A challenge to a military empire

To the editor:

I am inspired by the nonviolent revolution in Egypt. Clearly the people of Egypt are proving yet again that the force more powerful is not political or military might, but the courage, sacrifice, hope and dignity of nonviolence that trumps brutality and war.

I think of South Africa, Liberia, the Philippines, Romania, India, our own civil rights movement. If this nonviolent revolution succeeds, Egypt will not lie in ruins and its people will not need to overcome years of resentment that follow a prolonged civil war. The Egyptians will still have the difficult task of rebuilding their nation after years of oppression, but they will be launched from a common experience of solidarity, a heroic victory over a despotic regime, and with an infrastructure intact.

Would that we Americans had comparable courage to challenge our militarized empire. For a start we can ask Rep. Larsen and Sens. Cantwell and Murray to insist on cuts in the military budget and use the money instead to address our domestic needs here in Washington and Island County and reduce the federal deficit that has a stranglehold on our children’s future.

Tom Ewell

Clinton