I have had the distinct opportunity through the years to live and work in other countries. There are obvious differences and cultural habits abound .However, once you go below the surface it becomes apparently clear that we are more alike than different. Most human beings are decent, caring and desire the same basic needs of life. The ones that I encountered in everyplace I was fortunate to visit wanted freedom,work,housing and opportunity for their loved ones. It is easy to forget these basic similarities once religious or civil conflict arises.Labels take over, and causes justify all sorts of horrible acts. The purity of these causes is a veneer that blocks out the common threads that could bind us together. It is not naïve to hold to the hope that so called ordinary people must see this and overwhelmingly convince their governments to cease the way of the sword .It is time to negotiate not to win but to recapture the real goals of freedom for all.