In today's (Wednesday's) edition of The Aegis there are a number of well-written stories in the main news and pp&t sections about the Iraq War and its impact on Harford County.
On many fronts, this is not your father's or your grandfather's or your war, but it could just as well be your husband or your wife's war, as it could be your son's or your daughter's.
We've clearly stretched our military assets to the breaking point to be in Iraq and Afghanistan and, if some people in the Bush administration have their way, we could stretch them even thinner to put the Iranians in their place.
I don't want to make too many judgments about the Iraq War which turns age five today, and, regardless who is elected president in November, is likely to celebrate at least a sixth birthday as well. Objective evidence said we did not have to invade, but try telling that to someone whose loved one was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Still, I've never liked the notion that those who have never had to fight to keep from dying are responsible for most wars — and especially for this one. For people like George Bush and Richard Cheney to excoriate anyone who wants to end the war — to cut and run in the parlance of our chicken-hawk leaders — would be about as right as me telling one of my children to hurry up and enlist so you can kill somebody because I didn't when I had the opportunity 40 years ago.
Let's keep things in perspective about war. It may or may not be necessary, and history would argue it is certainly an integral part of the human psyche, but there have been many people who have wondered if the people who actually did the fighting ran the show, rather than people like Bush and Cheney who never have fought, would we be so quick to send in the Marines?
My heart goes out to anyone who has a relative serving in either Iraq or Afghanistan. In late February, a member of my family who works for a government agency was sent to Iraq for about two weeks to review reconstruction efforts. Her group was expected to be accorded full security as it traveled around, but you still can't help but being apprehensive; actually, "scared" is the operable word. The whole country is, after all, a combat zone, and she was going to be riding around in the same vehicles on the same roads where so many members of our military, including some from Harford County, have been killed by the infamous roadside bombs known as IEDs, visiting the same public places targeted by suicide bombers.
The time difference between Bel Air and Baghdad is eight hours and even though we received regular daily telephone calls, I couldn't help but looking at the clock and counting ahead by eight hours, thankful when each afternoon had arrived that another day was ending in Baghdad with no bad news for us. It got worse as the days drew near for her brief tour to end — 6 a.m., 10 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. — another day gone by, one less day in harm's way.
I simply can't imagine how someone who has had a loved one over there for a month, two months, six months, a year can possibly bear it.
I'm also sure these are the faces of war the higher-ups in Washington don't see or even concern themselves with, which is one reason why this madness continues.
|
