I've been thinking about this post for 6 weeks, since the day we climbed to the cave where 500 people lived for 6 years during the Indochina War. I've hesitated to write because I'm not a student of history and might get facts about dates and alliances wrong. But the facts of war are all the same -- innocent people get hurt, killed, their lives shattered, their countries ruined. I was ignorant about the Vietnam War before this trip and didn't even know the U.S.'s role in the war in Laos. These topics weren't covered in my high school history class. All I knew came from Oliver Stone.
I'm convinced that Americans support wars because we can't picture the people who will be hurt. We give in to fear mongering and the idea that "they're out to get us." If we traveled more, we'd know that most of the people of Laos and Vietnam are just struggling to feed their families and get by. The same is true of central America and other poor countries where we have mucked around with governments, trying to get the structure or ruler that will be most beneficial to the US.
After visiting Laos and Vietnam, where we tried to fight communism on two fronts, it's hard not to think about our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we are trying to fight terrorism on two fronts. Laos and Vietnam both became communist, despite the money we spent and soldiers we sacrificed. What will happen in Iraq and Afghanistan? Al-qaeda and its ilk have had no more successful attacks on our soil, but can we say that we've reduced terrorism? We've overthrown truly brutal regimes, yet lawlessness, warring factions, and loss of basic services have plagued the citizens in these countries. How do we measure victory in places with cultures and histories that we can barely understand?
I don't have the solutions to these problems, but I'm convinced that War is not the Answer in the many places we've applied it. Maybe if we pictured the children in these countries, we'd reconsider sending in armed soldiers to address the problems and think about how aid for education and poverty elimination might gain us a country full of allies.
2 comments:
It's too bad we don't look at the root problems of terrorism and violence here and abroad. "When you got nothing, you've got nothing to lose," is still true today. In some regions, the way to get food and shelter is to join the local insurgents or government armies.
In this country, the psychology of fear, plus what I call the economic draft (few jobs) are leading young people to sign up for the armed services. A year ago, recruiters couldn't make their goals. My brother who is in the Wisc. Guard said that in February the recruiting goals were met through March.
An occupied country will fight back. Helping to rebuild is our only redemption.
I forgot to include the fact that the Vietnamese call it the American War. Maybe we because we were the invaders? I wonder what the Iraqis call our "help." If another country sent their military to US soil to assist an overthrow of our government, I think a few people would be shooting and bombing in an attempt to send them back where they came from.
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