Casualties of war

The daily barrage of news about casualties in the Iraq war creates great political opportunities as Democrats and Republicans posture in pro-war or anti-war rhetoric. For most Americans, the daily news distressing, but life and the Super Bowl go on. For a few, those who have personal friends or loved ones on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, the tension is palpable, and day-in, day-out they fear that knock on the door or phone call.

The call came for our family last week.

I have a beautiful granddaughter, Chelsea, who just turned 22. Last year she fell in love with Timmy, a handsome young marine from New Mexico. He had already served two tours in Iraq, and was scheduled for one more tour before his term is up in June. Chelsea and Timmy got married and in December we had a family dinner to wish Timmy a safe journey to Iraq for his final tour.

Last week the call came. Timmy’s gunnery sergeant called Chelsea and broke the news that Timmy’s squad had been hit by a suicide bomber. The captain had ordered the squad to assemble for a re-enlistment talk, a Iraqi man ran up to the group, threw up his arms, and exploded. Four members were killed, and Timmy was seriously wounded.

Shrapnel had blown multiple holes right through his legs and arms, some fragments lodged in the bladder and stomach, both femurs were broken, his arm and shoulder were broken, his left hand nearly severed. He was flown to a military hospital in Germany, where he underwent multiple surgeries, and on Sunday arrived at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Chelsea and his parents were there waiting when he arrived. The surgeries continue.

It appears that Timmy will survive. He's fully awake now, and he remembers vividly what happened. The doctors anticipate that in a month or so he’ll be able stand and begin walking. Hopefully, over time, he’ll regain limited use of the left hand, although it’s too early to tell. As for the psychological damage, it irreparable.

We could say that Timmy is luckier than many. Four of his squad are dead, and two others are in the same hospital, one in better condition, and the other much worse. Or maybe he could have been as unlucky as the marine in the room down the hall. Chelsea found that young man’s mother weeping in the hall. A small boy had thrown a grenade at him and it had blown off the young marine's face.

Of course, the government works hard to suppress the gruesome details such tragedies, as all governments do. The news will report “four marines were killed today,” but no mention or pictures of the agonies of the wounded, or of the pain of their families. If news shows did a weekly tour through the U.S. military hospitals that are handling the river of shattered young soldiers, there might be a backlash that could bring Mr. Bush’s current war to an end.

I’m not so naïve as to think that wars will end when people are exposed to the suffering war causes. Would it were so simple. The evidence of the suffering has always been there for anyone who cared to look. War goes on, decade after decade, century after century, and wars will continue. Your family’s experience is probably similar to mine. My grandfather served in the army in the First World War. My father served in the Army Air Corps in World War II. I was drafted just as the Korean War ended. My son was just a bit too young for Vietnam, but my grandchildren are now fully exposed to this greatest of human follies. There is a war for every generation...sometimes two. Unless society finally grasps the cause of war, I’m certain all of our great grandchildren will get their turn.

I hope that you are not so naïve as to think that simply changing politicians or political parties is the answer to war. All of the elections and coups d’etats of history have yet to end war. No, war is not caused by putting the wrong people in government, it is caused by handing a monopoly on power to any group of people. It is the very existence of the state that makes war possible. As Randolph Bourne so aptly put it, “War is the health of the state.” Wendy McElroy noted in her essay, “War’s Other Casualty”:

In times of peace, people are largely defined by their society and they interact with Government, giving little thought to the State. In times of war, the hierarchy and the power of these concepts is inverted. The Government virtually becomes the State, and society is subordinated to both.

In a just and rational world, which we hope will evolve before war annihilates us all, states and government would not be accepted as necessary, and war would not be needed to keep those states healthy. In a world in which individuals retain sovereignty over themselves, individuals would not be subordinated to the whims of politicians, and young men like Timmy would no longer be sacrificed for the health of the state.

Comments

[Robert Driscoll]

War is a terrible thing. My family past and present has been part of every war in this century. However, we can not afford to act like the perverbial ostrich and put our heads in the sand. America needs to understand that if we do not confront this terror -it WILL conquer us. Remember these famous words "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"- Where would we all be if we tried to ignore this current threat? I lived in the Middle East for 3 years. I know what their government can and will do. We would be under Shiria Law, we would have absolutly no personal freedom to do anything in regards to personal wealth building, and would be living in absolute poverty like 90% of the Middle East. So, while war is hell, not doing something about this threat now would be far worse for ourselves and for our grandchildren.