Meditations on War 

The foundation of our nation is under attack.

Thousands of our brothers and sisters have been slaughtered.

We are overwhelmed by grief and pervasive fear

as a result of these heinous acts.

We are advised that at this most dangerous time in our history,

we must unite and rally around our leaders

and the beliefs and values we hold most sacred.

We are admonished to put our petty disagreements behind us

and avoid dissent and criticism of our leaders and of their policies.

We must show the rest of the world

and especially those who wish us harm,

that we are not defeated,

we are not in disarray.

We must show the rest of the world

and especially those who wish us harm,

that as a result of these horrific attacks,

we have grown stronger,

united in our faith and determined in our resolve

that those who prosecute,

and those who support,

such terror will not go unpunished.

We must show the rest of the world

and especially those who wish us harm,

that our grief, though great, is not debilitating,

and will translate into a vengeance,

the righteous sword of God,

that will topple nations.

They have drawn first blood, those evil doers.

We are justifiably outraged.

Ours is just to respond.

God is on our side.

This is the rhetoric of crusade, the rhetoric of Jihad.

"Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists,"

George W. Bush said shortly after September 11.

Osama Bin Laden, appealing in turn to the Islamic world,

echoed this logic,

"The world is divided into two sides - -

the side of faith and the side of infidelity."

Bush’s world is Bin Laden’s world

in some strangely distorted mirror.

So we wage war and they jihad.

In the process, thousands of innocents are murdered,

and both sides rationalize the slaughter

by appeals to god and to country,

masking their maliciousness

beneath the flag of a nation or the tenets of a creed.

In the process thousands

of innocents are slaughtered,

and their loss we justify or excuse

by talk of security, and necessity, and accident and collateral damage.

I have heard this rhetoric before.

Then, as now, many accepted the threat as real and as grave.

Communism was insidious, they told us,

and the dominoes were quickly falling.

We were admonished to put our petty differences behind us

to unite and rally around our leaders.

"To War," was the cry,

"Stop them now or fight them on the streets of San Francisco."

We were reminded that waiting and naïve hope

for a peaceful resolution

allowed Hitler to plunge the world into crisis.

"Either you are with us or you are with the communists."

Those evil doers.

We were justifiably outraged.

God is on our side.

Young and idealistic,

I responded to the call without question.

I took our leaders at their word

and trusted their judgment.

Though I too had “other priorities,”

I put aside my plans and dreams,

became an officer of Marines,

and was born again hard,

in the jungles of Vietnam.

It did not take long, however,

before I felt uneasy with what I was doing.

I could see no purpose,

no reason, no plan, and no coherent strategy.

But yet, I lacked the moral courage

or presence of mind

to refuse to continue

or to escape from the insanity.

Now ideology was gone

and god and country had no relevance.

My purpose was only to survive,

to return to “the world,”

where I could be cleansed of my sins.

Through it all, I hoped that all this 

would not rest too heavily upon my conscious,

but yet, if it did not,

I would be disturbed as well.

From my experiences in war, I have learned

that Patriotism has its place

as long as its tempered with reason.

And war has taught me

that the pain, suffering, and devastation

is so great that everything must be done to ensure

that humankind never again tolerate the senselessness of war.

And war has taught me

that when the killing frenzy subsides

and the smoke of battle clears,

amidst the death and suffering that remains

there are no winners;

only shattered lives

and grieving families and loved ones.

And war has taught me

that if those of us who know its insanity

allow those blinded by greed,

hatred, misunderstanding, and misguided patriotism,

to again place our children on the battlefield

for some other unnecessary cause

the very survival of our species

and of our world may well be placed in jeopardy.

War has taught me this!

I have learned that if patriotism

means unquestioning allegiance

and blind obedience,

that such patriotism is inconsistent

with democracy and with basic human decency.

Such patriotism is an abeyance of our human reason.

Such patriotism is inhumane and immoral.

Such patriotism is to surrender our power to think critically.

Such patriotism is a profound failure,

both intellectually and morally.

But, in these times of crisis,

when we speak out for justice and fairness,

when we caution restraint,

when we urge peace rather than war,

we are condemned as irresponsible and unpatriotic.

I have been accused of being a traitor,

of being a Communist,

and of defaming the sacrifice and memory

of those who died defending our values and our freedom .

This is a time of war, they say,

"Whose side are you on?"

Well, I am on the side of people,

no matter their national identity,

who inevitably become the victims of war and corporate greed.

I am on the side of justice and not of vengeance.

I am on the side of the worker and not of those who exploit them.

I am on the side of the environment and not of the polluter.

I am on the side of reason and not of hysteria.

I am on the side of compassion and understanding and not of cruelty and brutality.

I am on the side of peace and not of war.

I no longer rally around political or corporate leaders

nor blindly trust their decisions and policies.

The rose colored glasses

of my naive patriotism

have been ripped from my face by war.

My eyes have been open.

I will not abandoned my humanity

nor my ability to reason.

I will not acquiesce

nor turn a blind eye to murder,

corruption, greed, or exploitation.

I have accepted the responsibilities of my humanity

And of living in a democracy,

and I will speak out in behalf of justice, fairness, human rights, and peace.

In this era of Globalization,

we have become expendable commodities,

forced to live in a world increasingly of corporate design,

with little consideration for justice and fairness,

but only profit.

We have become cannon fodder,

forced to shed our blood,

sacrifice our lives,

and to become killers

while they benefit from the mayhem.

We must overcome this narrow perspective of corporatism and nationalism,

and embrace a universalism.

We must reject the bifurcation of Bush and Bin Laden

and realize that our country's borders

do not separate us from the rest of humankind.

And, if we claim to truly know god,

we must respect her creations

and treat all of god’s children as our own.

And war has taught me, that

“The World is my Country,

all mankind are my brethren,

and to do good is my religion.” *

(*Thomas Paine)

Copyright © Camillo C. Bica 2006