Testimonies: Civilian Life After Iraq
by Jane Smith
Date: April 28, 2008
A friend of mine was one of the first to enter Baghdad. He reminded me of my brother who
had died a hero's death in Viet Nam. Both proud Marines. Both honorable human beings. Both charming, alluring, extremely handsome,
dynamic, fun, sunny, sweet, endearing, and sparkling. They shared a common twinkle in their eyes which, even in this day and
age, is uncommon to the vast majority of people around the world.
I spoke with my friend on the night before he left for Baghdad. He was
a new Marine, fresh out of boot camp. Standing tall, though he was not a tall man, and straight, though he, too, was frightened
by the egregious, slow beheadings of those whom the Taliban had sequestered. He was mentally preparing himself for possible
hand-to-hand combat against a ruthless, underestimated enemy, while enjoying the frippery of that which could possibly have
been his final adieu to the American night life. For several hours, he was radiant. Alert. Engaging, laughing, smiling, winking.
Aware. And, with the flash of his most winsome smile, he bade us good-bye.
I saw him, within the same local club, one year later. His shoulders
hunched. Wide, stark, dark eyes, staring into black nothingness. Beer in hand. Grateful that he had made it home alive, I
gave him a few minutes berth while I observed his apparent demeanor.
I greeted him warmly, then, rather directly, asked him what had happened
"over there", causing his brilliant sparkle to have disappeared from his eyes. Because of my brother's experiences in Viet
Nam, he knew that I would understand his answer to my question.
So, as directly, his shrunken response was, "When we entered Baghdad,
they made us drive tanks down the center of the streets, shooting, without warning, anyone who stood in the street before
us - women, children, the elderly; waving, cheering. Our commanders didn't care; we had to shoot. Those were our orders. Everyone.
Refusal to shoot everyone in the streets would have resulted in us being shot by our own men." Silence followed.
Had our commanders learned nothing
from the protester in Tiananmen Square when he stood, like a man, in front of the advancing tanks? Even the leading Chinese
soldier tank driver halted in respect.
When I was four, I believed that each Nazi soldier was culpable for the horrors perpetrated
under the jurisdiction of the transitional government which Hitler called The New Order [Time/Life Books: The New Order].
Decades later, I came to know that soldiers, historically, have been required, at penalty of death for failure to comply,
to kill and torture innocents. Americans had had a proud history of taking the high road during war time - until they dropped
the first atom bomb, which melted the flesh off of the bones of mothers and their babies at the park, rather than of armed
soldiers at their command post. Thus, the hippies were born, bucking the "establishment" and 'it's" seeming lust for a swift
win at ANY cost, even if it set the entire atmosphere above the northern Pacific aflame, as some scientists feared.
Truly, neither life nor civility
can be gleaned from the wake of such unethical and hypocritical warring techniques. Only death; the death of women, children,
the elderly, of dreams, hope, faith in one's fellow man, and of spirit. Only death.
It is, therefore, no wonder that
an extraordinary number of men cannot speak of the war when they return, no wonder that some find solace in loneliness, and
no wonder that so many ask for help which our current Representatives have absolutely no clue how to address.
There is only one cure for such
an horrific spiritual death as that caused by the intentional slaughter of civilians during times of war.
Our government must, IMMEDIATELY,
return to it's Constitutional roots of honor, integrity, dignity, respect, and love for ALL of mankind, as boldly and pointedly
stated within our beloved Constitution, "...the year of our Lord seventeen hundred eighty seven...", as reference to Jesus'
admonitions that "Thou knowest The Commandments" [Mark 10: 19] and "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye
even so unto them, for this is THE LAW and the prophets"[Matthew 7: 12].
Given the imperfections inherent within a mortal society, such as "the
breaking point" to which we are all subject, thankfully, The Golden Rule affords our nation the ability to wage war (ONLY
if, when, and as necessary) for as long as we never violate The Ten Commandments unnecessarily.
Because "our Lord", the Rabbi
Jesus, was born approximately 1,787 years prior to the signing of our beloved Constitution, according to the The Holy Bible
and additional Jewish archives, and because only the dictionary which our Forefathers used [Unabridged English Dictionary
of 1776 (Library of Congress)] legally defines the literal parameters of our precious Constitution, punctuation included,
The Golden Rule is, in fact, Constitutional Law within the United States of America, despite the First Amendment freedom of
religion clause precluding any law(s) with regard to the establishment of religion (id est: Catholic, Presbyterian, Hindu,
Atheism) and supporting the free exercise of religion.
Under the original oil portrait of Benjamin Franklin is an inscription in French which reads:
"Honor of the New World and of Humanity, This lovable and true sage guides and enlightens them; Like another mentor, he conceals
from the common eye, Under the features of a mortal, a divinity." And it is Benjamin Franklin, who said, "It is impossible
we should think of Submission to a Government that has, with the most wanton Barbarity and Cruelty, burnt our defenceless
Towns in the midst of Winter, excited the Savages to massacre our Farmers and our Slaves to murder their Masters, and is,
even now, bringing foreign Mercenaries to deluge our Settlements with Blood. These atrocious injuries have extinguished every
remaining Spark of Affection for that Parent Country we once held so dear."
Heal America, first, therefore. In so doing, ALL of our soldiers will
be able to PROUDLY support the decisions of their commanders, rather than mind-battling, alone in the dark, with the dichotomous
extremism of helping a people by destroying their most helpless members, as everyone grasps for elusive logic in lieu of closing
their eyes to truth.
