Today I have a nephew who is a Marine serving somewhere in Afghanistan, a son-in-law who is an Army aviator flying Blackhawks in Korea, and another nephew who is currently going through Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas. All three are young guys with their whole lives ahead of them. One happens to be married to my precious daughter who is with him in Korea. I love them all. I am sometimes overwhelmed by their willingness to voluntarily become part of such a dangerous occupation.
On Saturday, a Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade, killing everyone on board... 30 Americans and 8 Afghan soldiers....a tragedy made even more sensational by the sheer number that perished at one time. A tragedy even more noticed because we heard that members of the elite SEAL Team 6 were on board... commandos from the same group that killed Osama bin Laden.
Words fail us when we try to describe how we felt when we heard this news. These were brave soldiers, actually coming to the aid of a ground team that had come under heavy fire from Taliban forces. We collectively grieve with the families of these soldiers. Their deaths will make us question whether the price being paid by our men and women is worth it.
Does it take 30 Americans killed by a single RPG to make us question whether it is time to bring our men and women home? How about the one brave Marine that was killed by a sniper last week? How about the 2 Army soldiers who were killed when their vehicle ran over an IED 6 months ago? Are their deaths not enough to generate the same questions?
Am I selfish for wanting my family members to be out of harm's way? Am I unpatriotic to say let's bring all our men and women home from a war that I do not, after 10 long years, understand anymore?
I cry inside for the 30 brave Americans that perished on Saturday...but I cry no less for the one American that will die tomorrow...or last week. Their deaths, however, won't (or didn't) make the headlines.
America...Home of the brave? You're damn right. But I hope we are also brave enough to know when enough blood has been spilled in a decade long war.
It is very easy for people who may not have a loved one directly in harms way (me) to depersonalize the war. When we count the human cost (both American military and innocent civilians) if becomes increasingly difficult to justify the war. Add to that the ambiguous "exit strategy" and it gets even more troubling. Unfortunately, not enough people and politicians are pressing for answers.
ReplyDeleteFor an unjust war, one death (for either side) is a murder. There is no amount of morally acceptable casualties in a war that ought not be fought in the first place. On the other hand, for a just war, death counts are no reason to back away. In any case, the justice of the war being fought ought to be the deciding factor.
ReplyDelete-Matt
//By the way, I still remember you telling me Sunday school that if someone finds archeological evidence that lines up with Biblical accounts, it does not prove the Bible. But the Bible proves that what they found was real. I still think of this often, and it has served as a great reminder that the Bible is foundational to all other truth claims.