Thich Nhat Hanh on the Abu Ghraib torture scandal

for posting this analysis.
I wish his opinions were aired more often instead of the usual so-called pundits.

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An act of cruelty is born of many conditions coming together, without any separate, individual actor. When we hold retreats for war veterans I tell them they are the flame at the tip of the candle, they are the ones who feel the heat, but the whole candle is burning, not only the flame. All of us are responsible.

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"Fear has overtaken the U.S. It is the primary motivation for many of the U.S. government’s actions because we do not know how to protect ourselves with compassion. Students of political science must learn this in university so that they can bring real wisdom into politics. Compassion can go together with intelligence. Compassion is not stupid. Love is the same, real love is born from understanding." - Thich Nhat Hanh

It sounds like bleeding liberal hippie stuff, but y'know what, it works. as it is obvious by now what Bushco is doing now doesn't work. reality is a harsh teacher. how far must we collectively collect karma before we as a nation start to repent? we shall see how far fear can drag a mighty and proud nation down...

It would be good to learn this lesson through direct experience, but life is fragile. Therefore, we should, as Hanh admonishes, "ally ourselves with bodhisattvas....to transform our way of thinking and that of our society."

Suppose we could overcome our own vanity, which is an obstacle to compassionate understanding. Would we still be bothered by the vanity of others, or would that be wrong-headed?