of choices), will be the path (or paths) of the future for your people. Choose wisely.
3) dialog & debate is better than bitterness & denial. lets talk openly about our hurts & pains, our aspirations, dreams, how we should treat each other, we may not always agree, but its better to know where you stand, than just hide the truth. If people treat us like kids or mentally deficient, how should we treat them?
4) with a "can of worms" you catch fish, so lets catch the future together, get politically active, stay active, listen, learn, do not despise the elderly, learn wisdom from them, teach values to your children, like; beauty, honor, love, caring, duty, respect, devotion, honesty, hard work, etc…, to name a few.
already there are many Hmong in political offices; Minnesota, Wisconsin & California
And Blong Xiong proved that a Hmong could reach across the ethnic divide & get elected in a non-Hmong district & if anyone saw him on "Valley Press" a few weeks ago, it is obvious that he is a thoughtful person, a thinker, a doorway for Fresno's future
Though I find it commendable that you are a conscious objector, I do not think that it is a viable alternate, except for a few within each society, otherwise the power-hungry among us, will take dreadful advantage of what I consider a weakness, you have to be willing to fight, kill or be killed for the BIG things in life; should the American colonists not have issued the Declaration of Independence?
is the US Constitution worth dying for?
faced with Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao, or Pol Pot, would you have taken up the gun?
Witness the Jews during WWII, they did not fight until the end, by then too late, 6 million dead, they found another mass grave in the Ukraine recently. most Jews who fought were under the flags of US, the British Empire & the USSR
Many armies do not respect non-combatant status, but will use it to their advantage, too many examples to mention
See Warsaw Ghetto uprising:
Starting in 1940, the Nazis began concentrating Poland's population of over 3 million Jews in a number of extremely overcrowded ghettos in various Polish cities. The largest of these, the Warsaw Ghetto, held 380,000 people in a densely-packed area in the middle of the city. Thousands of Jews died due to rampant disease or starvation even before the Nazis began massive deportations of the Jews from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp. In the 52 days before September 12, 1942, about 300,000 Ghetto residents were sent to the extermination camps and killed.
At the start of the deportations, members of the Jewish resistance movement met, but decided not to fight, believing that the Jews were really being sent to labor camps rather than to their death. By the end of 1942, it was clear that the deportations were to death camps, and many of the remaining Jews decided to fight.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
I think the Hmong need to get more politically active, make sure they are heard with one voice, every Hmong should become a citizen, vote & make their choices known, get courted by the dems & reps, anti-Castro forces get away with crimes regularly, see current example below:
See the following 2 articles on Luis Posada Carriles, trained by the CIA:
USA TODAY
Cuba, Venezuela protest pending release of anti-communist
HAVANA (AP) — Tearful relatives of those killed in bombings blamed on Luis Posada Carriles lashed out at Washington on Wednesday, outraged that the jailed former U.S. operative could soon be released on bond.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-11-cuban-millitant_N.htm
By IAN JAMES Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela Apr 22, 2007 (AP)
President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela will lodge a protest with the United Nations after the U.S. released a Cuban militant on bond, accusing Washington of letting a terrorist go free.
Venezuela had asked the U.S. to extradite 79-year-old former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles on charges that he plotted the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger plane, in which 73 people died.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3066478
as to can of worms, 4 thoughts;
1) That could be because the Hmong have not gotten used to dealing with the Western power structures yet, that should be changing soon, I think that General Vang Pao's arrest will lead to many changes, I saw several hundred Hmong gathered yesterday to protest his arrest, Mao said, "that political power comes from the barrel of a gun", if you look at the current American example its, "that political power comes from the barrels of money & a block of votes to get your bidding done".
2) the struggle for cultural identity when being pulled by 2 competing cultures, do you lean more to one side or the other, or blend into a harmonious whole? How do you do that, should your children be identified as Asian-Americans, SE Asians, Hmong-Americans or Americans? That choice (or multiplicity of choices), will be the path (or paths) of the future for your people. Choose wisely.
3) dialog & debate is better than bitterness & denial. lets talk openly about our hurts & pains, our aspirations, dreams, how we should treat each other, we may not always agree, but its better to know where you stand, than just hide the truth. If people treat us like kids or mentally deficient, how should we treat them?
4) with a "can of worms" you catch fish, so lets catch the future together, get politically active, stay active, listen, learn, do not despise the elderly, learn wisdom from them, teach values to your children, like; beauty, honor, love, caring, duty, respect, devotion, honesty, hard work, etc…, to name a few.
already there are many Hmong in political offices; Minnesota, Wisconsin & California
And Blong Xiong proved that a Hmong could reach across the ethnic divide & get elected in a non-Hmong district & if anyone saw him on "Valley Press" a few weeks ago, it is obvious that he is a thoughtful person, a thinker, a doorway for Fresno's future