OK, when I said no more Bush-bashing… I lied.
A friend of mine, an American Citizen from Rhode Island, wrote this article concerning the president’s opinion on war “casualties”.
“I stared at the newspaper headline for several long seconds. I could not believe what I was reading. The headline and the story that ran beneath it attempted to summarize President Bush’s address to the American people the night before. That address was aimed at winning more support for the ongoing U.S. military action in Iraq.
Three words from the headline gripped me by the throat: “Worth the Sacrifice…” Worth the sacrifice, huh? It was a strong statement, and so I gave it serious thought. This led me to wonder how someone who had NOT lost a close relative in the fighting could make such a bold determination. Shouldn’t this rather have been a determination rendered by the families of those who were lost in this conflict? By that I mean the mothers and fathers and wives and husbands and sons and daughters of our brave fallen soldiers.
Then I tried to put a more personal spin on the situation by asking myself a simple question. Would I as a parent be willing to trade the life of my son or daughter for the mere possibility of attaining democracy in Iraq? The answer was a profound NO! Okay. How about a guarantee of attaining democracy in Iraq? Again a profound NO!
I subsequently decided to take the Q & A session a bit further…much further, actually. Would I as a parent be willing to trade the life of my son or daughter even if it meant world peace for all of eternity? In other words, some divine being comes down from the heavens and makes an offer that would result in a devastating personal loss for me in exchange for an idyllic existence for everyone else on the planet. This may sound a bit selfish on my part, but the answer again would be a profound NO!
In each instance my answer came quickly and easily, and with good reason. For what are any of these supposedly great end-results worth in the absence of our most cherished prizes of all – our loved ones? To my way of thinking, not a whole lot. And, in the case of Iraq, we’re not exactly talking about sacrificing ONE person to satisfy our President’s seemingly blind ambition. At last count, America’s price tag for this endeavor had exceeded 2,000 of our finest young men and women. And what of the more than 100,000 estimated dead among Iraq’s women, children and other “casualties” of war?
The President is constantly mentioning how most Iraqi people are supportive of the actions he has undertaken in that country. This information may or may not be true (I’ve learned to be a little skeptical of the President’s “sources”). Be that as it may, I find myself wondering whether the families of those 100,000+ local innocents killed are truly looking forward to the possibility of attaining democracy in their country.
Do they care anymore? Have they ever cared? Should they care? How can they think kindly about this so-called democracy without also thinking long and hard about the price that has been paid in blood? Was it indeed “worth the sacrifice” to them as well?
This brings me to the subject of value. What sort of value should one place on a human life? How about 2,000 human lives? Or 100,000? Is there any outcome that makes sacrificing “X” amount of human lives acceptable…even if the mission that contributed to their deaths appears on the surface to be right and just by some?
Perhaps if I sat a throne and possessed the power to shape the world in accordance with my wishes I would be more understanding of those who proclaim such actions are “worth the sacrifice.” But I don’t sit a throne…and I have not lost a loved one in this conflict. I am but a proud citizen of this country, like so many Americans. I do not have the right to decide whether the end has justified the means in Iraq.
And neither does the President.”
