We're now 4+ years into W's war on terror and it appears we've only stirred a hornets nest of hatred towards our policies and people. Though as scary as this is, the real legacy lies in this years' Memorial Day commemorations as we now have 1600 soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice for an arguably dodgy cause at best.
As a father I try to conceive of the pain of losing a chid so horrifically, and I am always drawn back to the root question: For what? I love my country as much as the next guy, I want to stamp out terrorists and I want America to be safe. Is starting an unnecessary and unprovoked war in the most volatile region in the world supposed to really make this happen?
Yesterday I watched as Pat Tillman's family one by one denounced the George W. war machine as having used their son's glorious sacrifice for their own warmongering public relations battle. It wasn't that he was killed by friendly fire -- this is and has always been a by-product of war, the crux of the problem is the US's inability to report the "truth" even after Tillman had given the ultimate sacrifice. So my question begs to be answered: If we are lied to when our children die in service to their country, why then should we believe the very reasons we're even fighting for?
All Americans should this year, more than most, remember that what this Memorial Day really stands for is not cook-outs, beaches, and boardwalks-- but rather tombstones,amputations, and devestating war. That we too often insulate ourselves from the real truths of the holidays we celebrate is a fact, and that in reality for over 1600 families this Memorial Day is but another very raw, painful reminder of a policy gone wrong from the start. This should not, and cannot demean any soldier's service or sacrifice, as I have the utmost respect for anyone who would go 10,000 miles away from his family and fight an enemy like no other--an enemey with no real face, front lines, or even uniforms. Still this country continues to bleed four years after 9/11 and it's time we all ask the tough questions of whether we are allocating our resources in the best possible manner. Hell, even Colin Powell has dropped off the radar from this administration. Being a man of high honor who has both witnessed death and war, I believe he is still disapointed that the White House allowed him to go the UN with that less than verifiable "eveidence".
Is this not the greatest irony that a man who spends his entire life in service to his country, not in words-- but in deeds-- and with honor, truth, and conviction, is himself the sacrificial lamb of the truth? Let's hope by this time next year we have a clearer vision for what we ought to be doing to help the world see peace, since fighting for peace is such an oxymoron.
I wonder if we had taken $100 billion and distributed it as agressively in the name of peace, health, and education to the very people we have chosen to bomb, maim, and kill-- if our investment would be yielding much better long term dividends? I don't want to sound like a daisy waving peacenik-- because I'm not - Afghanistan needed to be cleansed of the Taliban and the hatred it spread, but if we could have tried to change world opinion through peaceful altruistic means maybe, just maybe, we might see ourselves liked by the world as much as we are liked by ourselves.
Isn't this the real problem with our country? Americans by nature, deed, and example are good peace loving people, giving milions upon millions domestically and indeed internationally to those less fotunate. For this we see ourselves as a fair, generous,understanding and compassionate people -- unfortunately we have a policy abroad which presents a completely different face to the world-- bully, mighty, warring, and wasteful. We have allowed ourselves to be painted completely differently than we see ourselves.
So enjoy your Memorial Day, but don't forget that for everyone of those 1600 Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines, how many lives are directly affected by their deaths. Maybe each person's death has a ripple effect through 1000 lives around them in the course of their lives...that would mean that 1,600,000 people are feeling the very raw pain of this war as we cook our hotdogs and drink our beer here at home - well behind the "front lines"......God Bless ALL of us-- not just America.
3 comments:
Yes Timmy Spliff,
It's good to read such a heartfelt and honest assessment of what's going on, the "war" and the crusade that W has begun. It all seems like such a waste, the lives lost, the scandalous contractors and their inflated profits, the whole feeling of cynicism that overpowers so many of us when we keep on seeing the images of death and destruction. I don't know what to think anymore, where we're headed I haven't a clue. But I DO have faith that things must get better, our foreign policy MUST change, to a more humane, inclusive and forgiving one. I see a bumper sticker in my neighborhood a couple of times a week, on someone's car, and it says, "God Bless The Entire World, Everyone Of Us". I wish more Americans would think like that bumper sticker, instead of always saying "God Bless America". God isn't on any ONE country's side, ya know?!!!
Well said Scotty P. It seems as if we've all been in a trance since 911 and the war machine has amped up a situation that we all have to wake up to. No one ever adopted a new political philosophy looking down the barrel of a rifle...if we are to foster democracies in areas of the world that have traditionally been led by either clans, dictators or monarchies it would seem our approach is all wrong....never mind the fact we are also "non-believers" a fact which only strengthens the anti-American ....your thoughts are right on though...God Bless All Of Us......
One of my favorite passeges in the Tao te Ching which a took a snippet of for my own blog is this (first 6 lines)
"Those who use the Tao to guide leaders,
Do not use forceful strategies in world.
Such matters tend to recoil.
Where armies are positioned,
Thorny brambles are produced.
A great military always bring years of hunger."
I keep coming back to this because it seems so relevant to what's happening. It's only around 2500 years old, so much for learing from history.....
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