Diplomatic reactions

Chemical weapons have been used in Syria. How should we react? Can we trust in the old saying that sin carries its own punishment? President Obama has claimed that USA should react strongly militarily. This has disclosed a deep confusion about how the international community should and could react to what could be called evil politics. We want a development towards more of peace and cooperation. The question is how to do it. One alternative is the dualistic one. It is a variation of the classical crime and punishment idea. The crime calls for punishment. If there is no punishment the criminal is seen as a winner. The dualism is between the crime and the punishment which are seen as different things. In a non-dual situation the crime and its negative consequences are seen as one package. You can not get one without the other. An example of this is the war in Iraq. Many were killed and the nation was left in political turmoil for many years. USA has not been punished formally for this, but USA lost very much in prestige. For the future we want more of the non-dual awareness and less of the traditional crime-punishment method. We still need international tribunes for trials against dictators, but we most of all need a vigilant public opinion which reacts to crimes against humanity wherever they occur. Then we also need an important clarification. The fact that someone is not tried at an international court does not mean that the person goes free, but that the evaluation is made elsewhere. If an act like the use of chemical weapons is criticized, the criticism becomes serious if there is no alternative way to criticize. The words of people should have the same importance as the words from a court. Those who decide about a war should be judged by the victims of the war. The more brutal the methods of war are, the more clear should the voice of the victims be. President Obama is right in reacting against the use of weapons of mass destruction, but the reaction should not be more bombs but more awareness of the effects of the original bad acts.