The Myth of War…

War.  It is one of the most marketed and sold ideas in the history of the world.  World leaders can think up any number of reasons to go to war and sell it (quite well, in fact) to the public and to the military.  The U.S. has excelled at this very art.  G.W. Bush sold America on invading Iraq on the coattails of 9/11.  Was Iraq really a threat to us?  Was Afghanistan?  Is Iran?  The U.S. has, by far, the largest military arsenal in the world.  Is any country really going to attack or invade the United States?  It is all a lie, an illusion, a play that only pads the pockets of the elite while soldiers lose their lives fighting in a war that has no meaning.  Why do we allow this to happen?  Our government keeps the citizens in a state of fear and paints the life of a soldier as one of adventure and heroism.  They tell the soldiers that they are patriots, arm them, and put them in harm’s way.  The realities of what the soldiers face is quite different.  In his book “War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning”, Chris Hedges writes,

The myth of  war rarely endures for those who experience combat.  War is messy, confusing, sullied by raw brutality and an elephantine fear that grabs us like a massive bouncer who comes up from behind.  Soldiers in the moments before real battles weep, vomit, and write last letters home, although these are done more as a precaution than from belief.  All are nearly paralyzed with fright.  There is a morbid silence that grips a battlefield in the final moments before the shooting starts, one that sets the back of my own head pounding in pain, wipes away all appetite, and makes my fingers tremble as I ready myself to go forward against logic.  You do not think of home or family, for to do so is to be overcome by a wave of nostalgia and emotion that can impair your ability to survive.  One thinks, so far as it is possible, of cleaning weapons, of readying for the business of killing.  No one ever charges into battle for God and country.

“Just remember,” a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel told me as he strapped his pistol belt under his arm before we crossed into Kuwait, “that none of these boys is fighting for home, for the flag, for all that crap the politicians feed the public.  They are fighting for each other, just for each other.”

The betrayal of the American soldier is a travesty.  Human lives, pawns, in a game of global economic chess are manipulated, used, and ultimately destroyed by war.  Families are destroyed as children are orphaned and spouses are widowed.  This cost of war is taking it’s toll on America.  This cost goes far beyond that economic tax burden of the citizens.  This is a human cost that can’t be returned or refunded.  How long do we have to play this game to realize that war is a no-win option?  When is it time to say enough is enough and simply say “no” to war?  So please, support the troops as they are the pawns in this sick game of global warfare, but question the cause of their being put in harm’s way.  Question the reasoning for another invasion or bombing.  Take a moment and ask yourself this question…”Who benefits from this war?”