Hero or Villain: You Decide

Dick Kazan Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:15 am

Two bullet ridden bodies laying lifeless on a black asphalt parking lot oozed streams of blood into the white sheets covering them.

"What a waste of life," remarked a police officer. "This was a gang war over who would control this neighborhood."

"We'll prosecute the shooter," a deputy district attorney told the news media in no uncertain terms. "He did what his gang leader told him to do and killed two people. We'll seek the death penalty."

Suddenly in the background a horrified mother ran to one of the bodies as she screamed, "No Not My Child, Oh God No" and collapsed crying hysterically. The crowd pulled her back from the corpse.

Two days later at the funerals, the echo of two inner-city mothers shrieking in agony could be heard for a hundred yards, as the families tearfully buried their departed loved ones. Each family ached from a loss that would last them a lifetime.

Meanwhile in Iraq, a group of soldiers stood by two blood spattered bullet ridden bodies, after a fierce fight for control of a Baghdad neighborhood. "You're a hero," said a Lieutenant to the soldier who did the shooting. "You did what your Commander-in-Chief, your President wants you to do, kill the enemy. You're going to win a medal for this."

As the Lieutenant was still speaking, suddenly a horrified mother ran to one of the bodies as she screamed in Arabic, "No Not My Child, Oh Allah No" and collapsed crying hysterically as the crowd pulled her back from the corpse.

Two days later at the funerals, the echo of two Iraqi mothers shrieking in agony could be heard for a hundred yards, as the families tearfully buried their departed loved ones. Each family ached from a loss that would last them a lifetime.

So who are the heroes, who are the villains? Mankind has wrestled with this question for centuries.

If you think neither are heroes, you might ask, "What can I do to stop it?" If you're like many people, you might add, "There's nothing I can do, I'm just one person." But each of us is just one person.

For a fraction of what will be trillions of dollars spent on the Iraq war we could instead invest in our cities and in educating our youth, as we give them hope for a better tomorrow, which would largely bring peace to the inner-cities. And we could bring peace to Iraq by ending the war we started.

It's up to you. It starts with just one letter, one email or one phone call to your Congress person or to the news media. Raise your voice and speak from your heart. You can make a difference.

Dick