n I was born and raised in Colombia and I have personally experienced the suffering

of which Majed Ashy (“Only forgiveness can snuff the destructive flames of war,” Sept. 7, p. 7) makes reference to. For 40 years, Colombia has fought a civil war in which civilian deaths and spreading destruction are daily realities. For 40 years, the Colombians have experienced the escalation of a war that should have ended a long time ago.

It is sad to think that in 40 years there have only been a few diplomatic approaches to the conflict, all of them failing as diplomatic resources were not exhausted and the leaders chose a hammer-hawkish tactic. The consequences of the civil war: A depressed economy, civil fragmentation, political turmoil and most importantly, the birth of new and stronger enemies such as Drug Kingpins and paramilitary groups. When I take a look at the current state of affairs in the Middle East, I see not a cause for war but a consequence of previous wars. In the case of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Palestine, people tend to lose the broader view and see only the current events. They do not ask why terrorist groups formed or why fundamentalism grew stronger. It is important to protect a country’s autonomy, but it is important to understand that we are all humans before being nationals of a country.

Samir Corrales

CAS ’08