The price of war

By Rich Hardwick
Staff Writer

“You know what, this war might be a bad thing.” This was said to me not to long ago by a friend of mine.
The night before she had watched the news and saw that 12 U.S. soldiers had lost their lives overseas. The statement took me by surprise. I thought war was about death, destruction and carnage.
When President Bush announced that we were sending troops to Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring countries, I knew instantly that some of those troops weren’t coming home. Isn’t that what war is all about, fighting and dying for what you believe in?
We watch the nightly news and see that another American soldier has died or even worse, an innocent American like reporter Daniel Pearl. This is tragic, and it is a tough loss for those soldiers’ families. What I don’t understand is how so many people can start questioning the war due to the deaths of a few soldiers.
Many women and children have been killed in Afghanistan and other countries. I could easily go on-line and see how many Americans have died during the war, but it would be a lot harder to see how many people have died. So my question is, when did human compassion become American compassion?
I am not opposed to the war in any way. I might not have agreed with some of the tactics that we have chosen, but I want to see the terrorists stopped and brought to justice.
Americans should have revenge after the attacks. Some of the methods have included the losses of civilians in those countries.
I know that casualties are a part of war, but how would any American person feel if there were foreign troops on our soil. Soldiers running down the streets and invading our houses. Soldiers with guns and who don’t speak the same language. Some soldiers killing us because of mistaken identities. It would be a very scary sight.
After the initial horror and dismay of the attacks six-months ago, I felt a great sense of pride and respect for my fellow Americans.
These people were out there giving blood, donating money and donating their time to help the country through this national tragedy. After the initial helping, the shock and horror set back in as I watched news stories of Americans attacking Americans. Americans were threatening people of the Muslim faith.
They were commiting acts that included defacing Mosques and burning the Koran (a sacred book much like the Christian Bible). These acts even included the deaths of some Muslims. People who fled their country to escape the Taliban, who escaped from the fear and horror to come to place with freedom, found a different side of America after September 11th.
With the deaths of the soldiers, the question that comes to mind is ‘freedom at what cost?’
What happens when 50, 400 or even 1500 soldiers die?
The American people won’t stand for it. There is already talk about a nuclear war. Talk about America having missiles aimed at nine countries who have their own missiles aimed right back at us. I think that the war will hopefully end before it comes to that.
Bin Laden and other terrorists have many allies, but it’s my belief that sooner than later bin Laden will either be murdered or turned in by people around him. That will give us some measure of revenge or vengeance. Will that be enough? Will it be enough if they catch all the terrorists on the list? Will that help us sleep better at night or make us less scared to fly?
The seed of terrorism has been planted. That doesn’t mean that we should live in fear. It’s been said a million times that we should live our lives each and everyday, and I agree.
So is the war a bad thing?
Yes, it is. I believe, however, that we are at war for the right reasons. We are fighting for the right of freedom. We are fighting so we won’t be scared at our jobs or on planes. We are fighting so Muslim-Americans can live in peace and freedom.
Finally, I would like to express my sympathy to anyone who lost a loved one in the attacks on September 11th and to anyone with a relative or friend overseas.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 15 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry