"We have to keep fighting," said a 50 ish man as he stopped and joined the vigil. "We have to stay until the job is done."
"How would you define the job as being done," I asked. His eyes opened wide as he thought about the question and then with an intense stare he replied, "When we have killed Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
"I know two brothers who were deployed in Iraq," he continued. "One was a Marine and the other an Army Ranger. He [the Army Ranger] was not optimistic about what will happen in Iraq.
"But what you're doing is really nice," he said as he lowered his voice. "I pray every night for all those who have been wounded or killed over there."
Shortly after this gentleman left, John Fortier arrived. John is a Korean War veteran and a school teacher who conducts a peace vigil every Friday night at a nearby location.
"If I was the President of the United States, [In Iraq and Afghanistan] I'd spend money on hospitals and schools and on clean drinking water and sanitation. I'd provide basic health care and I'd help them start businesses.
"That would have to be better than what were doing. We're blowing up what little these people have. However screwed up things are, if you don't have hope, you might as well roll over and die.
"Obama offered hope. 'It's a new day, and we are going to do what's right.' What a disappointment!
"MacArthur got fired for doing what McChrystal is doing. [Gen. Stanley McChrystal is commander of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan] I didn't admire Harry Truman but he fired MacArthur. Truman stood up to him!"
[Gen. Douglas MacArthur was a highly decorated, World War ll hero in charge of the United Nations/U.S. forces in Korea during the Korean War. He repeatedly questioned President Truman's judgments and in 1951 issued his own ultimatum threatening war on China. President Truman immediately fired him.]
"I had hoped Obama would say, 'No more money for munitions and killing. We're going to bring our soldiers home.' It didn't happen."
As the vigil came to a close soon after John left, a 35 ish woman stared at the sign and became visibly upset, as her body stiffened and she tightened her facial muscles.
"It makes me sick to my stomach what we're doing over there," she snapped. And then as she thrust both of her hands forward to emphatically make her point, she added "We're closing libraries over here, cutting back hours, laying off librarians because we can't pay for it! [But can pay for war].
Later, as I thought about the vigil and the wars, especially the escalation of the one in Afghanistan, it seemed odd that such self proclaimed pious Christians as Presidents Bush and Obama would honor God's Laws by violating them, committing murder and mayhem in the name of peace.
As a result, in this life millions of others pay a severe price for their actions but I believe ultimately a Higher Authority will hold these two gentlemen and their accomplices accountable for the extreme suffering they've caused.
Dick
1 comment:
I read recently (don't know if it's true) but that soon we will have 100,000 troops to battle 100 or so people labeled 'terrorists'. With so many resources being pumped in to the war machine (overkill?) it's sad to know that not as much is being put in to relief of the victims. The war is affecting our troops and families deeply too, and for what? To hunt 100 terrorists? Only time will tell I guess.
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