Goodwill to All This Season
The Denver Post
December 26, 2004

"Merry Christmas" sparkles on the Denver City and County Building. It has triggered a mini-fuss between those who prefer the more ecumenical "Happy Holidays" and those who want a Christian holiday memorialized on a prominent public building. Personally, especially this year, I'd vote for "Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards Men (and women and children)." We could certainly use more of those sentiments right now.

Christmas started as a time of hope-hope that the world would become a more peaceful, loving, caring place. Hope that human beings would treat one another with respect and dignity. Hope that the religion of Jesus would make humankind better and more civilized. We have a long way to go to fulfill those hopes.

Last week, just before Christmas, Iraq erupted in another extraordinarily brutal and bloody orgy of violence. So much for peace. And, we heard new and even more disturbing revelations about mistreatment and torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. So much for good will towards men. In addition, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld continued his arrogant conduct of the war in Iraq, speaking with condescension to our troops and discounting a deadly lack of protection for our soldiers.

The horrifying attack on a troop mess hall in Mosul, resulting in death, dismemberment, and mayhem, should not have happened. That same huge tent had been attacked 30 times previously, according to an embedded reporter from the Richmond, Virginia Times Dispatch. A new, more secure mess hall is under construction. But, why was the facility that had been attacked so many times not better protected or spread into smaller tents across the base? Why have so many Americans been maimed and killed because we didn't provide them with armored vehicles in this extraordinarily dangerous land?

Despite what President Bush keeps telling us, peace is not coming to Iraq any time soon. This Administration can't even see a roadmap for building a peaceful Iraq. Perhaps, in this season that lights the hope of peace, it is time for the President, Secretary Rumsfeld, and their neo-conservative colleagues who got us into this mess to reevaluate how we're pursuing this vicious war, to make sure that our troops have the equipment and protection they deserve, and to consider a whole new strategy for winning the peace in Iraq.

When we turn to the concept of good will towards all, we need another rethinking of our policies this holiday season. Last week brought appalling disclosures about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Not only have we now kept men imprisoned in cages for years without charges, contrary to the strictures of fairness and the law, but we're also torturing and dehumanizing them. Emails turned over to the American Civil Liberties Union indicate this treatment was approved at the top levels of the Pentagon.

Under what notion of human rights and human decency is it OK to keep prisoners chained in painful positions, forced to urinate and defecate on themselves? Or to shove lit cigarettes in a helpless man's ear? We are violating the most fundamental tenets of American values, not to mention the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners. And, this apparently was the policy approved at top levels of our government.

The Bush Administration, touting its "moral values", is shaming Americans with its flaunting of basic human rights, its callous disregard for the safety of our troops, and its dismissive attitude towards those who question its policies. What a picture we portray to the world this holiday season, a season that should be one of peace, joy, and hope, but, instead, in 2004, is wracked with war, inhumanity, and arrogance.

Yet, I have great hope that Christmas 2005 will be closer to that promise of the first Christmas, that we Americans will once again represent the real values of Christmas, peace on earth and good will towards all. Maybe next year, these will be the words emblazoned on the Denver City and County Building, reminding us of what would make Christmas truly "merry" and the holidays really "happy."