Comments on: When the political gets personal: what the Military Commissions Act of 2006 means to one mediator and her family http://mediationchannel.com/2006/10/01/when-the-political-gets-personal-what-the-military-commissions-act-of-2006-means-to-one-mediator-and-her-family/ News and ideas about mediation, negotiation, conflict resolution, and law Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:20:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Diane Levin http://mediationchannel.com/2006/10/01/when-the-political-gets-personal-what-the-military-commissions-act-of-2006-means-to-one-mediator-and-her-family/#comment-58 Diane Levin Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:56:00 +0000 http://mediationchannel.com/2006/10/01/when-the-political-gets-personal-what-the-military-commissions-act-of-2006-means-to-one-mediator-and-her-family/#comment-58 RMB, Thank you kindly for your support and for posting such a thoughtful comment. I'm aware of the risk I took in publishing such a personal, ground-level view of the latest salvo fired in the "war on terror", but remaining silent is no longer an option. As a mediator and an attorney, I felt I have a duty to speak out. Your words encourage me and give me hope. RMB, Thank you kindly for your support and for posting such a thoughtful comment. I’m aware of the risk I took in publishing such a personal, ground-level view of the latest salvo fired in the “war on terror”, but remaining silent is no longer an option. As a mediator and an attorney, I felt I have a duty to speak out. Your words encourage me and give me hope.

]]> By: RMB http://mediationchannel.com/2006/10/01/when-the-political-gets-personal-what-the-military-commissions-act-of-2006-means-to-one-mediator-and-her-family/#comment-57 RMB Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:41:00 +0000 http://mediationchannel.com/2006/10/01/when-the-political-gets-personal-what-the-military-commissions-act-of-2006-means-to-one-mediator-and-her-family/#comment-57 Diane,<br/>You take a risk in opposing the acts of government that you will offend and lose readers. Yet only by education, critical analysis of public policy, can one turn the ship of state from its current course. As a mediator you correctly sense that problems must be delt with in a direct and honest way. Personalizing the effect of policies justified on the basis that they are only directed against evildoers helps to illuminate the reality. Fear never motivates wise public policy. <br/>It has always seemed to me that a mediator must logically apply his or her approach to micro-conflict resolution to the macro-national/international level. (Although this is concededly exponentially more difficult).<br/>We all need to be sure that we are never part of a plan to "destroy the village in order to save it." <br/><br/>Thank you for pointing out the implications of a full-scale "war on terror". Diane,
You take a risk in opposing the acts of government that you will offend and lose readers. Yet only by education, critical analysis of public policy, can one turn the ship of state from its current course. As a mediator you correctly sense that problems must be delt with in a direct and honest way. Personalizing the effect of policies justified on the basis that they are only directed against evildoers helps to illuminate the reality. Fear never motivates wise public policy.
It has always seemed to me that a mediator must logically apply his or her approach to micro-conflict resolution to the macro-national/international level. (Although this is concededly exponentially more difficult).
We all need to be sure that we are never part of a plan to “destroy the village in order to save it.”

Thank you for pointing out the implications of a full-scale “war on terror”.

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