Okay I haven't really had much of an opinion until now about the whole "war on Iraq" thing. It's been big news ever since 9/11 and isn't going away any time soon so I guess our kids will grow up thinking it's normal. But tonight on Foxtel I have been watching a show on CI called "Bagdhad ER" (sp?) about the Americal military medical units who support troops fighting in Iraq. Let me get the kevlar suit on first before anybody flames me!
Firstly, I don't support Iraq or the human rights violations that have occurred there for years, the racial predjudice, the religious intolerance or the domination of women in that society. On the other hand, I'm not so sure I like the idea of quite possibly the dumbest political figurehead EVER invading someone else's country in the name of freedom. Yes, there are injustices and change is needed but at what price does that change come, and is the price acceptable regardless of the cost to families all over the world whose children proudly go to war to defend the principles of justice and freedom? So I am in a bit of a quandry here......I am in awe and admiration of people who are willing to leave their homes and families to defend the principles that make our country what it is, to lay their lives on the line to protect us and our way of life, and to strive for a world where everyone can enjoy the freedoms we take for granted. Please be clear about that before I go on. I very much doubt I have the courage to do what those soldiers do, and do willingly and proudly.
I guess I had never put too much thought into it all because it's too complicated, too emotional an issue, too messy for me to really think about in brass tacks terms. Yes it's going on around me and my family but I'd really rather not think about it. Choosing to be ill informed and ignorant is shameful and tonight I understood why. The doctors were discussing a soldier they were operating on, horribly wounded from shrapnel. He had celebrated his 21st birthday the day before and now it looked like he might die, in a foreign country, without family or friends around him, AND HE WASN'T EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A BEER. He was deemed of age to fight and die for his country but wasn't old enough to have a beer. There was just something in that ironic situation that really saddened me. And made me think. And made me feel bad - not just for him and for his family, but made me feel bad for our leaders who have invaded that country, for the people whose country has been subject to such atrocities for just about forever, for people who are trying to make a living in Iraq amidst the unrest, for the families of soldiers who are so proud of their children (and rightly so) for making the sacrifice of becoming involved, and for those who so strongly disagree with the whole ugly mess that they would vilify people who choose, or by order, are involved. THE WHOLE MESS IS JUST WRONG, WRONG, WRONG and I have no idea what needs to be done to fix it except pray that God will sort things out and quickly.
That's my rant for today. It's a big mess that I have no idea how to fix, have no idea how to fully understand but at the same time I feel sorry for everyone involved - on every side. I still don't have an "official position" on the situation, even after that rambling post but it made me think about something that I would otherwise have tried to ignore because it's ugly, it's uncomfortable and it's terrible for everyone affected, which is virtually everybody on the planet. So that's something in itself - to have forced to the front of my mind an issue which I would otherwise have preferred to ignore because ignorance is sometimes, maybe alot of times, easier than knowing the truth because then you have to acknowledge it, see it for what it really is, and decide what you are going to do about it. I still don't know what I will do about it, but I will certainly do a lot more reading now, take a lot more notice of the news now, and do a lot more praying now. As Oprah said, "you can't unring the bell" - once you know what you know and have seen what you have seen, you cannot pretent you never knew and never saw. Knowledge is very powerful and everyone has to decide for themselves what to do with it.
I'm not sure why I shared all that here but I kind of sat down and the contents of my brain spilled out again! I don't mind if nobody agrees or thinks the whole post was crap but as long as you give it even a second of thought then you are more aware than you were a moment ago. Think and question. Question and pray. Pray and maybe this can be over someday soon for all of us. I don't want my kids growing up thinking that war is normal............
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