So many people have been killed, injured or orphaned in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it continues. An explosion, gunfire or a beheading are part of daily life since the U.S. invaded and occupied these nations. Why are these wars being fought? If my 9 year old grandchild asks me, or your children ask you, what do we say?
That might makes right? If that's so, then the drug cartels must be in the right and so must America's gangs, as they often settle their differences in blood.
If we can't justify these wars, why do we allow them to continue? Yes, President Bush started them but President Obama continues them and Congress, Democrats and Republicans, has been a rubber stamp, while collecting campaign contributions from the war profiteers.
If your children or our grandchildren ask what we have done to stop the wars, how would we answer them? What example have we set for them?
The U.S. military, with the cooperation of most American media, censors these wars so we don't have to see the blood or hear the victims cry out to us. But you and I know it's happening and as people of conscience, how can we ignore it?
How can we not raise our voices, take to the streets or even hold accountable those politicians who authorize murder in our names?
What would we tell a 6 year old Afghan child whose parents were just killed by a U.S. drone missile? What do we say to a 6 year old Iraqi child who just had a leg blown off? How do we explain to a 6 year old American child why his or her parent serving us in the military just came home in a casket? A casket incidentally not shown to us, for it too is censored.
As we allow these things to happen, how will history judge us? Will we appear to be like the German citizens of the 1930's and 40's who remained silent?
President Obama called Darfur's genocide a "stain on our souls." But what burden do the American wars place on our souls? Aren't we all responsible for the horrors our nation is committing? Isn't the obligation to stop it ours? Our voices have power and we can make a difference for the families in Iraq, Afghanistan, U.S. military families and families throughout the world. We must have the courage to use our voices now.
Dick
2 comments:
While I agree with your sentiments completely as there is no justification for occupying Iraq or Afghanistan, the difficulty is what do you tell the mother of the last person to die for a mistake? There really is no excuse for our complacency as we watch our Republic spend its way into oblivion and commit our young men and women to killing the inhabitants of those far away lands!
Dear Reader,
These wars are like the Vietnam War in that the U.S. has become so desperate for "victory," and so anxious to find meaning in the violence and destruction it has caused, that it continues to throw more lives and resources at the wars, as if the spilling of more blood will justify all that has taken place.
The result is to compound the tragedy and pain and lead America to moral and fiscal bankruptcy.
Dick
Post a Comment