The future is yours and
yours alone to decide. Others can advise, but only the goodwill and the
determination of your people can decide the outcome.
You can continue to lose
thousands of your best
men in a struggle that is never-ending. On a
see-saw,
where one day one side is up, and the
next day the other, but the killing
never stops.
And in the end, no-one wins. There are no spoils
left for
the victor.
As you look at your country
today, without the antagonism of the past, what do you see?
Everywhere you look there
is destruction.
Destruction of the land,
of the infrastructure, of a system.
But most importantly,
destruction of a people, a spirit.
Destruction of hope,
of a future.
But it doesn’t have to
be like that. Not now.
The world community is
on your side, and willing
to help.
To the young and middle-aged
men who have
spent an entire lifetime fighting one side or the
other, there
is finally an alternative. For your
country and your children there is
finally hope.
After all, what have
the past years of constant
strife brought you?
Your women and children
still go hungry, because
you cannot provide for them.
You cannot work to provide
because your
country is in such perpetual turmoil, that there is
no work
to be found.
Would it interest you
know that it is not so in all
Muslim countries? That while the daily prayers
are said and the rituals of Islam are adhered to, the
men still have a
roof over their heads to shelter
their families? That they go to work each
day
to earn, not fight for,
the money to feed, clothe
and educate (yes, educate) their children, so
that their lives will hold more promise than that of their fathers?
That they and their families
live in peace, without sacrificing one iota their religious convictions,
indeed
strengthening them?
That the great Islamic
faith can be lived and celebrated in joy, and not blood?
These believers are no
less devout than you are,
and yet they lead lives much more fulfilling
than yours.
But it wasn’t always this
way in your land, and it doesn’t have to be in the future.
Should you decide that
you will eschew the
terrible violence with which you have lived for so
long, often against an enemy,
but more often than
not among yourselves, you have the support of
the entire
world community, ready and able to
assist
you. To help you build the homes you need
to live in, and the businesses
you need to flourish. To help open the hospitals and schools without which
no nation can function.
To build roads and airports
for easier access to trade, and to offer investment where required.
This is all possible,
but only at this time.
The world is concerned
with your present plight,
but it has many distractions, and its patience
is
not endless.
A great opportunity has
arisen for you in the
wake of so much suffering, but you must grasp it
At this time, when world
focus is solely on you,
you must decide what you would like your future
to be. A new beginning, with peace
among
yourselves and with great aspirations
for the
future?
Or more of the same.
There may never be another
opportunity to
change the course of your future; there will
certainly not
be a better one.
So, as you come to this
crossroads, think
carefully which path to choose. Your future and
that
of your children, who continue to suffer so much, is in your own hands.
Take your time, pray for
guidance, and choose
wisely.
The eyes of the entire
world are upon you.
