What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?Tracy M. Rogers
I was emailing a friend recently who lives in Zagreb, Croatia, about the fallout from years and years of war in her country – the poverty and destruction, the high incidence of physical injury and even higher incidence of homelessness among those physically handicapped by war. I offhandedly remarked that I believed that those who wage war would change their minds if they could see the decimation their bombs had caused, thinking particularly of the situation in Iraq and the misguided notions of leaders here in the United States. But, as soon as I hit send, it occurred to me that there will always be those who thrive on war and the destruction it brings. Much as it saddens me to have such cynical thoughts, I fear it’s true. I do not think our government or the American public is conscious of the destruction we bring daily to the people of Iraq, nor do I believe seeing it would bring about any policy change or any change in public opinion. We are a nation, sadly, but surely, concerned solely with our own. Two thousand American soldiers have died in Iraq at last count, but how many Iraqis have perished? How many were women and children simply trying to go about their daily lives, trying to find their way to school or the market? How many were businessmen and laborers with no ties to terrorism simply trying to make it home to their families after a day’s work?
Very few Iraqis that have died at American hands were terrorists, they were simply perceived as being unlike us – “the Other.” There is no room for “the Other” in the American ideology, be they Hispanic, Iraqi, or even European. “The Other” is a thing to be feared, a thing that threatens our very existence as a nation. “The Other” is non-human. But, the people we are killing in Iraq are all too human, and their blood is on our hands. As I have said in the past, there is an inherent racism to the American conquest of Iraq, much as there was an inherent racism to the actions of the Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia, to the continual conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Perhaps, American actions have not been so overtly racist as these two examples, but such equivocation can never justify murder, especially not when the aim is the decimation of another people based solely on ethnicity and stereotype. And, murderers we are - Murderers for hire, in fact, since oil companies and Halliburton turn tidy profits from government expenditures in Iraq. And, our nation is worse for the wear. How much of that profit could have gone to help those who fled New Orleans? How much could have gone to shore up the levies in the first place to prevent such widespread destruction? Thousands are still unaccounted for six months later, and we have all forgotten their names – yet another “Other” that is of little to no consequence in terms of human life, that is a threat now that they are scattered to the four corners after losing everything.
When did we forget that we are all human, that we are all on the same existential plane? When did we come to value big business over human life? As much as I fear future terrorist attacks, I fear my own government even more. Our leaders have shown an alarming disdain for human life, writing off thousands as unimportant or necessary casualties. Likewise, they have deigned to play God and decide whose lives are most important. I am simultaneously saddened, angered, and terrified by this lack of concern for humanity, by the arrogance and racism inherent in their attitude. It seems that age-old hatreds and prejudices die hard. Like the Serbians and Croatians, the Palestinians and the Isrealis, will we still be fighting this battle fifty years from now? A hundred years from now? Will we never learn the lessons that history and experience have to offer? I simply don’t know. A large percentage of the population seems to reject peace, love, and social equality as naive or childlike notions. They celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, but fail to heed his warnings, live by his example, or even fully grasp the meaning and importance of his message. They sanctimoniously give lip service to Christian morals, yet forget the lessons of peace, tolerance, and humanism taught through Jesus’ deeds. Perhaps it is naive, idealistic, and childish to wish for peace throughout the world, to wish for an end to all war and bloodshed, an end to suffering because of differences that amount to naught. Oh, but that we were all children again!
Artwork: Left on War by Hernando Rico Sanchez